Week 4 February 2001: Still hot and dry on the Northern Tablelands. Installed one of our wooden garden sculptures in the Pole Garden. Lots of old stumps and pieces of timber are lying around Yallaroo and some pieces with interesting shapes finish up in the gardens. They add interest to our domestic environment and lizards rest on them as they soak up the sun.
Collected cutting material from some Acacias for a University student. She is doing some grafting experiments using Acacias.
Had a rush trip to Sydney on family business. Took the scenic route known as the Putty Road, which passes through Wollomi and Yengo National Parks. Of course Wollomi National Park is the home of the world famous pine.
Where we stayed in Sydney there was a large Grevillea Moonlight growing in the garden. This beautiful tropical hybrid Grevillea has large creamy-white flowers. We have a smaller specimen growing at Yallaroo. We saw another Grevillea of interest on our trip. On the northwest outskirts of Sydney there are small populations of Grevillea juniperina. This naturally occurring species has prickly pale green foliage and green flowers. We have one at Yallaroo that is ten years old. It is now about one and a half metres tall and at least three metres wide. A useful plants for small native birds that use the prickly foliage for shelter. In the wild this plant is classified as rare because it has restricted distribution.
On the way home we made a great sacrifice and stopped at a State Forest nursery and buy some plants. One purchase was Grevillea “Caloundra Gem” which is another tropical hybrid. This one has large cream to honey coloured flowers. We also bought some eastern banksias in tubes. We have planted these into larger pots and in a couple of months they will find their final resting place in our gardens.
The Stringybark Garden is near our house and is named after Eucalyptus youmanni that grows in the middle of the garden. It is one of the seven Eucalypt species that occurs naturally on Yallaroo and is now in full flower. The blooms are rich in nectar and attract honeyeaters.
Dragonflies are laying eggs in one of our ponds. Their larvae live in the water for a couple of months. The larvae are carnivorous and are one of a number of hungry insects, which control mosquitoes.