SEARCHING FOR SPRING IN AUSTRALIA

 

SEARCHING FOR SPRING IN AUSTRALIA

By Frances Harris

 

 

I thought it was time to go on a mission to find out if winter has finished its run and spring is on the way. With the climate noticeably changing, the days are gone when the month of the year can determine the season of the year. I see it in my apple trees that seem to keep their leaves well into winter and sometimes they stay like that all year. The down side is that the trees sometimes don’t go into blossom when they are meant to, if at all. Spring is all about the flowers, and the feeling of the warm glow from the sun on the skin, in between occasional gusts of wind. I decided to go down the coast between Mornington to Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, and the trees I hope to find in gardens and coastal foliage should give me some clues. Spring in the South East of this country spring is usually heralded by great sprays of the golden wattle flowers. The time to see them is short, and in a few days they could be finished. I have included a few photos of the coastline where I travelled. 

I found these brightly coloured flowers in a garden contrasting with a sea of green.
 

The oxalis might be a weed, but its bright little flowers can’t be ignored. We could expect them to come out at the beginning of spring.
 

 

I was distracted by the beauty of Fisherman’s Beach after Mount Eliza. After a short look around, I moved on down the coast.
 

 

It’s interesting to find that the temperature changes on the different bends and rises and falls along the coast. Where it is cool, the wattle is in bud with a few days to wait for the flowers and where it is warm, the flowers are finished. This one above was just beginning its show.
 

This wattle tree has come out in patches. The warm side has bloomed and the cool side is yet to show.

I was happy to find this wattle tree well into its bloom.

I had to stop for a break at Dromana beach. These bathing boxes were worth a photo.

 

 

This Coastal Wattle was just about to explode into flower. It can be a few hours before the flowers are fully exposed.

This is the first Coastal Banksia tree I have seen in flower this season.

 

I don’t know the name of this wattle but it is a beautiful example of what our nature can do.
 

 

  I think this is an even better wattle display than the one before.



 

 

When the temperature climbs, the green Pigface changes its colours from green to these beautiful colours

 

 

Further down the beach, this Pigface has its own version of sun related beautiful colours.

 

We have a little pea shaped flower just about to launch into bloom. It is difficult to find this one.

 

 

I had another break to look around at Dromana. There was heavy rain last night. Shortly after this photo was taken the sun shone brightly for hours.

 

 

   This tree was so spectacular I had to take a vertical photo.

 

 

Finally to seal the deal, when the fruit blossoms begin to show their heads, we must have spring weather.

 

This wattle was not so obvious when I started out, but on the way back, within a few hours this what happened with some warm sun.