Plants along the 'Two Bays Bushwalk' from Dromana to Cape Schanck

Two Bays Walking Track 2014

In late December 2014 I was visiting the Monington Peninsula and decided to attempt what is known as the Two Bays walking track. The track is a respectable 26km long and starts in Dromana in the area known as Arthurs seat and ends at the lighthouse in Cape Schanck.

Indigenous plant hunt along the Two Bays Bushwalk

A few days before I trekked the Two Bays walk I had just finished a book about Charles Darwin and the other prominent British naturalists of the 19th century. The tales of botany in that book inspired me to try and locate and identify some indigenous plants. All in all I managed to identify and photograph many more than I expected. I must say that if you are a bit of a plant nerd like me that trying to identify indigenous plants along a walk makes it much more interested and rewarding. It's amazing how being able to identify native plants really opens your eyes as to the diversity of plants in the bushland.

A Xanthorrhoea heaven on earth

The most impressive plants on show along the track were the monstrous Xanthorrhea australis grass trees. These trees grow at an extremely slow rate. The annual vertical growth rate is reputed to rarely be greater than 2cm. Some of the plants along the walk were over 2m tall with flower spikes reaching well over 3m tall. These grass trees are very expensive to buy in nurseries as they are listed as vulnerable plants and as such it is illegal to take them from the wild. Although they are listed as vulnerable you wouldn't know it from the huge number on show along the Two Bays track. I was pleasantly surprised as I never expected that there would be so many densely packed into this area. They were growing so densely that on certain sections of the track they were hedged to as their foliage was blocking the path.

The walk itself

In retrospect my biggest mistake was not bringing any band aids with me. For the first 19km I was fine but the last 7km wasn't so comfortable as a couple of blisters had formed on my feet. I'm not the fittest person on earth but I wouldn't describe myself as unfit either so If you think of yourself in the same way the walk should be within your capabilities. The walk took me 7 hours to complete and apart from my aching feet I felt fine. If you want to attempt this walk yourself maybe try some smaller walks to begin with if you are unsure, take plenty of water and check the bushfire rating if it is summer.

Below are a series of pictures I took along the way of some indigenous plants and other niceties.

This is the view from the Arthurs Seat section of the walk overlooking Dromana. This section was quite steep but after the the walk was fairly flat and mostly downhill.

Messmate trees form the canopy for large parts of the track near Arthurs Seat.

The first indigenous plant I found was this Goodenia ovata common name hop goodenia

This plant is called Dipodium roseum (common name pink hyacinth orchid). It was easy to spot as its bright pink flowers stood out amongst all the green of the bushland.

These next 2 photographs turned out great. They are flowers of the coastal banskia tree Banksia integrifolia.

The spent flowerheads of the coastal banksia.

The plant below is definately not indigenous. It is called boneseed and is a noxious weed. Signage in this area said the weed was such a problem that they have start trialing biological controls to try and eradicate it.

Not all the track is in the bushland. This vineyard is typical of many in the area which is known for producing superb white wine.

This next group of pictures shows Xanthorrheoa australis plants along the section the track south of gardens road.

The track is clearly marked with the fairy wren logo and direction arrows.

Speaking of fairy wrens I managed to snap this one. There are lots of them in the area.

This photo was taken deep in the Greens Bush section of the walk. In 1975 the state government purchased 500 hectares of bushland from the Greens family with the view of protecting it from development or farming. The Greens Bush section is the most untouched section of the walk. Lots of grass trees were growing here and you are surrounded by only the sights and sounds of the bush.

Xanthorrhoeas in the Greens Bush section.

After leaving Greens Bush the trees start to be dominated by coastal banksias as shown below.

Below is some sort of Leptospermum (common name tea tree). I had trouble trying to identify the exact species of the tee tree as there are many that look similar but I couldn't find one that looked exactly like the ones I found.

This little plant was everywhere on the section of track close to Cape Schanck. It is called Chenopodium candolleanum (common name seaberry saltbush). Apparently the leaves can be cooked and eaten.

This pristine section of beach is called Bushranger's Bay. It looked to have some small / medium waves and nice clear water. Definitely on my hit list for the next visit.

A tunnel of tea trees along the last 4km of the walk.

The Cape Schanck lighthouse was sight for sore eyes (or more accurately sore feet). If you've made it this far you have completed the whole 26km.

The boardwalk and rocky coastal section at Cape Schanck.

The indigenous plant below is Leucophyta brownii or the cushion bush.

I made it to the ocean. Below is a view from the sand on the beach below the Cape Shanck boardwalk.

The foliage of Disphyma crassifolium or noon flower was found on the banks along the Cape Schank boardwalk area.

Alas this was the only noon flower I found on the plant. If only I had been there a month or so earlier.

Last of all a picture of the Melaleuca sp.

Calendula officinalis aka pot marigold a greet self seeder in my home garden

Calendula officinalis the plant that keeps on giving

Calendula or pot marigold is a very popular and common annual flower in many ornamental gardens throughout the world. In fact it is so commonplace that I found inconclusive results as to which region this plant originates. Some sources say Europe and others India. It can grow to about 80cm tall in extreme cases and can be used in mass plantings as a complete ground cover. Calendula has many medicinal, companion planting, culinary and even cosmetic uses which I will write about in another blog entry.

Self seeding 

I planted Calendula in one of my flower beds at home a couple of years ago and it is still going strong to this day. Being an annual plant Calendula's tactic for reproductions is to produce as many seeds as it can which fall to the ground after the flowers are done. The flowers are at their best in spring and summer however in Melbourne they can pretty much have some sort of flower on display all year round. The seeds have an interesting shape and remind me of little dried and curled up millipedes. The first year they sprouted in my garden from self sown seeds I originally thought they could be forget me not seedlings (forget me nots are a bit of a weed in my area depending on whether you like them  or not). Luckily I suspected they could be Calendula seedlings and let them develop into full plants.

Escape artist

Calendula is such a successful self seeder that it can escape if you let it. It is not fussy about soil conditions and I have seen it growing in my Macedon garden in between pavers where the soil would be quite poor. If you want it to self seed as I do then leaving a few plants to die off naturally will ensure they are perpetual garden residents. If you don't want them around any more it is important to dead head or pull out the plants once they develop seed heads (see below the picture below).

Calendula flowers in my Macedon garden during early summer.

A close up of a Calendula seed head loaded with seed. If you don't want any more pot marigolds then you need to make sure these little seed bombs don't hit the ground.

Visit to the Geelong Botanic Gardens in spring 2014

The Geelong Botanic Gardens

Brief history of the gardens

The gardens were first established in 1856 and are the fourth oldest botanic gardens in Australia. The first curator of the gardens was the English born botanist and gardener Daniel Bunce who developed and expanded the gardens in terms of both its physical size and in the amount of established plants which it contained. In 1859 published a catalogue of 2,235 plants which he established in the gardens which is impressive considering he was only appointed curator in 1857. He was also responsible for many of the now mature trees, some of which are national trust trees.

The second curator was John Raddenberry who was responsible for reducing the amount of Bunce's blue gums and replacing them with more traditional English trees. He was also build a huge fernery (18 metres high) which was neglected then demolished. Around this time the gardens shrunk in size but in 1959 they were expanded again and in the present day they are large in size but also packed with interesting plants.

Entrance plantings

Upon arriving at the gardens I was impressed by the entrance which was announced with the flower spikes of several Xanthorrhoea plants and the swollen trunks of Queensland bottle (boab) trees. Xanthorrhoea plants are really expensive (you are charged per cm of height) and these ones were huge. Once I had walked into the gardens themselves I encountered what is known as the 21st Century garden which had a large pond (or billabong), a landscaped sand area, natives and exotics, a cactus bed and to my delight a tree named Dracaena draco (dragon tree). I had seen a another similar tree online called Dracaena cinnabari on the internet and didn't realize we had this similar tree in Victoria.

Xanthorrhoea plants complete with flower spikes 

The swollen bellys of these trees were a dead give-away that they were boab trees aka Queensland bottle trees.

The amazing branch structure of the dragon tree (botanical name Dracaena draco).

 Ponytail palm trees in the 21st century garden.

The cactus bed with the classic barrel cactus in abundance. 

Rose and tea gardens

The next part of the gardens was the rose garden which had all the different types of old roses on display. Unfortunately none were in flower that day because seeing them all in flower would have been a great way to see their differences and would have helped me in future identification of old roses. Following the rose area was a section called the tea garden which contained plants to make teas and herbal infusions such as fennel and calendula.

I'm guessing this may have been the original entrance but it is now surrounded by the 21st century garden. There are two 'bollard people' one of which you can see in the picture below. The other bollard represents Daniel Bunce.

One half of the rose garden which unfortunately was not in flower at the time.

Part of a bed of calendula in one of the tea garden beds.

Rock pillar of the forgotten garden

After the rose and tea beds there was a large fountain close to several large banana trees complete with fruit. This area also had a section called the forgotten garden which I'm pretty sure is where the old fernery used to be. A large rock pillar which was covered in sprawling creeping fig remains in place. This pillar used to be at the centre of the massive fernery.

Banana trees complete with fruit.

The large rock pillar which used to be the central piece of the now demolished fern house.

National trust trees and the temperate garden

Beyond the forgotten garden I found several of the national trust trees such as huge Ginkgo biloba (maidenhair tree) and one of my personal favourites a Californian redwood tree. Near the Ginkgo was an extensive collection of pelargonium plants and a section called the temperate garden.

The national trust Ginkgo biloba tree. Ginkgo's are an ancient tree species that evolved before flowering plants.

Part of the temperate garden

A view from underneath the national trust Sequoia sempervirens (Californian redwood) tree. One of my personal favourites.

The next two pictures are of the Pelargonium collection.

Parallel beds with interesting plants

I ended the visit with a walk through several of the parallel garden beds. I'm not entirely sure but I think these may have been part of Bunce's original design. From there I walked back through the new fern area and as to end the visit I saw a bizarre looking tree that seemed to be directing all its growth to one side. I didn't have time to properly identify it but I think it may have been a monkey puzzle tree. If you are interested in plants and gardens please visit the Geelong botanic gardens if you are in the area. You will not regret it.

One of the parallel beds bordered by good old English box.

At first I thought the plant in the next two pictures was a Correa but it was called Justicia pauciflora.

 Aucuba japonica or variegated Japanese laurel.

Justicia brandegeana common name shrimp bush. I guess I can see why it got that name.

 A flower on a South African bottle brush bush.

A view of the fernery with soft tree ferns a plenty.

Maybe this tree was once shaded out on one side causing its growth to be directed to one side.

The Art of Botanical Illustration Exhibition 2014 including Beverley Lewis's 'Separation Tree' artwork.

Botanical Art Exhibition 2014

About a month ago I was contacted by the convener of the Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne in relation to completing some writing to accompany some botanical art for an upcoming exhibition. I was quite excited about the prospect as writing an accompaniment for botanical artwork was a new prospect for me.

The artwork about which I wrote was an illustration of the 'Separation Tree' in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. The artist is Beverley Lewis and the illustrations were done using graphite pencil. Seeing the art in person was amazing. Beverley emailed me some jpgs examples of the illustrations but I didn't realize how large (almost a 90cm high) and incredibly detailed they were until I saw them at the exhibition.  The Separation Tree tree has been the subject of some of my writing in the past and I've visited it on several occasions. I kept the writing to a few small paragraphs (see the finished product below). It is also interesting how the location of the exhibition mirrored certain details about he separation tree's history namely;

• The Separation Tree is named so because Charles La Trobe made the proclamation of Victoria's split from NSW and the exhibition was next door to Charles La Trobe's cottage
• The plaque under the Separtion Tree which briefly describes its history was unveiled by Sir Reginald Dallas Brooks and the exhibition was held in a building on Dallas Brooks drive.

In addition to Beverley's work there were 137 other spectacular pieces of art on display and all were for sale. They ranged from graphite pencil to pen and also watercolour. Another artist with work on display at the exhibition was Craig Lidgerwood. I've known Craig for a couple of years now as he lives Macedon which is my hometown. Seeing his two fabulous watercolour paintings was a suprise as I didn't realize he had anything featured.

If you are interested in botanical art I recommend you go see the exhibition. It closes on November the 9th and is open 10am - 4pm weekdays, 10am - 6pm weekends and 10am to 4pm on Sunday the 9th of November. The address is Dallas Brooks Drive, Melbourne.

Below are two jpg images of Beverley's artwork. These pale in comparison to seeing the real thing. The level of detail and size of the illustrations must be seen with the naked eye to be fully appreciated.

Below is my writing which accompanied Beverley's incredible artwork

_____________________________________________________________________________

On the morning of the 15^th of November 1850, Charles La Trobe addressed a large gathering to formally announce that Victoria would become a colony separate from that of New South Wales. He made the famous proclamation at the north-western section of the Melboune Royal Botanic Gardens, under a River Red Gum tree. 

On that sunny spring day the newly established turf in the Botanic Gardens was an ideal location for a celebration. Perhaps this River Red Gum’s established size was a natural focal point for La Trobe to make his announcement or maybe it merely provided shade from the sun. Whatever the reason, this tree, through circumstances favourable to both location and time, made its way into the state of Victoria’s history and is now locally known as the ‘Separation Tree’.    

The Separation Tree is 24 metres high and its trunk has a diameter of 1 metre. It is estimated to be between 300 and 400 years old which means it predates European colonization. The site of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne was an important meeting and gathering place for the Wurundjeri people and other clans of the Kulin nation. As such the Separation Tree holds significance as a witness to Melbourne’s pre and post-colonial history.

           Alexander Krasovskis 

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne (undated) Aboriginal Resource Trail Teachers Kit, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne website.

National Trust http://www.trusttrees.org.au/tree/VIC/Melbourne/Royal_Botanic_Gardens_Birdwood_Avenue_5 [accessed 13/10/2014]

Fagg, P (2012) ‘The ‘Separation Tree’: past present and possible future’ in The Victorian Naturalist, Vol 129 (4).

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The sign just outside the entrance to the exhibition with Charles La Trobe's cottage in the background

I visited the actual Separation Tree after the exhibition.

Links

Beverley Lewis's website 

http://bevlewis.zenfolio.com/ 

Exhibition website (whilst it is still up)

http://www.imis100ap1.com.au/FRBGM/FRBGM_Content/Botanic_Art_Folder/TABI/The_Art_of_Botanical_Illustration.aspx 

Craig Lidgerwood's website

http://www.craiglidgerwood.com/

Wisteria is a spectacular and fast growing climber

Looking for a hardy climbing plant?

If a tough climber is what you need then Wisteria definitely fits the bill. Right now the purple flowers of Wisteria plants are on show throughout Melbourne. The eight species of twining Wisteria are native to China, Japan and Eastern USA. I have to admit I'm not sure which one is the type that is common here though I suspect it may be of Chinese origin (Wisteria sinensis). It is a deciduous plant that develops flowers in spring which are followed by foliage. The foliage is all gone by the time the cooler weather arrives. This makes it a handy plant to grow on a pergola or similar structure where it can provide shade in the warmer months and light in the cooler ones.

Caring for your Wisteria plants

Wisteria is such a tough plant there really isn't much advice I terms of plant care. I've seen it grow in all sorts of conditions and it always seems to do fine. It does like a sunny position and they say that the roots like to be kept cool if possible. This usually isn't a problem as the plant shades its base in the warmer months as that is when it grows its flowers / leaves.  The basic points of feeding the plant when it is in its growth phase and watering it when the weather dries up applies to Wisteria although I wouldn't call it a high water use plant. Wisteria can sucker and layer so you want to also keep an eye on that or you may have Wisteria growing all over the place.

Pruning Wisteria

The main problem you will probably run into with Wisteria is keeping its growth in check. Wisteria is a really fast grower and I'm always amazed to see how long the new growth is when it comes time to prune it. Speaking of pruning I use a pretty simple method where I just cut back the new lateral growth down to about 15cm (or close to that length as I cut above a budding point). Next year I'll do another more detailed blog entry this pruning method.

The glorious flowers of a Wisteria plant in bloom.

Below this Wisteria is growing on a frame which shades the area below in the warmer months and lets light through in the cooler months.

Wisteria trained onto wires providing an attractive wall covering.