Week 3 April 2001: 2mm of rain this week. We bought trays of struck cuttings from a local nursery. Crowea exalata and Grevillea teretifolia were the natives selected. The cuttings were potted on into native tubes. We finished up with 80 Croweas and a dozen Grevilleas. We will use the Croweas for massed displays and will plant a dozen or so close together in various garden beds.
Spent some time mowing. In our climate there shouldn’t be need to mow again until September. Mowing over a number of years has resulted in the reduction of weeds and an increase in the density of native grasses. Eventually some of the mown areas will be converted to gardens.
Some of our family visited over Easter and we walked to our western boundary. Found some flowering ground orchids. One was of particular interest. A Hyacinth Orchid (Dipodium punctatum) was flowering. This was surprising because this orchid usually flowers in December.
A walk in Cathedral Rock National Park was the highlight of this week. We walked to the Woolpack Rocks. These are dramatic granite tors and from the top there is an impressive view of the surrounding country. Plenty of rare and interesting plants grow along the track. Banksia integrifolia and Banksia spinulosa are to be seen in large numbers. In one area Banksia spinulosa was the dominant understorey shrub. The plants were in full flower and should continue to bloom over winter. Three rare plants grow in close proximity to the track. Styphelia perileuca is very rare and only occurs in Cathedral Rock National Park. Leucopogon cicatricatus is only found on the Northern Tablelands of NSW. Acacia mitchellii is a small wattle whose NSW distribution is restricted to the Northern Tablelands. The main populations occur in Victoria and South Australia. In the future we will post images of these rare plants on our site.