A spring slice of Sugarloaf..

My god. The inconsistency of the posting frequency on this blog is startling.

Went back to my favourite Sugarloaf/Harold Reid reserve the other day. Lovely sunny arvo, with the sweet sweet fragrance of Lomandra sneaking into the Olfactory....

There was a bunch of Sidney Nolans slashing away at their renditions of the spectacular view of the bush carpark (complete with port-a-loo). From memory there was a cubist, a modernist, and one red, bloody and violent, towering inferno-style artwork which was mildly disturbing considering the subject matter.

It was much more relaxing on the other side of the ridge, away from the painters' evil glares. UNTIL I SAW A SIGHT THAT WOULD DRAIN THE FLUID FROM YOUR KNEES.

  

Now, at first glace this is just the whopping flowering stem of the Erythrorchis cassythoides that I mentioned in my maiden post.

This year it has produced another flowering stem up the other trunk. How splendid, I hear you say.

But if you look closely you will see that it has been interfered with. Meddled with. Tied up with string to the Angophora. You can't do that, it's breaking the rules!

This has completely destroyed the magic. It has introduced a disgusting, vile, human element to what is otherwise a gob-stopping natural occurrence. Gone is the secrecy, the wonder and the mystery, and in its place a hideous reminder of Homo sapien and his never-ending quest to diddle with his environment. LET IT BE.

There was an 'inferior' flowering stem running along a log next to the tree that has a completely different form....

 

Woohoo!!!

Woah, didn't see you down there!!!

Wow - it's been a while since I've posted so I'll have to personally apologise to my readers: 
Mother - stop reading this over my shoulder and; 
Chris -  I'll see you at home - buy beers!


Anyway, I have just moved house with my 400+ glorious potted specimens, and now am in the process of 'trimming the fat' (not for lack of a better expression). The garden had been severely overlooked at the old residence, but now with the new 50m2+ of inner city yard space (bloody acreage I reckon), I'm itching to get some in the ground. Just have to dig up the field of Alstroemeria that's currently taking over the garden and she'll be right. The clumps of tubers are quite grotesque, and florists know the flowers as being quite 'cheap and cheerful'. Perfect for you tight-fisted louts who are in the doghouse but aren't in a hurry to leave.

Was just about to chuck out the 50th pot of Aloe Vera (a misguided cash crop idea) when I looked down and saw what I thought was a weedy sedge in flower.

WAY OFF!

Due to the feverish nature of my plant collecting, I had forgotten I had bought a Dendrochilum tenellum way back when. This is a small cloud-forest dwelling orchid from the Philippines. It had been sitting around doing it's thing for about 4 years and only flowered after we'd moved. I just have it sitting in a pot with about 1cm of water in dappled sun. The flowers are close to being invisible to the naked eye and I even struggled to get the detail through a magnifying glass. To be fair, I am probably as blind as Tony Archer at Leichhardt.

The flowering spikes come out the side of the leaves and remain for years so treat as you would a Hoya and don't trim too hastily.

A large specimen of this plant is a sight to behold (with binoculars)

Another awesome flower at the moment is Zieria prostrata. This is an east coast native north of Sydney that is rare in nature. It is extremely hardy, dry-tolerant and disease resistant so you have to wonder what the deal is with the scarcity of this species?! It is getting common in cultivation - about damn time!

Ok, a bit of eye candy now. Those WA folk are spoilt I tell you.

DEAD SEXY. (Chorizema cordatum)