A Flower a Week : #5 Kangaroo Paw

The spectacular Red and Green Kangaroo Paw, Anigozanthos manglesii is the floral emblem of Western Australia. It is one of about twelve species of the genus Anigozanthos which is restricted to the south-west of Western Australia. The family Haemodoraceae to which it belongs occurs in Australia, Papua New Guinea, South Africa and the Americas.

This is another Kangaroo Paw species, smaller and not so individually spectacular as the Red and Green one but when seen massed in a garden bed they are a stunning sight.

September is the month King’s Park Botanical Gardens in Perth has its Spring Festival. A glorious celebration of the wild flowers that grow so profusely in Western Australia. Five years ago I achieved a dream of a life time when I spent 3 months travelling the length of WA immersed in the beauty of this regions native wild flowers and culminating in being in Perth for the Spring Festival.

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Nalinki on “Angles and views” is hosting a weekly series called: “Flowersoverflowers”, it will be posted every Tuesday. The idea is to bring some more colorful pics of nature into our blogosphere

A walk in the park…

I am a passionate garden person and, for me, the highlight of any town is a walk around their Botanic Garden. I class Kings Park in Perth in the top 3 gardens I have visited in Australia.

The last time I visited in 2010, it was Spring and the gardens were a riot of colour. It was wild flower season and the displays were breathtaking

Spring 2010

Now it is autumn and most of the flowers have gone, replaced by a pallet of green. We found a few splashes of colour the last of the natives.

But most had turned to seeds to hibernate till Spring arrives again.

It was Sunday and still hot and sunny. Families clustered under the shade of large trees enjoying picnics and precious time relaxing.

The grass is so green

As I walk across the soft, cushiony lawns I always marvel at the work and dedication the gardeners must put in to achieve this minor miracle of lushness in such a dry climate.

Tall gumtrees tower over the restaurant and souvenir shop, and a group of friends rest on one of the many seats dotted around.

A couple walk hand in hand.

A group of artists capture the moment

This is a people’s park and it is a joy to see this space being enjoyed in so many ways.

 The water garden area is a peaceful oasis.

The giant boab tree

This is a very special Boab Tree. When I saw it in 2010 it was struggling to survive a very traumatic move. But look at it now.

The Giant Boab

The story of the Giant Boab ‘Gija Jumulu’ captured world-wide media coverage during July 2008 as it journeyed over 3,200 kilometres, from Warmun in WA’s Kimberley region, to Kings Park in Perth.

Giant boab tree slideshow

Never before had a mature tree of this nature been transported across such a distance on land. The iconic tree, estimated to be 750 years old, weighs 36 tonnes and stretches 14 metres high and eight metres wide (branch span). Its trunk measures 2.5 metres in diameter.

Project Coordinator, Patrick Courtney said when the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority learned the tree needed to be relocated due to works on the Great Northern Highway, it jumped at the chance to secure it.

‘We had a call asking us how to move the boab, and we offered to find it a new home at Kings Park – 3,200 kilometres south! They said yes.’

Now known as ‘Gija Jumulu’, the tree is a special gift to all Western Australians from the local Indigenous people, the Gija, who are the traditional land owners. They performed a farewell ceremony to the Jumulu (boab in Gija language) on Monday, 14 July 2008.

Honour Avenue

As the afternoon sun paints shadows across the road between some of the 1300 Sugar Gums that form the Honour Avenue it is time to head back home.

Perth

 

Perth on the other side of the Swan River

Tomorrow we head for Geraldton, approx. 450 kilometres north of Perth.