Colour Your Garden This Birak Season

by Sue Dempster, Wildflower Whisperer, Western Wildflower Gardens

Wildflowers are clever! And over the thousands of years that they have adapted to the Western Australian clime and soils, they have managed to create a unique relationship with the soil with their complex root systems. This is a good reminder to start loving your soil and refrain from adding products to it as it is naturally perfect and well-suited for the 15,000 different wildflower species we have thriving here.

In Birak, we see a wide range of colour on display in wildflowers of every variety. It is an enchanting time and there are several additions we could recommend for your garden that will brighten up your space and day.

For example, consider the petite plants that grow under 30-50 cm with daisy-like flowers and thrive throughout the lower levels of your garden for the duration of the warmer period. A community favourite from this class is the Swan River Daisy (Brachyscome iberidifolia), which emerges with speckles of blue, mauve and white, making any gardener's heart sing. When you mix this in with the Rottnest Island Lace Flower (Trachymene coerulea), the beautiful pops of mauve dome-shaped flowers and the accompanying native daisies are a sight to behold. The different varieties of Scaveola may be another favourite from this group.

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For the middle level (around 1 metre and up), golden Verticordia nitens, orange and red Beaufortia squarrosa, and purple Calytrix fraseri can add fantastic bursts of colour while sitting at an indulging height, perfect for a big breath of their beautiful fragrance. These wildflowers are a brilliant addition of colour for any garden to indicate the arrival of the Birak season.

For suitable garden trees, you can look at white Agonis flexuosa, Melaleuca linariifolia and small-growing Corymbia calophylla—all of which bloom alongside the golden Nuytsia floribunda. Another particularly special variety of tree is the Corymbia ficifolia there grows in a range of enticing colours—red, burgundy, yellow, and orange. All of these trees provide ample shade and protection to smaller wildflower bush that are loved by bees and other insects. The canopy is great to filter out the harsh sun.

It is so easy and satisfying to introduce amazing colours in your garden by simply following these gardening tips that are aligned with the Nyungar six seasons! Especially to enjoy a native garden full of seasonal colour that provides plenty of picture-perfect moments all year round—colourful food for your soul!


Cover Image:
Verticordia nitens bee by jeans_Photos, on Flickr
"Verticordia nitens bee" (CC BY 2.0) by jeans_Photos



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