Recently, Roy has been particularly enjoying the Spring time. He isn't too fond of winter, but he loves it when the weather starts to warm up during the day but the nights are still cold enough to snuggle down under a quilt. He also loves the flowers which come with the Spring, particularly the native flowers. He has a few friends who told him all about taking a holiday to Western Australia to see the wild flowers, which really surprised him. After all, Roy is used to seeing masses of wild flowers simply by going for a wander through the local bush.
Although Western Australia has made a tourist industry out of their fields of wild flowers, which are renowned as some of the most spectacular in the world, those living on the East Coast of Australia need not go so far to see native plants bursting with colour and fruit. Many people live not far from the bush themselves, yet often they miss the spectacular spring time displays of wild flowers. Roy thinks this is a real shame because the native flowers and plants are simply beautiful and they have a very important role in the wider Australian and Aboriginal history and culture. Spring is the perfect time to see the flowers, with them just now starting to come out. Over the next few weeks they should be spectacular! Just remember, look at the flowers but don't take any with you - the Australian Christmas Bush was almost wiped out by people collecting it!
Australia is lucky to still have a massive variety of native plants. In fact Australia has over 24000 species, while England has only about 1700! We also have a wide range of environments and climates, so different regions of Australia produce different types of plants, meaning the displays of flowers vary greatly. Where Roy and I live, in the Sydney area, we have masses of brilliantly coloured grevillia, yellow pea and wattle, interspersed with spectacular displays of pink, purple and white boronia and wax flowers and dainty displays of orchids. These are set against the sculptural beauty of banksia and waratah.
Australian plants have been used for thousands of years by Aboriginal people for food, medicine and even as plates and cups. Wattle provided seed which could be ground and made into a type of bread, while other plants, like bush tomatoes, quandong, geebung, figs and green plum provided fruit which could be eaten. Plants were also used as medicines, like native mint which was used to relieve coughs and colds and sap from gum trees which was used to treat burns. Today there is an industry developing around native plants - Aboriginals have taught us how delicious and useful they can be! Many restaurants are starting to use native spices like native pepper, lemon myrtle and bush tomatoes in their meals while eucalyptus and tea tree have long been recognised for their medicinal properties.
Europeans recognised the beauty and diversity of the native plants and flowers as well. Even before Australia was settled, William Dampier included illustrations of Australian plants in his 1703 book A voyage to New Holland. Captain Cooks 1770 journey to Australia had botanist Joseph Banks, after whom the Banksia was named, on board, as well as Sydney Parkinson, an artist. Banks, along with Daniel Solander collected over 30000 specimens and Parkinson created over 600 drawings of Australian plants during their visit. Others also took an interest, with the famous French botanist Labillardiere showcasing Australian plants in seven of his books. Even Napolean's wife Josephine was interested in Australian plants, patronising botanists and even growing over 100 plants herself, outside Paris!
Native plants, particularly their flowers, were also used in art and craft later in Australia's history, with famous art deco and art nouveau artists representing them in painting, pottery, sculpture and printing. Margaret Preston famously used native flowers, particularly the waratah in her work (in fact, for a time she lived up the road from where Roy and I live! You can see some of her work by clicking here) So popular were the native plants that when people began to decide on floral motifs for Australia after federation, there were two popular choices, the waratah and the wattle. The wattle, which grows Australia wide was eventually chosen, with the waratah (which grows mainly in the Eastern States, particularly NSW) going on to become NSW floral emblem. To learn more about native plants, click here. You could also visit your local Botanical Gardens to see the flowers and learn more about them.