Even before Spring had officially sprung, the forest began to deck itself in royal purple.
Twining up saplings, threading through the spiky clumps of Lomandra and Dianella, or just running for glory through the grass — the Purple Coral Pea, Hardenbergia Violacea.
It’s also called False Sarsparilla, which doesn’t seem fair, as it’s just being itself, as if that isn’t gorgeous enough. The tough, heavily-veined leaves you can see here belong to it.
Much less showy, in fact so shy that it takes a lot of careful and close looking to find it, is the Wild Violet, Viola betonicifolia.
It’s also called the Purple Violet, which seemed a bit silly to me, but then they could hardly say the Violet Violet, could they?
It has distinctive long sword-shaped serrated leaves at the base of the single stem, if you’re looking out of season: you can see two in this photo, at roughly 12 and 3 o’clock.
Hi Sharyn
Are you aware that they are more than likely to be opening the Hunter as well as Merriwa-Mudgee for commercial kangaroo shooting?
Sandra
Hi Shane! You are lucky to still have your koalas. Whereabouts are you?
Mine seemed to have been wiped out in the terrible 2002 fires here, when my whole block burnt. Haven’t heard any since. But I keep hoping, and listening.
Cheers
Sharyn
We had our first Koala visit near the Dam yesterday. It won’t be long until it is mating season so they are starting to get out and about. We are in the Lower Hunter so I expect you will be seeing them soon too.
I love seeing that dramatic purple of the Hardenbergia as well, on some of the cleared banks are a mass of purple at the moment. A true site to be seen!
Regards
Shane