I’ll start today’s post by quoting an excerpt from a poem I really like entitled ‘Leisure‘ by a Welsh poet W. H. Davies.
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
In Australia I find myself staring all the time, as I am continually wowed by the wonders of the continent’s endemic flora and fauna. Wherever I roam, I can’t help feeling absolutely amazed by the abundance of Western Australian native plant species in particular- their forms, shapes, colours and fragrances. So intricate and stunning in their unique design, they leave you with a lasting sense of wonder and beauty. My husband calls me Gaby the Botanist as I document each trip into the bush with hundreds of photos of various flowers, trees and bushes, but you don’t have to be an aspiring botanist to appreciate these natural gems. Look at the photos, below. They speak for themselves.
Various plants bloom and blossom at different times of the year, and so you are forever surrounded by one marvel of nature or another. But in Western Australia it is the winter/early spring that’s the best time to go exploring the bush in search of native flora at its prime. And if you only have time to go to one place for an ultimate botanic experience, make Kings Park your destination of choice. Sprawling across an impressive area of 400 hectares and hovering majestically over Perth city, with the Botanic Garden of Western Australia found within, it is home to one quarter – a staggering 3,000 species – of all Western Australian plants. A quirky fact for you, Western Australia has almost half of Australia’s 25,000 plant species and two thirds of these do not occur naturally anywhere else on earth! So have a look for yourself and be wowed.
And remember to stop and stare as often as you can. Wishing you many moments of wonder.
Till next time.
The image “Native Neutrals” courtesy of La La Land and the artist: Lilly Perrott
