It's VERY HOT........Trees Thrive

Over the past week the weather has turned NASTY, VERY NASTY.  Hot and sticky, relatively windless and oppressive.  Sunday was awful- 36.9 maximum [ just 0.3C below all time hottest for November] and there is little relief in the offing.  Oh for a cooling storm!

There has been virtually no rain around Darwin over the past month or so, after a burst on one day of around 15 -  25 mm.  While there has been rain south of Darwin, it has not penetrated as far north as city areas, although there has been rain south of the city around Berry Springs and Adelaide River, and even further south to Katherine.

But oh the local trees.............they are flowering magnificently.

Pride of India - pink and purple, Albizzia / Samanea saman the majestic rain tree covered in yellow fluff,  Poinciania  [ Delonix regia] - both red and orange forms; a wide range of colours in frangipanni, a few yellow flowered Peltophorum,  Allosyncarpia sp - now more common as a street tree in Darwin city and even in a few suburbs with their attractive pale yellow/ lemon bunched flowers.

One should not forget the displays of bougainvilia shrubs - white, purple, red and many more colours also now in full flower.  They thrive on dry weather!  

It is time.........the regular pre wet season flowering.

Purple Pride of India street trees

Red Poinciania in flower

Peltophorum in flower - bright yellow

The piece de resistance - a magnificent orange poinciana [ fairly uncommon] near the Trower Road overpass, in absolutely glorious full flower

That Time of Year - Troppo Season

There are signs, apart from the hot days and hot nights, as well as the high humidity.

These include:

ripe mangoes increasing in abundance

flowering rain trees in profligate colour and then leaving their flowers on the ground

madly flowering yellow Tabeuia argentea trees along Trower Road from Casuarina to the end

tempers shortening, more cross words

increasing use of air conditioners

increasing or even re-instated use of swimming pools and spas [ usually usage abandoned in the dry season as it is too cold for locals]

increased use of liquid refreshments - of all types

lawns growing

tourists leaving town

AND...............last but not least - green tree frogs noisely croaking in any damp place, or at any sign of rain! 


All are now occurring....................must be close to the troppo season in Darwin.

green tree frog

!

Yellow Flowered Trees Anyone?

That time of year again when the local trees are flowering, before the wet season.

From recently, there have been rain trees.....with a massive flower fall as well, and some Tabueaia argenta on Trower Rd at Casuarina in golden yellow with no leaves obvious,  to the weeping rosewoods.

This rosewood is a few houses from our place........it is magnificent today. There are several others in our suburb, including one near the old Rite Price complex.......and most are now in full flower.

Fantastic!

RAIN - A Lot of It!

I am composing this late in the evening of February 16. On a pretty wild and blustery evening, with Tropical Cyclone Carlos hovering around Darwin - moving a little, but not often, and delivering a lot of rain.

In the 24 hours to 0900 today, rainfall around Darwin was mostly in the 250 - 380mm range with tops being 435mm. Our rain gauge certainly overflowed several times........and I have used the 435mm as our rainfall, as the site with this recording and ours, are usually very similar on a daily basis. Most areas close to the ocean front - and that is us, received much more rain than the official recording site of the Met Bureau at the airport, which had 340mm of rain recorded.

That is a LOT of rain.........and since then, about another 150mm has fallen today so far. Might exceed 200mm by 0900 tomorrow, the official "time to record". And more of the same is expected tomorrow too........

Biblical rain.......anyone for a new ark???

The creek below our street flooded across the road and into some houses at both high tides today, and last night there was mayhem with quite a few cars washed across the road, and a driver left hanging onto the traffic lights to stop being washed away. The airport has been closed since yesterday - wind too strong for aircraft operations, and may not re-open before Friday or Saturday.

And yes, it was a new alltime daily rain total for Darwin.......officially.... at the Met Bureau site at the airport, even though a bit less than our area.

The past 36 hours has seen wild wind around Darwin, although maximum gusts have only been around 100km/hr, about normal for a Category 1 cyclone. But it has just continued incessantly over that long period. Usually, it all over in 6 - 12 hours........but more is still to come. Wind has eased a little this evening, although it seems to have intensified a little in the past hour. But with Cyclone Carlos hanging around and doing loops around Darwin I guess we will get more wind than a normal "passing through" cyclone.

Lots of fallen trees, a few submerged cars, many roads impassable due to trees down as well as rain, swollen creeks and drains.

One fantastic point - and thank you NT Government - has been continuing electricity supply in our area, an area recently converted to underground electricity power, which the NT Government funded. Some areas around Darwin with overhead supply have been without power since last night, and might be so for a few days yet. Mainly due to wires damaged from falling trees.

Still more to come.......

Losing a Friend

Well.........sort of, although not as most people will suppose.

A tree is being given the first part of a significant makoeover today. A very large african mahogany. It is a great tree, with excellent timber too.



It is a friend........the only tree still standing on our house block of land, when we purchased the lot after Cyclone Tracy. Not only did it survive Cyclone Tracy, there have been a few more cyclones since then, although not as fierce. All were handled with aplomb and ease. Lost leaves, the odd branch........but still it stands there, magnificent, large and VERY shady. It has grown into a very significant tree providing shade for all of the cul de sac in which we live, a very shady street. So with some reluctance it had to be addressed.

We have been awaiting the completion of undergrounding powerlines, which is now close to finalisation, and remaining overhead lines are de-energised. Time to wave au revoir to our friend, although it is NOT being totally removed. NO!!

But it does need a serious pruning, with many large limbs now over the house, the solar hot water system is shaded and much less efficient, birds are dropping seeds and bird droppings into the spa pool and all over the roof , and there is a danger from some branches falling and maybe causing damage / problems as they weaken and fall.

It has been a bit of a problem........a few weeks ago there was to be a start, but after the monstrous crane arrived, it was deemed "too hard". Anyway, after further deliberations, today is to be the day. A second attempt.

Things went ok for awhile...........limbs were cut, limbs were lifted, limbs were run through the shredder. BUT................a watermain burst, under one of the outrigger placement arms of the monster crane. Oh hell!!!

That required instant repair, as it is the main water supply to all residences in the street.
So work stopped again.

Some limbs are gone............but still more to go.

Until next time...............au revoir..................again!

UPDATE - it has not been all good above on the roof either. A broken glass panel on the solar hot water system, and a very serious whack on the side of the hot water tank - it is not leaking, but has seriously damaged the outside galvanised tank, and may mean the insulation will get wet.

Holy toledo........more tree created issues!

Yellow Flowers - But Be Quick

I have been photographing a few local "significant" trees recently.

Yes, as I said, it is that time of year when many trees flower. So they can set seeds into the wet season, and hopefully germinate a few replacement seeds that will become new trees.

While there have been a few over the past few weeks, this past week has been the time for weeping rosewood trees to do their thing. They have a beautiful, pendulous crown and the shade under a weeping rosewood is very dense, for all of about 50 weeks each year.......not 52 though.

They have been flowering this past week or so, and they are very eyecatching with a large dense crown thoroughly covered in bright golden flowers. But you need to be quick, as the flowers are really an "all or nothing" event, rapidly going from bright yellow flowers to almost no colour as the flowers are rapidly shed onto tthe ground. THEN........they lose most of the leaves, but for about 1-2 weeks, during which time they look awful. It is not uncommon for newcomers to think the tree has died, or maybe, succumbed to termites.

Then a verdant green replacement set of leaves arrives on the scene, for another year.



One photo is of a single tree, not far from our house two days ago - in full colour. It is magnificent. The others are of a group of trees on a major road - yesterday they were still resplendent in yellow, but today........look hard and see what is left of the flowers, as a pale yellow brown tinge.......with leaf fall to come. It happens that quickly.

Pride of India - More Great Flowering Trees

Pride of India – the name says it all. A fantastic flowering tree that gets to about 8 m [40 feet]. Botanical name - Lagerstroemia speciosa. Alternate common names – crepe myrtle or Persian lilac [there are others too] Here in Darwin they are flowering right now, mid October. There seem to be three common forms here in Darwin – pale pink, cerise [dark pinky /red] and lilac, and often they are inter mingled where they have been used as street trees. Unfortunately, they can be somewhat susceptible to termites, and there are a few sad specimens that seem to have been somewhat significantly damaged by termites, probably as a result of stress due to poor watering in the dry season, where not all street trees get well looked after by the adjacent householder.

They say that the tree benefits from year round watering, but the most magnificent flowering specimens tend to often be relatively less irrigated. There is a trade off between large well grown trees and plenty of flowers – so a balance is needed to get both.

This year the trees seem very prominent with excellent flowering.

Bangalore in India has some excellent specimens, and they are commonly grown as ornamentals in SE Asia – Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, India, Singapore and tropical Australia, even as far south as Sydney. There was one at my parents house in Sydney, but it never grew to be the giant tree seen in the tropics, more like a large woody shrub. Still flowered beautifully though, and deciduous!

At this time of the year, when it is hot, very dry and dusty and the weather is plain just stinking hot, the presence of some of these great flowering trees in full bloom do help to lift your mood.

As does a good mango - yes, it is mango season too!!

Those MAGNIFICENT Poinciana Trees - Again

I know I have had a post about poinciana trees before - even about this time of the year. Afterall, this is the time of the year they flower.

And flower they do............magnificent canopy of orange - red or red flowers that literally cover the tree. Leaves are gone, mostly, just a few remaining black seed pods from last year and red flowers, and red flowers and red flowers.

They occur in many areas around Darwin and the intensity of the flowering is virtually in inverse proportion to the amount of water received during the dry season. Lack of care seems to help with the leaf drop and massive flowering...........almost the "last hurrah", a galant effort to procreate before the storm season commences.

This magnificent specimen is in full colour, although they do grow much bigger, and is in Robinson Road, Millner.

It is spectacular.

Yes........I know that trees in flower have had quite a few posts of late. But.....'tis the season!

And they do look great!

You have to be positive at this time of the year. Hot days - 35 - 37C and very, very strong sun, that seems to burn and burrow through bare skin in minutes, so getting out and doing much between 1100 and 1500hrs is very foolish. The old colonial adage of " Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" is very true. You tend to be lethargic and seeking shade and a good overhead fan, or even better.........into the air conditioning. The weather is very sapping of energy if you are working outside.

The photos were taken around the middle of the day, but from a short venture out of an air conditioned vehicle, to take them without too much shadow.

These trees absolutely flourish in these conditions.

Fabulous Yellow Median Strip Flowering Trees in Darwin

Around September / October each year the median strips are alive with colour............lots of yellow, nothing else.

They are planted along several areas in the northern suburbs of Darwin. The median strips are otherwise, pretty bare. No fancy irrigated grass, no exotic herbaceous plants, no palms! And for about 10 months of the year the trees are very ordinary looking.

The species is a tough tree that could be planted, in difficult conditions, that is not going to fall over in most heavy storms or cyclones. The species actually grows reasonably well in awful, hard lateritic shallow soils. And does not require much irrigation. Would seem to be a fair choice for a major thoroughfare street tree.

When green and not flowering, it looks straggly, daggy and not all that well shaped. But when it flowers it is absolutely fantastic. To see the mass of flowers emerging from a tree in the most awful growing site is something special. It is not a final, spectacular, last gasp at procreation either........they flower every year. Remember Tabebuia argentea - a great tree for tough conditions.

Trower Road, near Casuarina Shopping Centre.........and all the way along Trower Road to the end, near Brinkin is planted with them, and just coming into flower now.

More Fabulous Local Trees

As a follow up, there are a few more spectacular trees to be seen around Darwin at this time of year. Yes, there are some fabulous looking red poinciana trees, but have a look at this specimen.




Fabulous flowering and a very sweet perfume

Adjacent to the rain tree! Consensus is that the yellow flowered tree is Albizzia lebbeck or Siris tree.

The Mighty Rain Tree

Musing while walking the dog can lead to putting fingers to the keyboard.

The rain trees around the city are moulting, indeed raining! Yes, huge quantities of faded yellow fluff, the remnant materials around the flower.


Rain trees creep up on you, very slowly. You do not notice the small ones, and there are quite a few around the city in open space areas and parks. But the older ones are memorable...........huge trees, with no doubt a few memories. Many would be well over a hundred years old, with huge towering and widespread crowns that reach out across the roads and paths around the city.

Those along Gardens Road near the city centre are absolutely monstrous trees, surviving I would guess major cyclones in 1897, 1937 and 1974, at least, plus many smaller cyclonic events. They probably date from when the area along what is now Gardens Road was a Chinese vegetable garden back in the mid to late 1800s.

The one that I noticed is a bit more curious, being along the edge of Rapid Creek but obviously a very large tree. Part of the area near Rapid Creek was a Jesuit mission in the late 1800s, and the two trees are both very large and close to a small ephemeral freshwater creek, now not flowing this late in the dry season.


The trees must be old........the area was not used much, not even during WW2, between the Jesuits mission and the establishment of the modern suburb of Rapid Creek in the early 1960s. These trees predate the modern suburb - they are just too big.

But who planted them and when?

I do not mind - we need these large trees for shade, and the mighty rain tree sure provides that, along with a place for the odd bird's nest - in this case a pair of pee wees [see middle photo].

They are also very sturdy, and have survived cyclones - large and small . That is a big plus. Big is what they become, so they need a large space..........but a great tree, and the city is better for their presence.

NT Open Garden Scheme

The Northern Territory has an open garden scheme, which functions during the Dry Season.

The scheme operates with local gardens open to the public - and these gardens are very varied in size, style [or lack of] and tend to represent what may be achieved in local conditions. Garden size is "pocket hankerchief" to several hectares. Most are far removed from the classic stylish gardens of Europe or even temperate Australia. Classic regular form - think of the gardens of Versailles or St Petersburg - is usually absent.

Some gardens have been excellent in 2009...........and some I think ........well, this is a public blog, so enough said.

I was dragged against my choice all of 70kms out of Darwin today to visit an extensive 4 ha garden. Some interesting ideas, and over 4ha the garden was a bit variable, but covered most of the main points of shade, curves and a lead through to something different. Tropical gardens NEED shade......lots of it, to moderate heat and harsh light with mulch to conserve moisture.

They did have about 500 roses.....ONCE......but they are dying off slowly, now down to around 300 and still declining. This is not rose country, you are always struggling, so why try when failure is almost assured - disease seems to get you every time.

But it was not all that awful........a good veggie garden, cool nooks among the trees and it seems, lots of irrigation, obviously from their own bore- so much so in places that the lawn was all sedges from overwatering.

Not one of the top few, even for large extensive gardens, but ok.

Still, I think I could have used my time better. Although the other half insisted I go......oh well.

More Poinciana Colour

I think this year has been an excellent one for the poinciana tree flowering display. This photo was at the entrance to the Botanical Gardens, and so beautifully framed by two beauty leaf trees [ which are actually on the opposite side of the road].

Just spectacular!

The Poincianas are Fantastic

It is November. Hot and humid, not much rain, and the poincianas are in flower. Verdant, red and fabulous.......mostly. They have an absolutely fantastic appearance for about a month whilst they are in flower.





Their colourful display is truly awesome. This specimen is in a local suburban street.



Darwin also has a few specimens of the rare orange form. Maybe not as in your face colourful, but still beautiful on large trees. This one even has some purple bougainvillea!