“Higher up the bank a host of red spider flowers jig like living things to the music of the wind.”
Amy Mack – A Bush Calendar
Usually, when we think of searching for wildflowers we think of Spring. But in Amy Mack’s A Bush Calendar, we are introduced to an amazing array of beautiful flowers gracing the Australian bush in Autumn. Her words encouraged us to explore for ourselves. In April, we admired the Banksia, now we are going on a hunt to find more beautiful flowers.
Amy’s list of Autumn wildflowers in May includes:
- Crowea Saligna (Waxflower)
- Primelea linifolia (Slender Rice Flower)
- Bossiaea heterophylla (Bossiaea)
- Acacia discolor (Port Jackson Wattle)
- Acacia linearis (White Wattle)
- Acacia linifolia (Flax Wattle)
- Callistemon lanceolatus (Bottle brush)
- Grevillea punicea (Red Spider Flower)
- Styphelia longiflora (Five-corners)
- Styphelia tubiflora (Five -corners)
- Styphelia laeta (Five-corners)
- Leucopogon microphyllus (White beards)
- Wahlenbergia gracilis (Blue Bells)
- Eranthemum variable (Blue Sage)
Have you noticed any of these natives blooming near you? Would you enjoy making your own list of May flowers?
We have both the red and yellow Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos) flowering in our garden. We have added them to our Autumn Native Flower list.
When you go out on your next walk, see how many flowering natives you can find. Add them to your phenology wheel, nature diary, or journal. Keep a flowering native list for each month. Here is a notebook page you can download to keep track of your discoveries.
Don’t forget to add your findings to your Nature Club Badges, and if you’d like a complete year-long nature guide to walk alongside Amy Mack, take a look at Nature Study Australia’s ‘A Handbook to a Bush Calendar’
If you don’t have a copy of Amy Mack’s Bush Calendar, you can buy a print or digital copy from Living Book Press.
