We’ve Got Spring!

Marilyn’s Serendipity Photo Story this week was about autumn. Mine is about spring.

While folk in New England are wondering what happened to their Fall colours spring is in full swing in Tasmania. She teased us with a few beautiful days towards the end of August but even in September there was some backsliding into rain and snow. The daffodils came and went. Lambs were born and some sadly didn’t make it through the freezing weather. I’ve often wondered why lambs are born in late winter and early spring when there is a risk of them dying in the cold. Maybe a farming person can enlighten me as to why they couldn’t breed the ewes a month or so later.

Tulips are at their best in October in Tasmania and the cherry trees are showing blossom from within their netted enclaves. Our best cherries go to the Asian export market so the growers are very careful to protect the crop. Even then an unseasonable storm in November or December can ruin their hopes for another season. Who would be an orchardist? The apple trees are blossoming too, we still have a lot of orchards around the Huon Valley, even the apple tree in our garden which was bare just  a few weeks ago has new green leaves and a pale pink blossoms. The apple tree got a severe pruning a couple of months ago and while I admired the shape of the bare branches I was a little anxious in case it didn’t recover. It remains to be seen if it will bear fruit this coming autumn.

It’s delightful to see all the flowering street  trees planted by the local council as well as those in gardens.  I don’t know all the names but weeping cherry trees seem popular as street trees. My favourite flowering tree has to be the tulip magnolia. I had never seen these before moving to Tasmania and fell in love with them at once. I’m determined that I will get one for my own front garden if not this year then next year for sure when we have finished landscaping the back.

Golden wattle has been with us right through the winter, a cheerful patch of yellow in the gloomy days. We used to have a couple in our garden at our old house but took them out because of trouble with blocked drains and an allergic neighbour. Now I’m thinking I’d like another.

Spring is not through playing games with us though. Now that she’s tired of tormenting us with frost and fog she’s trying wind and heat. All of the southern part of Australia had temperatures that were well above the October average for a couple of days this week. Luckily for us in Tasmania that means temperatures of around thirty degrees Celsius but on the mainland states it’s been much hotter. There have already been bushfires. The season seems to start earlier and earlier every year.

I am enjoying the bird activity too. I quite frequently hear kookaburras laughing and occasionally spot them perched on the power lines. I haven’t seen a Rosella in the garden since the day a very surprised one landed on the washing line. He must have wondered where the old shed and trees had gone. The apple tree is the only tree left now but I hope that the birds will like the new trees we are getting as I chose most of them with birds in mind. There certainly seem to be a lot of smaller birds paying visits to our garden today, must be that new lawn seed. One pair have been flying in and out of the garage and I suspect they may be planning a nest up in the roof space. We’ve had nests there before. Little blue wrens visit us too. We used to also see robins and the larger native hens when we first moved here but I haven’t seen either of those in a long time. Spring definitely seems to have sprung at last.