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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/26/australias-early-spring-brings-budding-flowers-chirping-birds-and-climate-alarm>
"Kangaroo paws normally flower in late September in Cranbourne, south-east of
Melbourne. This year they bloomed in July.
The Western Australian plant has since been joined by a host of spring-blooming
flowers, attracting animals who would typically wait for warmer months.
“I’ve noticed birds and insects [appearing] because of all of the flowers,”
says Mandy Thomson, the acting horticulture manager at Cranbourne’s Royal
Botanic Gardens.
“New Holland honeyeaters and wattle birds and little fairy wrens everywhere,
it’s really lovely.”
Even the kangaroos are running early, with joeys emerging from their mothers’
pouches much sooner than normal, she says.
An early spring is in full swing across the country, as global heating-fuelled
blasts of warmth – accompanied by the odd thunderstorm – deliver one of
Australia’s hottest Augusts on record.
Wattle buds are popping up as the snow melts away in alpine Jindabyne, New
South Wales, while the gentle aroma of jasmine is wafting through
storm-stricken suburban Melbourne.
In the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan in Sydney’s west, paper daisies
arrived a couple of weeks ahead of schedule for the second year in a row.
“Our daisy display has started to pop, and it normally pops [in] at least the
first week of spring,” says Chris Cole, the garden’s horticulture supervisor."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
