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25.01.2022 A timely release - When the smoke clears https://www.bigscrubrainforest.org/bsls_rainforest_restora/

24.01.2022 Talking about recipes for elderberries and elderflowers yesterday - yeh

22.01.2022 White flowers out today

20.01.2022 Greeted with this lovely this morning. I am starting to suspect that dry followed by rain is stimulating flowering. Last 2 years this has happened.

19.01.2022 Credit to a great observer

18.01.2022 Ecoraster #permeabledriveway ready for filling with gravel.Well done DIY job. Ecoraster is fully made in Germany and unlike anything else on the Australian mar...ket it's made from unique composition of LDPE which makes grid significantly more durable compare to hard plastics due to flexibility. Ecoraster is the only product in the World which comes with 20 years factory product warranty ( subject to recommended installation guide) based on 25 years world market presents. See more

16.01.2022 The 'Big Scrub' - we hear this name a lot in the Northern Rivers, but if you aren't a rain-forest nutter or regen worker you may not know what that term actually means. This is a great article that tells you about the Big Scrub, what it is and was, it's history with people and agriculture, and current bush regen development activities going on, including some interesting DNA and genome work attempting to increase diversity in the rain-forest species planted there. I persona...lly know many of the regen crews working around creek-lines and farms in the old Big Scrub, and they are doing their best to convince the macadamia, coffee and avocado farmers there that having their crops run right to the creek-lines is a bad thing for the farm and for the bush, as is pumping ridiculous amounts of water out of the creeks and allowing chemical tainted runoff to seep back in. They are also replanting so much land that you wouldn't believe me if I gave you the numbers! We are lucky to have such regen crews and knowledgeable people championing such a vital cause and getting out there and really doing something positive for the future of our land and its people. Honestly, for living in an area where so many people seem to know about and practice more holistic methods of farming, there are still so many who are happy to let their chemical runoff leech into local watercourses, bulldoze mountains of trees and pump out water from our precious rivers and creeks like it will never run dry, all so they can export their produce overseas and leave us high and dry. All that energy and resource stolen and handed to another country in the form of exported produce. I know of plenty of local farmers who are severely running out of water, yet there's no signs of them stopping clearing trees and planting more avo's or maca's. Not once do those farmers think about anyone else on those watercourses, nor about the way in which they acquired their precious farmland or what was there before. Articles like this help us to remember why such an amazingly bio-diverse area was so important, IS so important, especially in the light of recent world events and weather patterns. It also gives us insight into the possibilities of maintaining a balance between agriculture and rain-forest which I believe is very important. (Paul) https://www.abc.net.au//curious-why-was-the-big-s/9174682

15.01.2022 A new one starting to open today.

15.01.2022 Golden splash of fallen leaves from the 1400 year-old Gingko tree at the ancient Guanyin Temple in Xian, Shaanxi Province, China Photo: Han Fei

12.01.2022 Chuffed with the germination of 2019 seeds.

12.01.2022 Hydnora Africana - (HYDNORACEAE) This is undoubtedly the strangest plant in the world! More like an alien than anything else.... And I say plant since at first it was believed to be a fungus. A parasitic species, without chlorophyll, native to southern Africa, and unable to perform photosynthesis. There are two genera that belong to the Hydnoraceae family; Prosopanche, which is restricted to the eastern half of South America, and Hydnora, which is a strictly African genus. Collectively, Prosopanche and Hydnora contain between 10 and 15 species. The relationships of this family were quite uncertain, but recent molecular data suggest that Hydnoraceae is a "Basal Angiosperm," a prehistoric survivor among the most primitive flowering plants known. Commonly parasitic in the roots of members of the Euphorbiaceae family. The body of this plant is underground, grayish brown. As it ages, the plant turns dark gray to black. It has a network of fleshy and warty stems (worm-shaped), which connect to the roots of the host, absorbing the nutrients it needs in this way. Hydnora is only visible when the plant pushes the flowers through the ground, being the only part that is exposed, these flowers give off a foul aroma (to manure) attracting beetles and other insects, which are trapped until the flower ensures Pollination The fruits serve as food for many animals and are also edible for humans, have many benefits, including diarrhea treatment, and are used in some drugs. Apparently, the development of a Hydnora seedling is slow, and its cultivation in pots is not known. It is not in danger of extinction and, although not found frequently, it is believed to be quite common in semi-arid vegetation that is associated with Euphorbia species. The flowers may not appear for several years until enough rain has fallen. It was introduced to science in the western world in 1774 by the father of South African botany, Carl Thunberg. This very active and well traveled Swedish botanist discovered and compiled the first known records of H. africana near Calvinia in South Africa. When he saw the plant for the first time, he thought it was a fungus and called it Hydnus by the mushroom group. Subsequently, the name of the genus changed to Hydnora. The only one that has been cultivated was in Claremont, California, by Sherwin Carlquist, who collected the seeds in the garden of Karroo, Robertson, South Africa, in 1973, and brought them in fresh conditions to his home. He bought several rooted cuttings of Euphorbia caput-medusae, a known host plant of Hydnora africana, removed the Euphorbia plants from their pots, covered them with Hydnora seeds and put the Euphorbia plants back into their pots. During the following years, Euphorbia plants were transplanted, but it seemed to nothing have happened. Euphorbia plants were planted in the soil. In 1979, and that was when a Hydnora flower appeared.

10.01.2022 We are so excited to announce this new research award of $10,000 for grad students to work on plant comparative morphology! Consider applying for the Donald R.... Kaplan Award in Comparative Morphology or encourage your students to consider this funding opportunity from the BSA. Open to international students as well. https://cms.botany.org//a/kaplancomparativemorhpology.html See more

10.01.2022 A little beauty -ain't nature wonderful

08.01.2022 Excellent dude!

06.01.2022 Love all of them but the species but A. flavidus red makes a remarkable display in arid gardens.

04.01.2022 Rome, Italy #ClimateStrike #FridaysForFuture

03.01.2022 My top 5 performers in this horrible weather: Solandra maxima - Cup of Gold Ipomoea carnea - Tree Ipomoea Hibiscus rosea-sinensis - China Rose Melaleuca thymifolia - Thyme Leaved Honey Myrtle... Brachychiton populneus - Kurrajong None of these guys need any water at all when they are in the ground. I haven't watered any of mine and they keep on growing and flowering. The Cup of Gold produced masses of flowers this year despite the dry weather, feeding a multitude of birds, ants, bees and other insects. The Ipomoea carnea (photo below) simply has not stopped flowering since it went in the ground about 6 months ago, and it is constantly well attended by ants. Although its in the Morning Glory family, it has absolutely no weedy tendencies and grows to a nice small tree size. The plain China Rose variety of hibiscus also flowers constantly and is a favourite among many nectar collecting birds and insects. Melaleuca thymifolia is one of the toughest plants I have come across. With absolutely no watering in hard baked clay soild, they continue to grow and flower beautifully. Last on the list, the Kurrajong - I had four of these in tree tubes out in the sun for weeks, no water. All are still alive. One plated in the ground is growing unabated and shaping up to be a good sized tree rather quickly. I am certain it will provide some more colour and much needed food for the wildlife. So if you're looking for something tough you won't need to baby through the dry, maybe look at one of these beauties :)

03.01.2022 MANTRA || Redesign | Rethink | Repair | Refuse | Reduce | Reuse | Recycle . How are you incorporating the 7 'R's"into your lifestyle? . .... . . #prefab #prefabhomes #prefabhouse #ecolivbuildings #ecoliv #prefabricated #modularhome #modulararchitecture #sustainable #sustainability #sustainableliving #sustainablearchitecture #sustainabledesign #greenliving #ecofriendly #australianarchitecture #home #building #greenliving #recycle #reuse See more

01.01.2022 Beautiful terrestrial orchid for the garden. Can't wait for ours to flower.