SOMETHING FLOWERING IN EACH MONTH - JUNE TO AUGUST
June
Thymelaeaceae which contain the rice flowers – Pimeleas
(Yellow/pink/purple)
Qualup Bell – Pimelea physiodes is probably a tourist favourite alongside the Royal Hakea – Hakea Victoria for the most unusual wildflowers that you will see if you visit the world famous Fitzgerald national park that I haven’t visited yet !!! sometimes being so busy in peoples gardens mean you don’t take time out for yourself to visit some truly incredible world class natural attractions that are in your backyard, well sort of if your backyard is 1000-2000km in radius as it’s a 9hr drive from Perth. The form that is most successful in gardens has actually been grafted onto a better rootstock which is Pimelea ferruginea which gives the Qualup bell you see in gardens better vigour and a longer life in gardens.
July
Fabaceae – pea family
(Red)
Cockies tongue – Templetonia retusa is an early flowering WA native which has a range of forms that grow in many different locations so it can actually flower over a fairly wide range depending on the genetics of the individual plant, it’s geographical location and the microclimate that it is growing in. It has interesting flowers that resemble a cockies tongue. It is bird attracting and will grow in a wide range of soils including coastal alkaline soils where other plants struggle. I’ve seen this plant grow successful on a few inches of alkaline soil on limestone in Cottesloe.
August
Eucalypt family – Myrtaceae
(White/pink)
Rock Thryptomene – Thryptomene saxicola Is a fantastic plant that looks brilliant when planted in groups for landscape design and nothing looks better than a sea of Thryptomene or using it to break up a mass the same sort of flowers or foliage. It is a great garden plant and we should use more Thyrptomenes in gardens.
Intelligent irrigation – here come the smart controllers
It is an exciting time in the reticulation industry with the emergence of many brands of smart controllers now on the market. I can only talk in detail about one brand which is the Hydrawise 6 station outdoor controller by Hunter that I have installed at my residence. I was lucky to be invited to the launch of the controller where Hunter trained us during a 3-hr workshop. It didn’t take long for me to become a massive fan of this excellent controller. It is the 2nd version of the Hydrawise with many issues being solved during the first version.
Gone are the days where you need to keep going back to the controller to change settings as it can be done entirely after the initial set up from your smart phone or computer. This is great if you have a rental property or work away allot as you don’t even need to be home to turn your reticulation on after winter (although making sure everything is still working is ideal). At the end of the season you can turn it off, so you won’t get any fines for watering during winter. The weather ‘triggers’ are great. If you use the free setting on the app or website, then you use the weather data from Perth airport. If you sign up to a small monthly fee, then you have access to quite a few private weather stations also that are close to your home. This means there is no need to get a rain sensor (will turn off watering during or near rain events). Using the free setting I have it set to not come on if there was more than 6mm of rain the day before or 20mm during the week before my watering days. You can also set it to come on based on temperature but in Perth we aren’t allowed to water more on hot days and must stick to our 10mm maximum. On cooler days we can set it to not water at all (I have it set to not water when it is 14C or less). You can also set it not to water if the wind speed is too high however with only 2 watering days on scheme water in a hot climate and being restricted on these days only you might end up not watering at all if it was a windy week which would be a disaster in Perth. You can also set it to not water if the chance of rain is higher than a certain percentage or if the humidity is high.
Technology that is included in the Hydrawise is the use of weather data to control watering (mentioned above) and Solenoid load testing to measure the voltage getting to the solenoids and coming back to the controller and if there is an open circuit (broken wire or blown fuse). Sensors that can be added include a rain sensor, flow control and soil moisture sensors. Flow control sensors are great for leak detection as they ‘learn’ the flow when the system has no leaks and if that flow decreases or increases you are alerted. This is great for contractors or the home DIY customer as you can fix problems whereby in the past you might discover them weeks or months later when your grass or plants have died.
For any details I may have missed please visit the Hydrawise website:
