2016: An Astonishing Array of Desert Flowers

Sep 3, 2016 | Camping, Climate, Nature | 1 comment

Desert Grevillea

Desert Grevillea

We didn’t plan it. Actually, we’ve done remarkably little planning on this our 4-month odyssey around the eastern half of Australia.
But we lucked out!
Apparently the central and southern desert regions of the Northern Territory have had more than their fair share of rain this year–i.e., the whole year’s precipitation to date.
So almost everywhere you look there are sprays and bouquets and even meadows of flowers. The most inauspicious rock crags will still shelter a tiny bluebell or a yellowtop. The day we arrived at Uluru, there was a measurement of 23 mm of rainfall.
The committee who named these plants must have good senses of humour. There are hairy mulla mullas, large green pussytails, poached egg daisies, yellow billybuttons, and woolly-headed burr daisies.
On the Kings Canyon rim walk recently, I was inspired to write a little haiku 
Oh! The wild flowers!
Splashes of colour
Rocky desert walk
Gladness!
(I know, I know, don’t give up yoga teaching.)
I hope you enjoy the images and recording we made to celebrate this flower season:
 

YouTube player

 

1 Comment

  1. what a lovely time your sharing, simply being and observing our beautiful planet. I enjoyed sitting in the sun and watching your slide show

    Reply

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