Saturday, 28 April 2012
Silver on gold
This afternoon a small flock of Silvereyes Zosterops lateralis arrived in the Grevillea "Honey Gem" to get an energy boost from the nectar.
They are delightful little birds to watch as they go dashing from flower spike to flower spike chasing one another off the perceived best feeding spot. They are migrant visitors to our garden passing through on their way north for winter.
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Lovely colour contrasting photograph Ian.
ReplyDeleteBefore moving to Sweden, I was landscping superviser and head gardener with a property management firm in San diego. My immediate boss/superior and also part owner of the family business was from Perth Australia. He developed an Australian Plants Nursery up in Ramona California called "Outback Flora" I loved learning about Australian plants and using them, though we only used them during the later part of my employment there. I some ways they have the same exacting requirements as California native plants.
When I first started working with the company, he had only just began his Nursery and Greenhouse operations, so the plants were not quite ready for out planting into the landscape. My philosophy and practice was to NOT use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. In the beginning this was impossible as the properties were over-run with pests and diseased plants. But gradually through uses of beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizal connections the plants developed stronger immune systems and pesticide use for the most part disappeared. This is what I write about now on my blog and my experience with mycorrhizae connections with California native plants.
Interestingly, Australian natives hate chemical fertilizers containing heavy amounts of phosphorus. It literally fries the foliage.
Once again I love your photos here.
Kevin
Welcome Kevin and thank you for your kind comment on the photos. interesting to hear of your experience with Oz native plants in California and on a visit I was struck by the way Eucalypts thrive and without the control of Oz insects had much denser foliage which increased the fire risk. So many Oz native plants rely on the mycorrhizae to provide the balanced nutriment for their growth so not surprizing that you found the same relationship in California.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo! It is amazing to see how many birds that the grevillea attracts.
ReplyDeletePleased you like the photo and without doubt Grevillea "Honey Gem" is a magnet for a large array of birds.
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