Spring Awakens In The Dry Tropics ... My Dry Tropics Journal ... Beginning of Spring, Week 38, September, 2025

Garden Journal Entry - Week 38

This week's weather:

Seasons:  Beginning of Spring / Dry Season / Bushfire Season
Daytime Temps:  28°C - 32°C            
Night Time Temps:  19°C - 22°C
Humidity Levels: 50 - 70%  in a day    
Hours of daylight:  12 hours
Rainfall:  0 mm (0 inches)

🌿 Subtle Signs of Seasonal Change

Early spring in the dry tropics:  twelve hours of daylight, dry landscape,
and the lingering haze of distant bushfires.

September marks the first month of Spring here in the southern hemisphere.  The term "spring" can be misleading when referring to the tropics, as it doesn't bring the usual connotations of a northern hemisphere spring, or even a temperate Australian spring.  Our "dry tropics Spring" is quite a contrast and is marked by:

• rapidly rising temperatures, both day and night 
• a dry, brown landscape
• increased fire risk from the dry grasses and ground cover 
• the emergence of reptiles
• and the anticipation of the coming "wet" season after months of the "dry" season. 

For now, the seasonal shift from winter has been gentle and subtle, more like a gradual unfolding rather than a sudden transformation. Days and nights are definitely hotter (as noted above), humidity is slowly rising, the UV index sits at 'extreme' for most of the day, and we're five months into the dry season.  

Rainfall since the start of our dry season:

May - 49.2 mm

June - 24.8 mm

July -  16.4 mm

August -  0 mm

September (so far) -  0 mm

🔥 Fire Season Continues

Spring here is not all about a lush green landscape.  It's the opposite - there's parched ground and vegetation, the fire risk is high and it's time to remain vigilant.  The combination of rising air and soil temperatures, general dryness, and strong winds create ideal conditions for bushfires. 

Rising smoke from the bushfire that began in the ranges more than a week ago - this photo
was taken on day two.

• Fires have already flared in bushland areas around our city, including a massive blaze in the ranges surrounding our rural suburb.  
• Thankfully, these fires are far from homes, posing no threat to life or property, but the lingering smoke hanging over our rural suburb for more than a week now reminds us of the season's hazards.

Wide areas of bush land growth have been whipper-snippered down to the ground
to create fire breaks along our property fence line.

Preparation Tip:

The creation of fire breaks along the fence lines of our property is an annual job, and essential at this time of the year.  This job was only just completed a few weeks ago.  It was a back-breaking work for my hubby, as the growth in the bush paddock had exploded after the wet season at the beginning of the year.  

This year's growth in the bush paddock, especially from noxious weeds and invasive species like Chromolaena odorata (Siam Weed), Lantana camara (Lantana), Sicklepods and Snakeweed, made the job particularly challenging.  These weeds increase fire risk, so need to be cleared from the edge of our property.

💮 Eucalyptus In Bloom

Amidst this dry, dusty backdrop, spring is quietly celebrated by nature. The Eucalyptus platyphyllas - one of the dominant eucalypts in our region - are a standout at this time of the year, cloaked in their clusters of fluffy white flowers.

Fluffy white Eucalyptus blooms dripping with nectar attract native bees and wasps,
filling the air with a honeyed perfume.

These nectar-laden blooms attract native bees and wasps, and when the gusts of wind pause, the soft droning of pollinators and the sweet, honey-like fragrance of the blossoms make it feel like spring has truly arrived. We are lucky to have a couple of these trees on our property, bringing the surrounding bushland into our garden.

💧 Garden Under The Dry

Yard areas around the house are now almost completely browned off
and will remain that way until the wet season arrives

The long dry season has left its mark:

• Yard areas and surrounding landscapes are crisp and brown.
• These areas aren't prioritized for watering to avoid exorbitant bills.

Both the established Murraya paniculatas (Mock Orange) and Crotons
have responded to the deep watering by flowering, outside their usual blooming period.  

• Older, established plants sometimes need a deep watering, which helps sustain them until the rains return. Some even reward this care with flowers - a quiet, "thank you!"

The grassed area near the entrance to our house remains a priority for watering
throughout the dry season.

Areas prioritized for watering, despite the cost involved:

• Grassed area near the entrance to our house
• Shade house and courtyard garden spaces
• The newly planted garden projects

With the rapid drying out of these spaces, what was a once a weekly watering routine has now turned into a daily necessity, especially for all the potted plants out on the courtyard and in the shade house.

The two new garden project spaces are both doing well.
The plants have all settled in and receive lots of attention and care in this establishment phase.

With the heat rising and days starting earlier, I'm out very early in the mornings to do basic gardening jobs:

• Tidying (mostly involves picking up dropped Golden Cane Palm fronds) and weeding
• Deadheading
• Turning on / moving the sprinklers and soaker hoses.

These early hours remain a peaceful time to enjoy the garden before the heat of the day sets in.

🍃 Creeping Fig Challenge

A major pruning task this week, in the space between the house and the pergola area of the courtyard garden, involved a rather thick Dypsis lutescens (Golden Cane Palm) stem that had been bent down by the weight of Ficus pumila (Creeping Fig / Fig Ivy).

For those who have admired photos of Ficus pumila (Creeping Fig) and its ability to create lush green walls or hide unsightly structures - take heed!

In its juvenile stage, this creeper is a gardener's delight: delicate, small leaves form an attractive, vibrant covering (as seen on our shade house garden entrance - seen on the left - and the rock wall beside the entrance - seen below).

However, it requires regular pruning to stay manageable and maintain its charm. Left unchecked - as happened in this corner of my garden - the creeping fig quickly enters its mature stage. The leaves grow up to five times larger, stems thicken into woody vines over an inch in diameter, and it begins to produce fruit, eventually becoming a serious landscaping challenge.

Before:

This video shows the bent palm stem completely and thickly covered with the creeping fig.  It had created a canopy that was never intended!

During & After:

The bottom photo shows the now cleared and open area between our house and the pergola area.

This experience has been a reminder that even the most beautiful climbers need careful attention, especially in areas where they can overwhelm other plants or structures.

🦋 Life Among The Dryness

Even in the midst of dryness though, there’s plenty of life. Birds flit among the trees. Agile Wallabies make short work of weed piles left in the parched yard.

Early morning strolls reveal birds, wallabies, butterflies,
and the busy life of the garden, even during the dry season.

Lots of butterflies, including the stunning Papilio demoleus (Chequered Swallowtails), move between nectar sources introduced in the courtyard garden.

🌸Spring Colour Pops

Spring colour brightens corners of the garden, offering a cheerful contrast to the surrounding brown bleakness.

The Tabebuia impetiginosa (Pink Trumpet Tree) down the driveway is putting on a final flourish of flower sprays,

while Adenium obesum (Desert Rose) plants scattered around the property are blooming once more.

In the shade house, the Neomarica longifolia (Yellow Walking Iris) have begun flowering again,

and the Evolvulus (Blue Eyes) and Begonia semperflorens (Wax Begonias) continue their show.

The pots of Oriental liliums fill the air with their magnificent perfume.

The courtyard garden is a riot of colour this month. Of course, this colour is deliberately introduced to lift the mood, offering a cheerful contrast to the surrounding brown.

Potted annuals - Pansies, Alyssum, Petunias, and Calibrachoas -

thrive alongside flowering Impatiens, Begonias, and Pentas. It’s a vibrant patchwork of blooms, a reminder that even in the dry tropics’ challenging conditions, spring arrives with its own quiet magic.

💟 Highlights From The Garden

The purple Spathoglottis (Ground Orchids) and the yellow Phalaenopsis are showing off their stunning blooms.

I've just added a few new Orchids to my small collection and they've been placed in the bright, dappled light of the shade house garden. I know very little about Orchids, so this is the start of a new learning curve.

The first is labelled: Dendrobium (Spider Magic x Dark Dame) x Dendrobium canaliculatum. Apparently this is not a single Orchid hybrid, but rather three distinct Orchids.

The second is labelled: Dendrobium Mao Gold x Dendrobium Discolor. This is a hybrid.

The third is labelled: Brassocattleya Yuan Nan Star War. A hybrid that is apparently a large-growing orchid that produces a lovely fragrance.

At the moment, I'm enjoying their flowering cycle but will need to spend time accessing information about their growth habits, needs and care requirements.

Until next time,
🌸 Happy gardening from the dry tropics!

Our Tropical Wintertime Draws To A Close ... My Dry Tropics Journal ... End-of-Winter, Week 33, August 2025

Garden Journal Entry - Week 33

This week's weather:

Seasons:  end-of-Winter & Dry Season
Daytime Temps:  20°C - 29°C            
Night Time Temps:  8°C - 19°C
Humidity Levels: around 70%     
Hours of daylight:  11 1/2 hours
Rainfall:  0 mm (0 inches)

🌿 August in the Tropics

As we approach the close of winter, August has delivered the gentle rhythm of tropical late-winter weather that we've come to expect.  Nights have mostly hovered around the average for the month, with an occasional cooler evening reminding us that winter still lingers.  Daytime temperatures have been steady, mostly typical for August, though a refreshing cool day of 20°C and a few warmer touches of 28°C have provided some variety.

☀️ Weather Watch

The past weeks have been a dance between bright, sunny days and the occasional overcast spell.  Some days shift from cheerful sunshine to dreary clouds in a matter of hours.

Unfortunately, these grey spells have brought no rain, leaving the garden to contend with the drying effects of blustery winds and extended hours of sun.  Consistent deep watering has therefore become an essential part of weekly gardening routines. 

Even so, the occasional overcast day offers a quiet reprieve - a perfect opportunity to spend hours outdoors, tending to the garden and giving the new plantings a healthy start.

🌱 New Garden Projects Settling In

Both of the new garden spaces are now fully planted, mulched, and beginning to flourish.  (See the last post to discover why I began creating these new spaces: New Gardening Projects ) Adjustments to the dry season watering schedule have been necessary to ensure the newcomers thrive until the wet season arrives at the end of the year.

The new garden space at the end of the driveway

The new rock garden space near the old chook pen

🌱 Old Garden Project Progressing Nicely

Pergola Rock Garden - Phase Two

The back section of the rock garden space under the pergola has entered its second phase.  Some original Coleus, that were planted in the ground, struggled with frequent mealy bug infestations and were ultimately removed.  The area now features the addition of potted Coleus and potted Begonias adding renewed colour and vibrancy.  Having these plants potted, instead of planted in the ground, means possible future treatment and/or removal will be a whole lot easier for me.

I'm finding the transformation far more pleasing, with the pergola garden now looking lush and lively.

🌼 Shade House Blossoms

Recently I've been very busy revamping the hanging baskets in my shade house garden - adding fresh coir linings, replenishing the potting mix and planting new flowering plants - in preparation for a springtime show.

• Fifteen new hanging baskets have been planted up with new babies and will soon brighten the shade house garden space.
• Most baskets are filled with Impatiens hawkeri  (New Guinea Impatiens).  

Newly planted hanging baskets in the shade house garden

These vibrant plants are a perfect match for Townsville's warm, humid climate.  Thriving in partial shade, they bring a splash of colour among the greenery of the ferns, and their moderate water needs make them ideal for our dry tropics conditions.  I can't wait to see them mature and fill out the baskets.

🐝 Life in the Garden

Even in these drier winter days, the garden buzzes with life.  Native bees, butterflies and other insects flit from flower to flower, keeping the ecosystem balanced and healthy.  Their presence is a beautiful reminder of how interconnected garden life really is.

😟 Ecological Threat

Meanwhile, on-going efforts to manage Anoplolepis gracilipes (Yellow Crazy Ants) here in the southern suburbs continue to be a critical biosecurity priority for our Townsville City Council.  Treatment programs, running since October last year, use helicopters, drones and ground crews to distribute bait, designed to be taken back to the colony by worker ants in order to target the queen, and ultimately the entire colony.

According to the flyer distributed to all households last year:  "Yellow Crazy Ants form super-colonies consisting of multiple queens supporting multiple nests and millions of workers.  

They out-compete other ants and spray formic acid on other prey, decimating biodiversity."  

Our City Council considers that multiple treatments will be needed over several years to control each of the infestations, so we will be getting very used to the sound of helicopters and drones in our area every month for the foreseeable future.

Over the past two weeks, our area has witnessed yet more aerial and ground treatments, reminding us that vigilance is needed to preserve local biodiversity.

There was a helicopter buzzing around last week, dropping baits, 

and then this week a drone carried on with more targeted bait dropping.  Members of the Yellow Crazy Ant program ground crew also visited our place yesterday to further continue the treatment.  

🌸 Highlights Around The Garden:

• Agave Bloom:  I've been delighted to see one of the large Agaves blooming this year.  It was the first in the group to bloom and right now there are loads of little pups (bulbils) forming along the flower spike.  The mother plant is dying and throwing out lots of new little babies to take her place.  I'm just letting them fall to the ground to see if any of them will survive the dry season and grow roots before our harsh summer rolls around at the end of the year.  Given that this section of the garden only survives on rain from Mother Nature, it will be interesting to see if any of the pups will take off.

• Splashes of Colour:  There's a bit of pink splashed here and there in various garden spaces - Adenium obesum (Desert Rose), Calliandra surinamensis (Powderpuff), Ixora and Kalanchoe.

• Birdwatcing:  One of the things I love most about my place in the world is the variety of birdlife I'm privileged to see almost on a daily basis.  This past week I've noticed a few beautiful visitors during my wanderings around the place - 

Top row L - R:  A Coracina papuensis (White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike), and a Lichenostomus flavus (Yellow Honeyeater)
Bottom row L - R:  a female Sphecotheres viridis (Australasian Figbird) and Dacelo novaeguineae (Laughing Kookaburra).

🌿 Looking Ahead

This end-of-winter period is a time of quiet growth and preparation.  The garden continues to show resilience, and the new plantings promise vibrant colour and life as we move closer to spring.  

Until next time,
🌸 Happy gardening from the dry tropics!

New Gardening Projects ... My Dry Tropics Garden Journal ... Mid-Winter, Week 30, July 2025

Garden Journal Entry - Week 30

This week's weather:

Seasons:  mid-Winter & Dry Season  (also Bushfire Season)
Daytime Temps:  23°C - 27°C            
Night Time Temps:  13°C - 21°C
Humidity Levels: around 70%     
Hours of daylight:  11 hours
Rainfall:  5 mm ( inches)

Dry Season Dilemmas

After a refreshing couple of weeks away down south, I returned home to the expected sight of slightly droopy, thirsty plants. We are now deep into the dry season here in the northern tropics, and my short absence resulted in the interruption of the usual watering routine. No real harm done, but the wilting leaves were a gentle reminder of how crucial a regular watering schedule is during this long dry spell.

Over the past week, we’ve had mostly rather dreary, overcast days and a touch of rain - not enough to soak into the soil, but just enough to rinse the dust from the foliage and perk up the potted plants in the courtyard. These small refreshes are common in our dry season, offering a visual lift more than a true drink for the garden beds.

A Bittersweet Bloom

One of the first things that caught my eye upon returning was the stunning display of my beloved Tabebuia impetiginosa, standing proud in full bloom. The frilly pink trumpet flowers were simply glorious, cascading from its bare branches like nature’s own confetti. This tree, now about 30 years old and reaching a height of around 30 feet, shares its corner with a towering Eucalyptus platyphylla (Poplar Gum). The two have coexisted in their tight spot for decades, creating a layered and dramatic canopy.

However, a couple of months ago, a hefty branch from the Eucalyptus came crashing down, damaging one side of the Tabebuia quite severely.  I wrote about this event in a previous post (follow this link:  The Start Of The Dry Season). It took a huge effort to remove most of the fallen limb, but the largest chunk was simply too heavy to budge - so I’ve decided to leave it and make something whimsical out of it: a gnome home. 

It’s my first foray into garden fun and frivolity, and I must admit, the idea has grown on me.  It's a work in progress.

But my joy in the Tabebuia’s flowering was cut short by a discovery that made my heart sink. High up in the branches was the tell-tale sign of an arboreal termite nest, complete with mud tubes snaking along the limbs. We've always known termites were in the area - we’ve had yearly professional treatments ever since we moved here - but this is the first time I’ve seen signs in a major tree. The fear is that the termites will hollow out the trunk from within, weakening it until it eventually crashes down - right across our entrance driveway.

As heart-breaking as it is, the Tabebuia impetiginosa will have to be removed. Its beauty, when in bloom, will be very sorely missed.

A Generous Gift and New Projects

On a brighter note, a kind-hearted neighbour recently offered me a bounty of plants that he needed removed from his property - an offer far too good to refuse! Inspired by the influx of new greenery, I’ve launched two exciting new garden bed projects.

✨ The first area is at the end the long entrance driveway, where tall Chrysalidocarpus lutescens, also known by its synonym Dypsis lutescens (Golden Palms), and a native Planchonia careya (Cocky Apple Tree) have thrived, but the understorey has been largely bare. 

With a bit of effort—clearing out leaf litter and enriching the soil - I’ve now created space for ferns, Neomarica longifolia (Walking Iris), Tradescantia spathacea, and Philodendrons. These plants are all wonderfully low-maintenance once established, perfect for that dappled-light zone beneath the palms.

🌿 The second project is tucked in beside the old chook pens, underneath the sprawling branches of a Tabebuia heterophylla. Once again, the process began with clearing out weeds and other debris.  My dearest then hauled loads of rocks up from the bush paddock to create small terraced rock garden spaces over the slope.  I then began layering fresh garden soil in preparation for planting.  This area is shady and peaceful, with great potential to become a lush hideaway garden.  There needs to be more soil added here before I start planting.

Yes, there are two enormous fallen trees lying across the old chook pens behind the newly created garden beds!  I've told the story of that event previously (follow this link:  Challenges Continue), and obviously we have not removed that mess just yet - it's a 'to-do' project waiting for funds and resources.

Highlights Around The Garden:

During my wanderings this past week, I've taken real pleasure in observing the quiet activity of our garden visitors and pollinators.  The courtyard garden is particularly vibrant at the moment, with flowering potted plants drawing in a delightful crowd.

Here's a native Delta arcuata (Mud Dauber Wasp) delicately foraging through the Pentas blooms.

A flash of iridescent blue reveals a native Amegilla cingulata (Blue-banded Bee) darting around the Salvia, diligently collecting pollen.

I'm delighted at the progress of the garden space under the pergola - the rockery - out in the courtyard garden.  It's been an on-going project since the start of this year.  One of the latest changes has been the removal of all the bedraggled remnants of the previously planted Torenias, and the addition of lots of Dianthus.  These attractive frilly, fringed flowers are loving their position in the partially shaded rockery under the pergola.

Adding a splash of cheer to the courtyard garden are the Pansies, their bright and expressive little faces brightening up this corner near the rockery section.

Another delightful sight, out in the shade house garden, is the Begonia nelumbiifolia coming into bloom.  this elegant plant, with its crisp white flowers, had a rough start to the year after being decimated by grasshoppers, but it has made a remarkable recovery.  It's now looking much healthier.

Looking Ahead

While losing the pink Tabebuia impetiginosa is a real blow, the opportunity to plant anew has brought some much-needed optimism. The garden, as always, is a place of change—loss and growth intertwined. With every new bed and blooming plant, the story continues.

Until next time,
🌸 Happy gardening from the dry tropics!