Weather Report for the month:
Seasons: Mid-Autumn / Start of the Dry Season
Maximum Temps: 26°C - 32°C
Minimum Temps: 16°C - 24°C
Humidity Levels: 60 - 70%
Hours of daylight: 12 hrs 30 mins
Rainfall: 15 mm (around half an inch)
Yes, it's been a while since my last post dear gardeners and my excuse - our 2025–2026 summer conditions and wet season lingered for quite some time and the combination was not much fun for either a dry tropics gardener or the garden!
The challenges experienced from December through to March continued - heat, relentless humidity, scorching sun that rose early and set late, annoying and abundant insects, sodden ground, rampant weed growth, overgrown beds. Some plants loved it, but many others struggled with the sheer persistence of the heat and the endless heavy rain.
My gardening efforts dwindled to almost nothing. By the end of March, everything felt tired, overgrown, or in need of attention. The arrival of April felt so good.
💛 Mid-autumn in the coastal dry tropics
April, our mid-autumn month, is always the time when the garden catches its breath. When the wet season is no longer in command, there is a subtle easing in the weather conditions that feels so welcome. The horrid, hot, humid days end, as do the endless heavy downpours of rain. The lovely milder days and cooler nights set in, and constant breezes move through the garden drying things out considerably. It becomes safer and easier to move around the garden once more, and after months of slippery paths, soggy ground and oppressive humidity, that felt like a real pleasure.
🌿 The feel of April
April is one of the gentler gardening months in Townsville and the start of my favourite time of year. It is not that the garden suddenly changes overnight, but the whole place begins to feel different. The air is lighter, the mornings are cooler and the light seems clearer. After the greyness and saturation of the wet season, those big, bright, clear blue skies are a welcome sight.
We also begin to see some stunning sunrises at this time of year, and they always seem to mark the turning of the season for me. There is still warmth in the days, of course, but the edge has gone out of things. The garden is still full and green after the wet, but it no longer feels burdened by it.
🧤 Catching up on garden jobs after the wet
I was very busy over the last couple of weeks of April, making the most of the cooler mornings and the much kinder conditions. There was lots of weeding and cutting back, which is hardly surprising after such a long wet season. Everything had grown with great enthusiasm, including all the things I did not want.
I also had to re-pot and fertilise a number of the potted plants and hanging baskets, and top up the mulch out in the rock garden beds. These are not especially exciting jobs, perhaps, but they are the sort of essential post-wet season tasks that make such a difference.
With the cooler morning temperatures, it was actually quite lovely to get back out in the garden and start ticking off these tasks. That is one of the pleasures of April in the dry tropics. The work feels possible again.
Post-wet season fun
The weeds that exploded along the fence line on our property — the one that divides our house yard from our bush paddock — were at the top of the task list and became the target of a planned attack.
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| During hubby's slash and burn attack. |
Hubby deployed the “slash and burn” principle to create a break between the weed-infested mess in the rest of the bush paddock and our side yard. I did not think to take before and after shots, but I can attest to the fact that the weed growth along that fence line was shoulder-high. It was one of those jobs that absolutely had to be done, and has made a huge difference.
There is still plenty more to do, of course, but at least that section no longer looks as though it is about to swallow the yard whole.
🦘 The weed-eaters
There were quite a number of critters out and about, enjoying the post-wet season abundance.
A flock of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos were also doing its bit. They spent a number of days enthusiastically feasting on the seeds of the weedy growth along another fence line. There was (and still is) a massive patch of weeds growing on the other side of our fence — not on our property unfortunately, so we couldn't attack that as well.
The Agile Wallabies however helped us out a little. They spent every morning and evening feasting on the multitude of weeds that sprang up in our front and side yards during the wet season.
🌼 Autumn wanderings
Wanderings are wonderful at this time of the year. With lovely blooms here and there, it is simply a fabulous time to be out in the garden, enjoying the colour and foliage rather than just trying to cope with the conditions.
Out in the bush land, the native Acacias were blooming throughout April.
Both Acacia mangium, with its creamy lemon flowers,
and Acacia auriculiformis, with its golden yellow flowers, brightened the landscape.
They are both a lovely reminder that autumn in the dry tropics has its own beauty.
The Kookaburras kept an eye on my progress in cleaning up the place, quietly supervising proceedings from above.
I also noticed lots of lovely moths, dragonflies and butterflies fluttering around. After the long wet, it was nice to see this lighter, livelier side of the garden returning.
💛 What flowered during April?
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| Top left: Jasmine officinale (Poet's Jasmine) Top right: Adenium obesum (Desert Rose) Middle left: Combretum constrictum (Thailand Powderpuff) Bottom left: Ixora Bottom right: Coleus flowers |
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| Top left: Streptocarpus caulescens (Nodding Violet) Top middle: Ixora Top right: Pennisetum rubrum (Purple Fountain Grass) Bottom left: Pseudomussaenda flava (Dwarf Yellow Mussaenda) Bottom right: Begonia semperflorens (Wax Begonia) |
🌱 What April asks of the garden
April asks for recovery rather than urgency. After a long wet season, it is the month for restoring order, reclaiming space, and helping the garden settle into a steadier rhythm. There is weeding to be done, plants to cut back, pots to refresh, mulch to top up, and all the small maintenance jobs that are so easy to put off during the worst of summer.
It is also the time of year when I am able to spend much longer out in the garden again. The cooler mornings, milder days and constant breezes make such a difference. After months of working around heat, humidity and rain, April brings back that sense of ease. Jobs that felt rushed or unpleasant in summer can now be done slowly and properly, with time to stop, notice things, and enjoy being outside as well.
April also reveals what has come through the wet season well and what has not. Some plants respond to the change in season by freshening up almost immediately, while others show just how much the heat, humidity and endless rain have taken out of them. The garden begins to tell you what needs pruning, what needs feeding, what needs replanting, and what simply needs time.
Most of all, April asks for a gentler kind of work. The garden no longer needs to be battled with — it needs to be read, tidied, and guided into the next season. That is one of the things I love most about this time of year. There is something very restorative about April in the dry tropics. The work is still there, but it comes with room to notice, to wander, and to enjoy the garden again.
Until next time,
🌸 Happy gardening from the dry tropics!
