Below are some of the Acacias that flower in late Winter /early Spring. The following include some that have just started to bud – further photos later when they get more completely covered.
First image is of Acacia convenyi, or “Blue Bush”. This was planted from a small pot, McDonalds Nursery in Bendigo. It needed some extra water the first summer, but since then it has powered on.
Next is a small wattle whose name I do not know, since the tag was lost on the way home from Ironstone Park Nursery in Heathcote. The leaves are very long and thin, and this patch (the “New Back Patch”) is very hot and dry in summer. However, because of this, there is an irrigation system there, but plants there only get a couple of waterings a month over summer. [thanks to the lucid wattle app web version I believe I have identified the errant acacia as Acacia applanata]
Next is Acacia cardiophylla, or Wyalong Wattle. It needed extra water the first summer, as it didn’t look happy at all that year. However, since then it only gets minimal extra summer water – its first year was a drought year after all. It’s a very pretty small tree with its feathery fern-like leaves and bright flowers in early Spring. I’ve used it as a cut flower after I needed to prune it.
The next image is of Acacia aspera, or Rough Wattle, and does indeed feel rough if you feel its leaves. Most of the year it looks somewhat unimpressive, although when in flower it looks lovely with its arching habit and all the branches covered in flower. Also, it’s a local plant and well adapted to the climate and soil – at least, I’ve not needed to water either of the plants I have. The one shown below is just starting to flower, and it is very happy growing under a large Eucalypt, with filtered afternoon sun. The other A. aspera is growing in the open, and was planted a little later. I hope to upload a couple more images of these two when in full flower
We know that Acacia baileyana (Cootamundra Wattle) is a weed in these parts, but the prostrate form is not yet decided. So far, no babies have been noted, and the three plants I’ve planted have flowered every year after their first Spring, and have not required any extra watering. However, when they were planted we did not have the rabbit problem we have now, and these all look to me now like so much rabbit habitat.
Finally in this post, here’s a close-up image of Acacia leprosa “Scarlet Blaze” in flower. Again, it needed some extra water in its first summer, and due to its weeping habit and very heavy branches, and being planted on the side of a windy hill, it has suffered some big breakages along the way. So far, it seems to have survived nonetheless.
