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Paluma Garden Competition – The Results Are In !!

Paluma Garden Competition 2018

On a sunny Friday 19th October, the judging of the 2018 Bunnings Paluma Garden Competition took place. Lynn Hyland accompanied the judges around the acreage blocks, whilst Jamie Oliver escorted the judges around the village gardens. Natalie Pace and her mother Denise, both past judges for the Townsville Garden Competition were our 2018 judges. Natalie held an Open Garden in September at her Rollingstone property and attracted 350 visitors. There really are many keen gardeners in Townsville. She is encouraging us to consider having an Open Garden event in Paluma next year. Well Paluma gardeners what do you think about this?

The Garden Competition winners were announced at our PDCA Social on Saturday 3rd November. They are:-

1. Best Business Garden Winner is Gumburu

2. Best Acreage Garden Winner is Don Battersby

3. Best Residential Village Garden Winner is Nick and Glenda Van Rynswoud. The Alison Evans Memorial Trophy was also awarded to Nick and Glenda Van Rynswoud.

4. Highly Commended Residential Village Garden Winner is Peter and Dorothy Klump

5. An Individual Plant, Garden Bed, Herb Garden or Vegetable Patch, Outdoor Space, etc Winner is Michele Bird

Paluma is blessed with a cooler climate than the coast and hence we are able to successfully grow many plants that aren’t seen in Townsville gardens. During the judging, some of the plants that were in full bloom were the spirea, hippeastrums, New Guinea impatiens, daylilies and orchids to name just a few. Do check out ‘What’s Flowering In Paluma’ on the website to keep abreast of the latest showpieces in Paluma gardens.

Article by Lynn Hyland with Photos by Michele Bird & Colwyn Campbell

What’s Flowering In Paluma – Tibouchina ‘Chameleon’

Paluma’s ‘Purple Haze’ – Tibouchina ‘Chameleon’

This website features numerous photographs of the many varieties of flowering Tibouchina’s which thrive in the cool mountain climate at Paluma. Most gardens have at least one of these beautiful plants which burst into bloom a couple of times a year, usually in the warmer months.

The ‘Chameleon’ variety is at its flowering best at present and there is a spectacular specimen catching everyone’s eye at No. 16 Mount Spec Road. The large shrub is a blaze of colour with hundreds of flowers and many buds still to open, ensuring a long flowering period of two weeks or more. Many locals and visitors have stopped to admire and photograph this flowering gem over the past week. You just can’t miss it, as it can be seen from a considerable distance along Mount Spec Road.

Tibouchina ‘Chameleon’ is so-named because the flowers change colour as they mature. The flowers open as pure white and then ‘ripen’ to varying shades of purple, mauve and pink. The effect is that the plant will have a mix of flower shades at the one time- an amazing ‘Purple Haze’.

Other flowering Tibouchina’s are located at No. 40 and No. 52 Mount Spec Road. Take a walk through the misty village of Paluma and check out the ‘Purple Haze’. When Jimi Hendrix penned his famous song, he was surely inspired by a Tibouchina Chameleon!

Text & Photos by Michele Bird

Remembrance Day at Paluma

On Sunday 11 November at 11 am a small group of Paluma residents and visitors congregated at the Community Hall to acknowledge Armistice Day and the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War 1.

The commemoration included an audio rendition of The Last Post and a minute of silence, followed by a short anecdote from Les Hyland.

Many thanks to Len Cook for raising the flag on the day and to Lynda Radbone for her technical assistance. Len also provided the morning tea!

Vale David Georgee

VALE DAVID GEORGEE

It is with sadness that we report the death of David Georgee, who passed away on 8th November 2018.

David’s connection with Paluma spanned more than seven decades. He described some of his fond memories of our little village in the clouds in his book, ‘Townsville As It Was’. As a young boy, he used to come to Paluma with his family for holidays, staying at the Main Roads Tents. These were tents surrounded by stone walls, left over after the Main Roads Commission had completed construction of the Range Road. The tents were then used for holiday accommodation. The rock walls were later used to become the Mist Haven holiday units.

In later years David purchased the property at 16 Smith Crescent. In his book he describes how the waterfall in Benham’s Creek opposite their house, was used as the shower for the children. The girls’ showers were at 4 pm while the boys’ turn was 5 pm. Because the water was warmer earlier in the afternoon, the girls could enjoy their shower.

David’s talent as a piano player had him perform at many weddings, dances and social functions, including our own Paluma Music Festivals. Don Battersby remembers David providing the musical entertainment at one of his birthday parties a few years ago; probably the last time David performed in Paluma.

Our sincere condolences go to David’s family on his passing.

By Wilfred Karnoll

Bird (Mis)behaviour – Pale Yellow Robin

For some months now we have had a Pale Yellow Robin resident close to our house on the five acre blocks. He [or very possibly, she] perches in the Murraya tree close to our kitchen window and mounts an attack on the window pane on the left hand side from our perspective looking out. His claws land on the glass and he drops down onto the lintel at the base of the window. He usually pauses for a few seconds before repeating the attack two panes to the right and again usually pauses looking quizzically at you if you happen to be at the sink, totally unfazed by the sight of humans. He then proceeds to circle the house, usually anti-clockwise but not invariably so, attacking windows randomly before returning to the tree and repeating the antics over and over for maybe an hour or more before going off duty for a period. We think he must be eating during this gap as he has an annoying habit of leaving a calling card on or below the windows in the kitchen.

More recently he has discovered that the car has mirrors and he is fascinated by the second bird and spits at the reflection in the mirror and leaves copious deposits on the curve above the door handle which have to be washed off frequently to avoid damage to the paintwork. You may deduce that we are a bit cheesed off with this behaviour and have taken to thwarting the car attacks with our car cover which is pretty successful as he can’t even get at the windows. He still looks for the now covered car windows but has more or less given them up as a lost cause.

But he still does the house daily – we don’t know if our presence engenders his behaviour as we can’t see what happens when we are not there ! He is extremely hard to photograph but the photograph below is at the kitchen window by the sink.

Text & Photo by Les Hyland

Remembrance Day, Sunday 11 November

LEST WE FORGET

REMEMBRANCE DAY SUNDAY 11 NOVEMBER

Remembrance Day Gathering, 11 AM on Sunday 11 November 2018 at the Paluma Community Hall.

Please meet at the Community Hall at approximately 10.45 AM in preparation for the raising of the flag and a minute of silence at 11 AM to commemorate Remembrance Day.

ALL PALUMA RESIDENTS AND VISITORS WELCOME

What’s Flowering In Paluma, Late October – Tree Waratah and Snow In Summer

Flowering Trees – Tree Waratah and Snow In Summer

Paluma gardens never cease to surprise and delight with the variety of spectacular blooms to be found here. In the garden of No. 15 Mount Spec Road, the brilliant red flowers of a Tree Waratah flame in the crown of this tall, slender tree. Higher than the house roof, the flowers can be easily missed unless you are scanning the tree-tops for birds.

Native to the North Queensland rainforest, the Tree Waratah and its natural habitat on the Atherton Tableland, have largely disappeared there due to clearing for grazing and agriculture. The tree is known for its beautiful pink timber.

Formerly known as Oreocallis wickhamii, it has undergone a name change and is now classified as genus Alloxylon in reference to its unique timber. There are two species within the Queensland tropical rainforest – Alloxylon flamelleum, (which I suspect is the species flowering in the Paluma garden), and Alloxylon wickhamii. The common names for these trees are Queensland Waratah, Pink Silky Oak and Red Silky Oak for A. flamelleum and Tree Waratah, Satin Silky Oak and Pink Silky Oak for A. wickhamii. All very confusing to a non-botanist: so much easier to identify it as ‘Tree Waratah’.

Take a short walk from Mount Spec Road along Lennox Crescent to the Townsville City Council Water Depot. Look up the driveway to see, rising behind the buildings and tower, a magnificent Melaleuca tree, its crown completely covered in dense white bloom. It gives the impression of being heavily snow-laden. This tree is Melaleuca linariifolia and not surprisingly, one of its common names is ‘Snow in Summer’.

This small evergreen tree grows to a height of 6m to 10m. It is from the myrtle family and is endemic to New South Wales and Queensland. This particular specimen was planted in the early 1990’s (in 1993 or 1994) by long-time Paluma resident Kelly Davis. The trunk of this tree has thick sheets of papery bark. The flowers are a major attractant for bees, butterflies and birds.Unfortunately, the spectacular display of the ‘Snow in Summer’ will not last long; already some of the blooms are browning in the tropical heat.

Text by Colwyn Campbell & Photos by Michele Bird

Jungle Huntsman Spider

Jungle Huntsman (Heteropoda jugulans)

One of the many benefits of residing in the village of Paluma is that we are living close to nature. Encounters with the local wildlife are common for those of us living with the rainforest and the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area literally at our back door. On my house verandah there are numerous spiders, of varying sizes and species, happy to cohabit with me. My favourite spider is a rather large, hairy-legged huntsman that I call ‘Harry’.

‘Harry the Huntsman’ lives in the kindling box by the back door. He takes refuge in the kindling box by day, but by night he stalks the verandah and house walls looking for prey. His favourite past time is to sit by the back door at night and jump towards me when I least expect it.

‘Harry’ is a Jungle Huntsman which are fast moving rainforest spiders (don’t I know it!). They are long-legged and mostly grey to brown in colour. They can grow to a body length of 30mm (Harry is approaching this size). Jungle Huntsman feed on a range of invertebrates including moths, crickets, cockroaches, flies and other spiders. Jungle Huntsman are covered in fine sensory hairs which are very sensitive to air movement. This helps them to detect the movement of prey and also the approach of predators.

These spiders lay eggs which are encased in a flat white silk egg sac. The female spider stays with the egg sac until the spiderlings hatch. The eggs hatch in 30 to 60 days (depending on the temperature) and several hundred spiderlings can emerge from one egg sac. (If ‘Harry’ is actually a ‘Harriet’ then I may have many more Jungle Huntsman on the verandah in the future).

Jungle Huntsman grow by shedding their exoskeleton, or moulting. The life span of most Huntsman species is 2 to 3 years. These spiders are non-venomous. Their predators include birds, geckoes and large wasps.

Text & Photo by Michele Bird

What’s Flowering In Paluma – Dendrobium Orchid

Dendrobium Species (King Orchid or Oak Orchid)

There is a spectacular orchid blooming at Paluma at present and it can be seen clinging to trees in many village gardens and high up in the canopy in rainforest trees surrounding the village. Most locals refer to it by a common name, the King Orchid. This beautiful orchid has thick green leathery leaves and showy flowers which are produced in long racemes on long stems. Each stem can have over 100 small flowers which range in colour from white to creamy yellow. The flowers have a sweet fragrance and usually appear from September to October.

As amateur botanists we have tried in vain to identify this orchid to species level. We suggest that it might be a variety of Dendrobium speciosum which grows over a vast area of Australia from Gippsland in Victoria to Cooktown in North Queensland. Dendrobium speciosum is described as a very variable orchid, forming a species complex. It can be found across a range of habitats in eastern Australia including rainforest and open forest, from sea level to mountain tops.

On the other hand, this orchid might well be Dendrobium jonesii. This species has a remarkably similar flower to D. speciosum and although it can grow at sea level, it tends to occur most commonly in upland rainforest in the moist mountain ranges. It is described as being locally abundant in tropical Queensland from Mount Elliot near Townsville to Cape York Peninsula.

If anyone can enlighten us as to the species of this beautiful Paluma orchid we would welcome your feedback.

Whatever the species, it is a special orchid and very worthy of our admiration wherever it grows – in local gardens or high in the rainforest canopy. The flowers tend to be short-lived only lasting a week or so. Make sure you check out this orchid before flowering ends, otherwise you will have to wait until next year!

Text & Photos by Michele Bird & Colwyn Campbell.

A Walk on the Wild Side – Amethystine Python

Taking a walk through the village of Paluma and surrounds often leads to encounters with the local wildlife. Last Sunday (21 October) during a stroll through the village on a beautiful sunny morning, we were lucky enough to come across a superb Amethystine Python (Morelia amethistina).

From a distance, we noticed what appeared to be a rather large tree branch extending onto Mt Spec Road at the eastern end of the cutting. Before long it became obvious that the ‘large branch’ was moving and that it was a snake that had settled quite comfortably on the road for a spot of sun baking. This sizeable snake extended across the entire width of the road and more. Fearing a vehicle might soon come along, we swiftly encouraged the snake to move off the road and it ascended a nearby tree. It was not too pleased about being disturbed from its lazy Sunday morning warm-up!

The Amethystine Python, or Scrub Python as it is also known, is Australia’s longest snake. The specimen we saw was about 3 metres in length, and probably quite a young snake. Specimens have been recorded at over 8.5 metres in length. These snakes are slender, graceful creatures with stunning markings of fawn to olive-brown, with variegated zig-zag patterning in dark-brown to black. These pythons live in tropical open forest, rainforest and mangrove habitats. They are usually nocturnal, but can sometimes be found during the day, basking in the sun in a forest clearing, or as we found, on the road.

Amethystine pythons are non-venomous and their prey usually includes small birds and mammals, but can include larger animals such as agile wallabies.

After settling in the tree, this very handsome python was happy to pose for a few photographs.

Text & Photos by Colwyn Campbell & Michele Bird