Category: Gardens

Paluma’s Best Gardens for 2024 – The winners are ….

One of the highlights of the Tropical BBQ last Saturday evening (aside from the excellent food and wonderful company) was the announcement of the winners of this year’s Garden Competition. As usual, Bunnings supplied both the prizes as well as the judges (Dee and Ange) for the competition. Despite a gruelling schedule of inspections from early morning to late afternoon, the judges’ enthusiasm for the wonderful variety of floral displays and landscaping never abated. In fact, they insisted on creating a new prize this year so that the 5 acre blocks also had a highly recommended garden (in previous years we only gave a highly commended prize for a village garden). We are very grateful to Bunnings for the ongoing support for this competition.

The winners this year are listed below along with comments from the judges.

Best 5 acre garden: Bobbi Parker

This garden made us feel like we were children on an a hunt through a magical forest and finding a secret cabin, everything was so well thought out. From the fairy gardens to the signage throughout, it truly was a magical experience

Highly Commended 5 acre garden: Don Battersby

We simply could not overlook the amazing abundance of spectacular anthuriums in a single location, we loved chatting to don about his beauties. The passion he has for his plants is very obvious and we look forward to seeing his orchids in bloom.

Best Residential Garden: Michele Bird

This garden immediately makes you want to grab a cuppa, maybe a book and never leave. We could easily have stayed forever, surround by the natural sounds of the rainforest and all its beauty.

Highly Commended Residential Garden: Glenda and Nick Van Rhynswood

What a spectacularly well thought out and maintained garden. The wide variety of plants and colours made for a captivating viewing experience.

Best Commercial Garden: Gumburu

This immaculately kept grounds was such a pleasure to view, it is very apparent that a lot of love and dedication are required to maintain this absolute gem.

Best display or unique plant: Peter and Dorothy Klumpp

Klump: The beautiful bed of multi coloured Anthuriums was a sight to behold, whilst the hints of Greek architecture throughout was so fun and playful. None of us were game to climb the tree-house ladder though

Congratulations to all the winners, and to all of our talented gardeners throughout

the village and blocks who have helped to make Paluma such an amazing and visually spectacular place to live in and visit.

Paluma Garden Competion – November 25th

Our annual Paluma Garden Competition will be held on Monday, November 25th. As in the past there will be 2 judges from Bunnings who will be escorted around the village by a PDCA member. Bunnings will provide gift vouchers to the winning gardens, and will nominate the winner of the Alison Evans Memorial Trophy.

If you do not wish to participate in the competition this year please email Jamie Oliver (jamieo53@hotmail.com) before the competition date.

Paluma’s Best Gardens for 2023

The winners of the Paluma Garden Competition were announced at the last social event a month ago so this may not be news to some readers. However, a formal post with some pictures seems warranted to celebrate the horticultural and landscaping skills of our Paluma residents and commercial establishments.

The inspections occurred on October 11th and the judges (Kathleen and Ange) and prizes were supplied by Bunnings.

The winners and the judges’ notes are listed below.

1.   Best Residential Garden in the Village

Robert and Sandra Smyth, Whalley Cr
What first caught our eye was the amazing landscaping which flowed beautifully with the sloping terrain. We loved the use of stone and natural woods which created interest and texture. We also loved the variety of colourful flowers and foliage used throughout the garden beds.

2.  Best Commercial Garden in the Village 

Gumburu
The gardens were beautifully designed and landscaped. You can see all the hard work that has been put into maintaining these gardens. We loved the rainbow snake feature amongst the front garden bed. We also liked how the gardens flowed with the natural rainforest that surrounds the area.

3. Best Acreage Garden

Glenn & Bobbi Parker, Mt Spec Rd
We liked that every part of their property had points of interest with the open space as well as the rainforest. The rainforest was beautiful with interesting paths to take you throughout the property, each one was a unique experience. We also liked the integration of sustainability with the bees and vegetable gardens. There was also a beautiful balance of established gardens and the natural environment.

4. Highly Recommended Village Garden

Michele Bird, Mt Spec Rd
There is always something interesting and beautiful to look at in this garden. Both the front and back garden are filled with a large variety of plants. As you walk through the little paths in this garden you will come across an eclectic collection of plants, pots and ornaments that bring the garden to life.

5. Most Unusual Garden Specimen, Feature, Development  etc.( Village or Blocks)

Glenn & Bobbi Parker, Mt Spec Rd
There were many features of their garden that stood out to us as most unusual but by far, the greatest feature of this garden is the beautifully made cabin in the forest overlooking the creek. Other features of this garden that stood out to us was the carnivorous plants and the old felled tree stump with the fig growing on top.

Allison Evens Memorial Trophy

“We would say Glen and Bobbi’s, they have such a wonderful garden that you could spend hours in!”

Reminder – Paluma Garden Competition

Paluma’s annual garden competion will occur this Wednesday, October 11th. As ususal the Judges from Bunnings will be escorted around the gardens by a member of the PDCA. Any residents who do not want to participate this year, and who have not already notified us, please email or ring Jamie Oliver or Lynn Hyland.

Notice of Annual Paluma Garden Competition

The annual Paluma Garden Competition will be held in the month of October.  Competition judges from Bunnings will be escorted by a member of the PDCA executive committee around gardens of Paluma residents and businesses including the blocks along and adjacent to Hussey Road.

If you do not wish to be included in this competition please let Jamie Oliver, Lynn Hyland or any other member of the PDCA committee know as soon as possible.

All contact details of the PDCA committee are accessible on this website under ‘contact’.

Another Baby Tree Snake

I have previously posted (bragged) about the haven my garden provides for brown tree snakes of all sizes (Boiga irregularis). In October 2022 I posted a photograph of a rather cute baby brown tree snake amongst the foliage in my bromeliad patch. Today I encountered another baby resting on the broad leaves of one of my anthuriums amongst the pot plants. I couldn’t resist sharing this photograph of this very handsome specimen. Check out those huge eyes….!

Text & Photo by Michele Bird

Of Swallowtails and Dutchmen

Plantings of the native vine Aristolochia tagala (aka Aristolochia acuminata) have now wrapped a sizable section of the railings at the Paluma Village Hall deck in a thick mass of large green leaves.

Somewhat hidden amongst the foliage and emerging flowers and fruit, the larvae of the Cairns Birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera euphorion) are happily munching their way towards the time they will leave the dense vines behind and move to a more open position before transforming into their chrysalis form. By the time the caterpillars are ready to pupate they have grown to about the size of a human adult’s thumb.  

They need to move out of the dense foliage so they have plenty of space to unfold their damp and soft wings when they emerge in their final form as Australia’s largest endemic butterfly.

The Birdwings and some other Swallowtail species rely exclusively on the native vines Aristolochia tagala (aka Aristolochia acuminata) and Pararistolochia deltantha as the food sources for their caterpillars. 

Using chemical receptors on her forelegs the female Birdwing butterfly is able to tell by “tasting” various leaves with chemical receptors on her forelegs that she has found an Aristolochia vine. At the end of her abdomen are other sense organs that help her then locate tender young leaves suitable as caterpillar food. 

Aristolochia vines are poisonous, but the caterpillars of Birdwings (and other Swallowtail species) are able to use the plant poison in our native species for their own protection and so store the toxins in prominent fleshy orange-red spines on their backs. 

When threatened by hungry birds (or curious humans at the village hall) the Birdwings and other members of the Swallowtail butterfly family turn toxins to their defence using an inbuilt defence mechanism anatomically referred to as the Osmeterium

The Osmeterium is an organ above the head of the caterpillar in the first body segment. If the caterpillar feels threatened, two bright red or orange horns pop out, as well as a very smelly, bitter fluid utilising the stored Aristolochia toxin. 

All our Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars — the big butterflies like Cairns Birdwings, Orchards and Ulysses — have this defence mechanism.

Because of the shape of the flowers, the common name for various species of Aristolochia and Pararistolochiais Dutchman’s Pipe. 

But while the Swallowtails thrive on the Australian species of these vines, a foreign species (Aristolochia elegans) is deadly for them. 

The deadly form of Dutchman’s pipe imported from South America for ornamental plantings sends out the same chemical signals to the female swallowtails as our native species. They are fooled into laying their eggs on it. But the emerging caterpillars cannot cope with the stronger toxins of Aristolochia elegans and are eventually poisoned and killed. 

Aristolochia elegans plants are spreading from gardens into the natural environment and are endangering the future of the beautiful Birdwings and the other Swallowtails. 

Do plant native Aristolochia and help the swallowtails fill the summer skies with colour and movement …but check labels carefully to make sure you don’t accidentally purchase and plant the deadly foreign invaders. 

Photos by Jan Cooke and text largely plagiarised from Google sources by Peter Cooke. 

Red-browed Finch

Red-browed finches (Neochmia temporalis) are a relatively common sight around village gardens at Paluma, mostly in open areas on lawns – especially when the lawn gets a bit long and there are seed heads. They are often seen feeding on the ground where there are crimson rosellas also feasting on grass seeds. They are said to feed on both native and non-native grass seeds. They are a beautiful and distinctive small finch easily recognised by their bright red eyebrow, red rump and red beak with otherwise olive green and grey plumage. If disturbed they will quickly fly away into dense undergrowth where they are hard to spot. They are also hard to photograph as they are fast-moving little birds and they don’t sit still. The two photos below have been reproduced from the Birdlife Australia website.

Red-browed finches (Photos from Birdlife Australia website).

Over the past couple of weekends (about 8 days) I have been lucky enough to watch the progress of a pair of very busy red-browed finches building their nest in close proximity to my place. The finishing touches to the nest were being made late last Sunday afternoon and one of the birds had taken to sitting in the nest – perhaps eggs had already been laid?

The nest is located in the high crown of a native tree fern in an open (garden) area. Birdlife Australia describes the red-browed finch nest as “a large domed nest with a side entrance, woven from grass and small twigs. Nests are usually built 2 to 3 metres above the ground in dense shrubs”. This description is entirely accurate for the nest I have observed. The photo below shows the (largely) completed nest in the top of the tree fern, dome-shaped and with a small rounded entrance. The entrance faces westerly away from the prevailing winds and rain in that particular location/micro-climate. Clever little finches!

According to my research, both parents share the nest-building (which I also observed), the incubation of eggs and feeding of the young. Four to six white eggs are laid per clutch two to three times per year, mainly between October and April. Juveniles are said to be fully independent within 28 days. I look forward to observing the nesting process and hopefully the fledging of some new little red-browed finches in the coming month.

Text & Photo (of tree fern nest) by Michele Bird

More Wet Season Mushrooms……

Inspired by Jamie’s recent post on ‘Wet Season Mushrooms’ (9 February 2023) I kept my eyes peeled last weekend for interesting specimens whilst walking around the village. I didn’t have far to go to find an array of amazing fungi after the recent rain. Right there in my own garden was a rotting log flushed with small, delicate creamy-brown mushrooms in large numbers. I haven’t attempted to identify these as yet, but someone with more knowledge of tropical fungi may be able to do so quite readily? I did check at night for fluorescence and fairies under the mushroom caps, but neither were found!

Text & Photos by Michele Bird