Gardens – Paluma – our village in the mist

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

Mauve Magic Redux

Last year, Michele published an article on a spectacular bluish purple mushroom popping up on the village green.

Earlier this week I noticed that the same purple mushroom was now growing as a fairy ring over 5m in diameter out in the open area of the village green. A semi-circle of large light mauve mushrooms was quite a sight.

After a misidentification by me last year, the correct name Lepista sublilacina was provided by Barry and Jenn Muir from Cairns. It has been called the Australian Blewit. A closely related species (or possibly the same species as) is the Lilac Blewit (L. sordida) which is a common edible northern hemisphere species that is known to form fairy rings. Both species are recognised by the Atlas of Living Australia and have been recorded in Queensland but the characters used to distinguish the two species are not readily available from a web search. They are commonly found on lawns and gardens.

There are at least two websites in Australia that suggest the Lepistra sublilacina/sordida is edible but my recommendation would be not to try to eat them until you have conducted your own investigation on this.

This species is just one of many that have been popping up all around Paluma. I will dedicate a separate post to these in the near future.

Text and Photos by Jamie Oliver

Paluma Garden Competition 2022 – the winners are ….

This year’s Garden Competition was held on November 14th. The competition was sponsored by Bunnings and judged by two experienced and enthusiastic garden-lovers from Bunnings (Ange, a trained horticulturalist and Kathleen, the local activities coordinator). Lynn and Jamie spent most of the day escorting judges around the village and 5 acre blocks, admiring the wonderful and varied landscapes and plantings created by Paluma residents. The judges commented on what a privilege it was to be able to see the spectacular displays of blooms and foliage that our misty, mountain climate can produce. Almost every garden had something that was striking and unique that caught the eyes and admiration of the judges. They left the village overwhelmed with the task of picking winners from such a range of beautiful gardens.

The Winners for this year (with comments from the judges) are:

1. Best Residential Garden in the Village (Allison Evens Trophy)
Michele Bird.

From the front of the property to the back, everywhere we looked there was something interesting and beautiful to look at. The front was full of colour that was a delight to see. As you walked through the little paths it was like walking through a secret garden. The back was beautifully landscaped creating a lovely view from the balcony which also had an amazing array of plotted plants. We loved the eclectic style and she has done an amazing job with the space that she has.

2. Best Non-Residential Garden in the Village
Djindal Bayanyu EcoRetreat (Mark Cubis and Leonie Crennan)

The place at the end of Mount Spec Rd/Loop Rd – The landscaping was very well done. It had different levels and points of interest such as the timber archway and water feature. The view from the deck down onto the garden was lovely and created such a relaxing space.

3. Best Acreage Garden
Lynn and Les Hyland.

Out of all the acreage properties we saw, we felt this property used the space to its full potential. There were interesting paths to take you throughout the property, each one was a unique experience. We also loved that the forest itself was integrated as part of the garden. It created a beautiful balance of established gardens and the natural environment.

4. Highly Recommended Village Garden
Julie and Tony Bligh

The Japanese style garden – It was such a surprise to see the beautiful little Japanese style garden amongst the Paluma rainforest. We loved the use of water which created an interesting and tranquil space and the black pine was a beautiful specimen. It was a unique little garden well worth seeing.

5. Most Unusual Feature or Plant Specimen
Don Battersby

He had the most impressive collection of anthuriums we have seen and there were many interesting specimens but the poisonous pigtail anthurium was the most unusual garden specimen we had seen that day. Something we have never seen or heard of.

Congratulations to all the winners. We hope to post separate articles on recent winning gardens early next year.

A Very Big Day at the Nest

Well, if you have been following Lynda Radbone’s updates from the Thrike-Shrush nest in her fig tree there is some very BIG news to report. It has been a hive of activity at the nest today – Wednesday 14 December. Here’s what happened in the space of a few short hours this morning as photographed and reported by Lynda…….

(1). 7.57 AM. Lynda rechecked the date of birth (hatching) of the chicks. They are 10 days old today. Two of the chicks (the larger ones) have their eyes open. The nest is getting very crowded as the birds grow. Lynda is worried the chicks are going to push each other out of the nest. It’s getting to be a tight squeeze in there. The constant chirping of the chicks is lovely to hear from the verandah. Mum and Dad Shrike-Thrush are run off their feet with the feeding. ‘Chirpy’, ‘Cheep’ and ‘Tweety’ (as named by Lynda) are thriving and the predatory cat birds have stayed away.

(2). 8.04 AM. There is some ‘unrest in the nest’ as the wide-eyed growing chicks hustle for space in the nest.

(3). 8.12 AM. There is movement out of the nest as the larger chicks start hopping up on the branches of the fig tree.

(4). 8.33 AM. A maiden flight by one of the chicks is unsuccessful. Lynda puts the chick back in the nest (for protection from predators). There were several more attempts to fledge with crash landings each time. Lynda keeps watch and puts the chicks back in the nest for safe keeping when predatory birds are around.

(5). 10.12 AM. By now the two larger chicks have fully fledged and left the nest. Only one chick remains in the nest, the smaller of the three. This chick appears to be weaker and its eyes are not fully open as yet. Lynda hopes that this chick is not abandoned!

(6). 12.00 PM. Some five attempts later, the remaining chick finally gets lift off and leaves the nest. It’s off and away into the nearby forest.

At about 12.15 PM, Lynda realises she’s an ’empty nester’. She hopes that the universe takes care of her wee fledgings and keeps the catbirds and other predators at bay. All is unusually quiet in the fig tree on the verandah.