This Sunday one of Paluma’s long-time and much-loved residents celebrates turning 89 years young. A big happy birthday to our resident Irishman Les Hyland. A small group of Les’ friends celebrated the occasion (early) with a Saturday morning tea and delicious cake baked by Lynn.
Happy Birthday Les from your Paluma friends and family!
We have previously posted articles on the wide variety of Camellias growing in Paluma gardens and the fact that our cool mountain climate provides an ideal environment for these more temperate plants. If you peruse the gardening sections of the Paluma.org website you will find photographs of the many varieties and flower shapes, sizes and colours amongst the village gardens.
Coming from Central Victoria I have always loved Camellias and they hold special sentimental value for me. I grew up gardening with my grandparents amongst the Camellias. When I moved to Paluma four years ago and discovered they thrived in local gardens I set about planting several new Camellias at No. 13, adding to those already planted by Andy and Ann Bishop.
About 12 months ago whilst browsing the Bunnings garden shop (something I am known to do on the odd occasion!) I came across a new variety of Camellia – ‘Volunteer’. This new variety was named to commemorate the International Year of Volunteers in 2001 in New Zealand. Incidentally, the International Week of Volunteers has just passed and was celebrated in May.
Anyway, back to Bunnings…..After some deliberation (for about 5 seconds) I purchased a Camellia ‘Volunteer’ and I squeezed it in amongst the plethora of plants in what I call my ‘chaotic cottage garden’. Well, the ‘Volunteer’ has thrived and is just over a metre in height. Throughout the month of May it has produced numerous blooms and they are quite spectacular. The flowers are quite large, deeply ruffled and variegated – they begin as a deep rich pink with white edges and fade to lighter shades of pink as they age.
Camellia ‘Volunteer’ is said to grow some 2m in height and 1.5m in width. It is a medium to dense upright shrub which is low maintenance. It produces multiple blooms over a long flowering period from May to September.
I can thoroughly recommend this Camellia as a beautiful addition to your Paluma garden. I was also thinking that this is an appropriate plant to grow in our little village, since the spirit of community and volunteering thrives here! I wonder if I could find some room for another one…….?
Text & Photo by Michele Bird
Macleay’s Honeyeaters are pretty fearless little creatures.
As Jan Cooke stepped onto the deck today to enjoy a morning juice, suddenly she was ‘breakfast bombed’ by one of the cheeky Macleay’s Honeyeaters who pretty much dominate the fruit station. Such is life in downtown Paluma!
Thankfully the scrub turkeys aren’t as bold……..!
A surprise visitor to our verandah in downtown Paluma this morning……a juvenile Nankeen Night Heron. Something different from the usual mob of rifle birds, catbirds and honeyeaters looking to see if we had put any fruit out for them. The ‘NNH’ moved with all the speed of a tired cuscus on the verandah rail when it wasn’t standing stock still. A very naive youngster who didn’t see us as a threat at all and let me approach to within a couple of metres without any sign of alarm. Didn’t mind me taking 100 shots in the low morning light (1/25 @ f8 ISO 1250 on Canon 5DSR). He/she was there at break of day and was still standing looking like it wanted to come inside out of the rain when I sent this post at 0900. Now all I have to do is sort through 100 photos and decide which few to keep!
Text & Photos by Peter Cooke
Article from Townsville Bulletin. Contributed by Les Hyland.
Most residents at Paluma are avid bird watchers and as the seasons change, so does the variety of bird species that come and go round the village. As winter approaches, many of our favourite species are becoming regular visitors to local gardens and verandahs as they check out what’s on offer at the bird feeder.
Last weekend was a great time for a spot of bird watching, with Jan and Peter Cooke taking up their favourite vantage point on their elevated verandah set adjacent to the rainforest. Some splendid feathered visitors arrived to enjoy the free fruit and easy pickings at the bird feeder.
Below are some of Peter Cooke’s fantastic photos from the verandah. What a way to spend the weekend!
Photos by Peter Cooke & Text by Michele Bird (A ‘Cooked-Bird Collaboration’).
Paluma residents might have thought that the village had been taken over by a Lumberjack’s Convention last weekend as the reverberating sound of chainsaws and mechanical chipper echoed around the village. It just so happens that some locals decided to take advantage of the fine weather to get some major pruning works underway. It all came about when locals Colin and Jill arranged for their son’s mate Jason, who is a professional arborist, to come to Paluma to prune some large rainforest trees on their block.
There was movement in the village and the word was passed around……..!
As it often does around here, word was quickly passed on that an arborist was in town and here was an opportunity not to be missed. While Jason had originally planned to spend a couple of days pruning trees at Paluma, he was quickly snapped up by neighbours far and wide for additional pruning jobs. He now has a week’s worth of bookings and he will be staying on for a while. Paluma often has that effect on people…..!
Jason has an interesting career. When not pruning trees, his regular day job is working on movie sets. He moved from Townsville to the Gold Coast to pursue this work. Most of his time involves setting up stunts for film-makers. He happens to be in North Queensland at the moment due to Covid-19 and travel restrictions. He is taking advantage of the enforced stay in the North to do some extra pruning jobs, with Paluma residents happy to oblige.
Jason’s expertise in his work provided much entertainment for locals as he worked from dizzying heights in the cherrypicker and from harnesses. He often had a small audience watching his every move as he worked away, high amongst the tree-tops to trim and tame some rainforest giants and also the tall pine trees at The Guesthouse.
As always around this little village, the pruning became a community project with everyone ‘chipping in’ to lend a hand. It was all hands on deck at the chipper on Sunday afternoon. Not a branch or tree limb has gone to waste and the resultant mulch will be added to local gardens, flowerbeds and vegie patches.
Text by Michele Bird. Photos by Colwyn Campbell & Michele Bird
It’s no secret that there are some fanatical gardeners in the village of Paluma. At many a social gathering in ‘BC’ times (‘Before Coronavirus’), the main topic of conversation revolved around our passion for propagating, planting and growing our favourite plants, be they native or exotic species.
One such fanatic has to be Jennie at Cloud Cottage. Jennie has developed a serious addiction to succulents of many varieties, shapes, sizes and colours. Her collection is ever-growing and her dedication to growing these plants is very impressive.
Jennie’s addiction developed just over a year ago, with just a couple of plants. A friend, fellow gardener and neighbour (another Jenny), inspired Jennie to grow some of the different varieties of succulents. Since then her collection has rapidly expanded and she now has over 250 individual plants. Her favourite varieties are the Crassula’s and the Echeveria’s. Combined, she has over 90 different species and sub-species of these types of succulents.
Why grow succulents? Jennie says they are very easy to grow and easy to propagate. You can get free plants and expand your garden with very little effort. There are a huge variety of shapes and colours to collect. They are very adaptable and forgiving plants – if you forget to water them they will continue to thrive with neglect.
Jennie has some tips for ensuring successful succulent growing at Paluma (try saying that three times really fast!). Most importantly, they need protection from our heavy and continuous rain, so shelter is very important. They require bright, indirect light and some varieties like full sun, for at least part of the day. Good drainage is essential and they don’t like wet feet. Don’t kill them with kindness by watering them too often!
Jennie has taken to propagating many of her parent plants and she is also growing several specialist and rare varieties. She is potting up plants to sell in the future at the Rainforest Inn and at the Paluma Market (in ‘AC’ times – ‘After Coronavirus’). She continues to be creative in finding new and innovative ways to use succulents in the garden and in home displays and arrangements. Her latest creation is a ‘living clock’ made entirely from ‘baby’ succulents.
As with most ‘fanatics’, Jennie is always happy to talk about her passion and to share her vast knowledge and expertise in growing succulents. Just be aware……if you happen to ask Jennie about her succulent collection, prepare to be informed and inspired!
Text by Michele Bird. Photos by Michele Bird & Jennie Robinson
Katydids, also known as bush crickets, belong to the Tettigoniidae Family and are closely related to grasshoppers. Around the world, apart from Antarctica, there are 6400 species known, of which 900 live in Australia.
This little critter is a Leafy Katydid that I found hanging on my bedroom curtains. It is the biggest katydid I have seen and I thought it may be unusual, however after consulting Google, I discovered that 6 cm is a normal adult size for this species, Paracaedicia serrata. Their life span is a year or less, with most being eaten by birds and small mammals before they reach adulthood. However in the tropics, some can live longer.
The wings are green and leaflike with a fine yellow streak along the edge. The hind legs are finely serrated. Leafy katydids inhabit rainforests and feed on leaves, grass, flower petals and sometimes fruit and aphids. When disturbed, they will remain motionless and can barely be distinguished from the surrounding leaves.
Eggs, looking like tiny seeds, are laid along the edges of leaves or along stems and when hatched, the nymphs will go through 5 successive moults before reaching maturity. The stridulous mating call is achieved by rubbing the front wings together.
So, next time you are gardening, see if you can find one of these cleverly camouflaged critters.
Text & Photo by Colwyn Campbell