Nannup wildflower walks - & The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

 I have just finished reading - The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland. I have been a bit slow coming to this book, as it was published in 2019. The cover attracted me when I saw it on the shelf in my local library. Can you see why?

This beautifully written book is the story of Alice Hart, who lost both her parents in a fire when she was nine. She goes to live with her grandmother on a flower farm where she is taught the language of Australian native flowers. Spanning 20 years, the story takes you from the coast to inland Australia.  It delves into the stories we inherit, those we select to define us, and those we choose to hide. It is about loss, family secrets, betrayal and what we do to survive. 

I love this quote - Life is lived forward, but only understood backward - Holly Ringland, inspired by the writing of Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. 

You can also find Holly on Instagram @ hollygoeslightly

What I particularly loved was the way that Holly has dipped into the Victorian tradition of giving meaning to flowers. Holly has written meanings to Australian flowers and woven them into her story. For example: Sturt's Desert Pea - Have courage take heart. 

These are Sturt Desert Peas which we saw on our trip through Western Australia's north west a few months ago. They are amazing. 

Each chapter of the book is headed by a flower, it's meaning, and a short description. Accompanying each chapter is a beautiful wildflower line illustrations by Edith Rewa. Also see on Instagram.  Her work is truly stunning. 

I had visions of being a botanical artist when I was in high school and have dabbled with it over the last year or so. I need to work on it more. 

In September I brought you a blog about the exploring the Bridgetown Jarrah Park between Nannup and Bridgetown, a couple of weeks ago we had a few days free so we went back down to Nannup with our caravan to stay for a few days and do some more wildflower walks. 

We arrived in Nannup around lunchtime in the afternoon went out to the Kondil Wildflower walks which are only a short distance from town. There are three loop walks - 700 metre, 2.5 km, and 3.3km. We decided to do the longer walk. Below are some of the wildflowers we saw. 

This bright blue one is the Blue Leschenaultia. Stunning isn't it. 

This mauve one is one of the fringe lilies. And the one below it is a hooded lily - Johnsonia lupulina.  I had never looked closely at them before. The layers open into little flowers which you can see if you turn them up. So beautiful. 

Of course there were also orchids. Clockwise from top left - cowslip, one of the hammer orchids, forest mantis, Crab lipped spider orchid (a new one for us), white spider orchid, and enamel orchid.  The hammer orchid was an exciting find because they are so hard to see, we have only seen one a couple of times. 

And these are rattlebeak orchids - Lyperanthus serratus -  - I hadn't seen them in such a group before. 

And this is Western Australia's floral emblem - the kangaroo paw - Anigozanthos manglesii

That's it from me today. I will be back another time with more from our few days in Nannup. It really was a lovely short break and I wished we had more time. 

Have you read the Lost Flowers of Alice Hart? What did you think of it? 

Do you have a favourite wildflower walk? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments. 

You might also like: Exploring the Bridgetown Jarrah Park

An excellent orchid identification site is: Western Australian Native orchid study

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
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Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
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Thankful Thursday 
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September wildflowers in Western Australia

I love September because it is the time for wildflowers in my corner of the world - the south west of Western Australia. I always say there is always something flowering in the Australia bush, which is true, but in spring in September the bush really comes alive with colour and an array of unique wildflowers found nowhere else in the world. 

I know I promised last week to bring you more of my recent travels - half lap of Australia, but because we have been on three wildflower short walks this past week in my area, I just had to share. 

Opposite is Western Australia's floral emblem -  the green and red Mangles Kangaroo Paw - Anigozanthos manglesii

The wildflowers are starting to pop at Crooked Brook

Spring was in the air this past weekend and the sunny morning beckoned me to be out bush walking with my camera, so we went out to the Crooked Brook Forest, located on the edge of the beautiful Ferguson Valley region only about 25 kilometre's or 20 minutes from our home in suburbia in the south west of Western Australia.  I've blogged about Crooked Brook before here on my blog.

 It is a great place for a stroll to see the spring wildflowers with 4 walks ranging from an easy wheelchair accessible sealed circuit pathway, the easy 1.5 kilometre Jarrah circuit walk, the moderate 3 kilometre wildflower walk and the 10 kiometre moderate Marri walk. 

Located in State forest, the area is managed by the WA Department of Parks and Wildlife and has been developed and maintained by the local community. As well as the walks there is a nature playground, gas barbecues and picnic shelters. 

Scattered along the walks there are sitting spots where you can stop awhile to enjoy the beauty of the bush and information plaques to help you identify some of the plants. 
Not only visited for picnicking, bushwalking and wildflowers, it is also a great place for birdwatchers. 

The wildflowers were only just starting to erupt but there was enough to keep me and my camera happy.  The wildflower above I think is one of the Hakeas or it could be a Grevillea - but like many of our wildflower bushes, very prickly!  

Please excuse my identifications, I am not a botanist, so I can't absolutely identify many plants, as Western Australia has thousands of varieties, so often I can only give you the family name, not the specifics.  Western Australia's wildflower collection is the largest on Earth, with more than 12,000 species, over 60% of which are found nowhere else.  

Flowering in Western Australia extends from July in the northern Kimberley region through to November/December on the south coast.  

Here are a few more from Crooked Brook - top left and right and centre are three of the native pea varieties,  centre top I think is Cockies Tongues - Templetonia retusa. Centre row left is one of the Claw flower varieties, centre right is Pink Fairy orchid - Caladenia latifolia, bottom left is Yellow Flag - Patersonia umbrosa, bottom centre is I think, Bush Boronia - Boronia fastigiata, and bottom right one of the wattle varieties. 
 

 The wattle is Australia's floral emblem, and one of Australia's most prolific flowering shrubs. It seems to be the first of the spring flowers to appear.  Great swathes of it sweep through the forest's under-storey in a blaze of glorious yellow.

Below you can see, top row from left - one of the Myrtles, a cone flower before the flower opens, one of the Dawinia family, middle row, Greenhood orchid, a sun dew, bottom row, one of the Synapheas, Jug Orchid - Pterostylis recurva, and far right I think is one of the Hakea family.

And new growth erupting from what looked like a dead tree. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed looking at some of the early spring flowers to be found in the Crooked Brook Forest. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.  

 For more about exploring Western Australia's wildflowers - WA Wildflowers - Tourism Western Australia

You might also like:
Crooked Brook Forest - 2017
Hunting for wild orchids in Western Australia's mid west 
Photographing wildflowers

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
Mosaic Monday 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit and 50 Shades of Age
Little Things Thursday

Life in Reflection

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