WILDFLOWERS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Click on photos to enlarge

At the end of winter and beginning of spring each year
Western Australia explodes with a profusion of wildflowers which have to be seen to be believed.
Land which appears incapable of supporting any life at all suddenly bursts into life.
I have lived here for over 30 years but only this year did I experience this explosion of new life.

In land which lies maybe fifty to one hundred kilometers from any townsite,
Flowers burst into life, not only in their ones and twos but in their millions.
They cover the ground with such profusion that the ground itself is hardly to be seen.

After the winter rains the sky becomes a beautiful deep blue
with scarcely a cloud to be seen and the silence is almost deafening.

The colours change from one area to another but appear to group together
so that the land takes on a patchwork quilt appearance.

As can be seen from the first photo the roads are unsealed
and the red dust follows the car in an impenetrable cloud.
It finds every crack in the seals of the car and everything becomes covered in a film of red dust.

When the car stops there is absolute silence broken only by the sound of a bird occasionally
The problem with photographing wildflowers is that their heads are heavy
and their stalks weak so that every zephyr of breeze causes them to shimmer.

The bright pink everlastings are beautiful and extend into the bush between the scrub
disappearing into the distance, their colour unfading as they climb the distant hills.

It is impossible to stand amongst such a display without being totally overwhelmed
It simply takes your breath away
and the variety of colours seems endless.

There is a very delicate perfume associated with these flowers
and as you step from the car it is immediately obvious.
However, for sufferers of hay fever, it may be somewhat of an ordeal.

Back to Home Page