Springtime in Robertson - photos and coming Weekend Events

I was asked to take photos of the Waratahs in the Robertson Common, which is the precinct of Robertson Heritage Railway Station

Magnificent Waratah flower
Telopea speciosissima - NSW Waratah
Probably the "Cultivar" known as Fire and Brimstone
which comes from the local (Kangaloon) catchment areas.

I have uploaded a bunch of photos I took while walking around the main streets of the Village.

Some are of common garden plants, (some would call them "weeds").
Forget Me Nots, Herb Robert, "Honesty" (Lunaria) and then some photos of the Cherry Trees in Hoddle Street (otherwise known as the Illawarra Highway). But it is the Waratahs which steal the show.

Double-flowered Cherry Blossoms
in the main street of Robertson

In between, there are photos of the Railway Buildings (which are recognised as being of historic significance), and also the Fettlers Shed Gallery.

https://picasaweb.google.com/113268294402913437731/SpringtimeInRobertson11October2012

This weekend will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the opening of the "Mountain Railway" - from Port Kembla (the steel works) to Berrima Limestone quarry, originally owned by Sir Cecil Hoskins.
I still find it extraordinary that Sir Cecil, a director of the Australian Iron and Steel managed to persuade the State Government to pay for the railway line between his Limestone Quarry and his steel mill and port at Port Kembla. And the knighted him for his efforts!

• "After complex negotiations in 1927 the State government agreed conditionally to build a railway connecting Port Kembla with the main southern line at Moss Vale, and construction of a blast-furnace and deep-water wharf began."

In these days, I cannot imagine such a deal going through. Instead of giving Sir Cecil a knighthood, he would probably be charged with insider trading or something.
However, this "deal" however shady it might seem to me, today, would probably seem completely natural and even desirable to the likes of Gina Rinehart or Clive Palmer.

Anyway, for better or worse the Railway runs through Robertson (almost exclusively as a Freight line these days),  and as a Tourist line for special occasions, such as this weekend.

 See the details on the Robertson website.

 There will be Open Gardens you can enjoy visiting too.

a delightful delicate pale pink
Double-flowered Cherry Blossom

Timing is everything, when taking photos

Yesterday the Cherry Trees which line the main street of Robertson were at their glorious best (fully opened flowers).
The light was clear and bright.
I suddenly realised that I ought take their photos.

Pink, double-flowered Cherry Trees
in the main street of Robertson.

A close-up of just one spray of Cherry Blossom

Just as well that I got those shot when I did, as later on in that afternoon, it got misty, and then it drizzled overnight. Today it has been misty, followed by a sudden thunderstorm.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Cheery Blossoms will have been destroyed or at least, their beauty will have peaked.

As I say, Timing is everything when taking photos, in Nature.

Cherry Blossom Time in Robertson

Every year it happens, 
and every year I marvel at the beauty of these blossoms.

I know the Japanese community in Australia 

share my enthusiasm for our humble "Cherry Blossom Time".

If you have friends with Japanese connections,

please copy the following link and email it to them.
http://peonyden.blogspot.com/2011/09/cherry-blossom-time-in-robertson.html

It is not quite the true Japanese  Hanami,  

but it is as good as we get, here.

Cherry Blossoms in Robertson, NSW

So, every year I like to publish a reminder that yes,
it is about to happen again.

Where: Hoddle Street, (Illawarra Highway) Robertson NSW.

(A Google Map is linked above)

Cherry Trees were starting to flower on Monday, 

ready for their peak on the long weekend .

Cherry Trees line the main street in Robertson.

 As the blossoms fall, there will then be the phenomenon of "pink snow"

as the blossoms fall to the roadway, 

and swirl around in the breeze.

Such transient beauty

is the very essence of the attraction of this seasonal event.

Cherry Blossoms starting - in Robertson

The famous Cherry Trees along the main street of Robertson are starting to flower.
As mentioned in comments on a previous posting, in response to a query received two weeks ago, the Cherry Trees are flowering early this year. Normally they are at their peak on the long weekend at the beginning of October.
This year they are flowering early. You might blame Global Warming - everyone else seems to blame things they do not like on Global Warming.

I prefer to regard is as part of the normal range of seasonal variations.
Anyway, the point of this posting is to forewarn the Japanese community of Sydney and the Illawarra (who I know do monitor this Blog) that if they wish to see the beautiful Cherry Trees of Robertson in their full glory, they ought visit Robertson over the next 10 days.
.

Plum and Cherry Blossoms - late winter

Of the various ornamental Prunus trees which I grow, the first to flower is Prunus x blireiana. It is a cultivar form of an ornamental flowering plum. It does not set seed (at all - as far as I know). It is grown for the wonderful display of pink, double blossoms.It is reported to be a hybrid between the "Flowering Plum" (Cherry Plum) Prunus cerasifera Var atropurpurea and the very-early-flowering beauty Prunus mume (Flowering Almond) which I showed you some 7 weeks ago (growing in a friend's garden). I rightly named that post as the "Harbinger of Spring".

This flower has a delightful soft pink colour -
especially when the flowers are fresh - as this one is.

Here is a mature flower - paler in the petals
but the anthers (and the pollen) have gone dark.

A few metres along the pathway is the lovely "Taiwan Cherry" Prunus campanulatus. I was searching for an appropriate way to describe the colour of the flowers of this plant and I found in that website above - the description "neon pink".
At a distance from the tree the colour appears red - plain and simple.

But there are many things happening here. The base of the bud and the bracts (the surrounding shield-like covers which protect the bud before it has opened) are a bright red. The petals, however, as they open, have a distinct tinge of blue about them. This pigment changes their appearance beyond red - into the vague range of colour where our normal words do not go. It is not "purple". It is not "hot pink", so I shall settle on the words of that other author "neon pink".

The latin specific name "campanulatus" means "bell like".

As the flower matures, the stamens go dark. It shares that trend with the related plant above. This image has a lot of lens flare as I was trying to capture the dark eye of the flower, which is actually green.
There is another singularly beautiful feature of this plant - that is the way the flowers are held on the pendant sprays, beneath the two red bracts (which protect the entire flowering structure over winter).Further below these bracts, on the flowering stem, there are a set of finely fringed "leaves" (no doubt there is a technical term for them, but lets call them "leaves") which also shield the stem of three buds as the flowers develop. Once the flowers are fully developed these leaves revert to their basic function of harvesting sunlight for the energy of the plant.I just love the fact that this plant has these very fine "leaves" within the flowering structure. Very pretty, and unusual.

This Taiwan Cherry is a popular plant as a street tree in Bowral, but I love it for its early display of colour - and a dark red colour at that. It has been very reliable for me. my plant is nearing 5 metres tall, after being planted as a 1.5 metre "sapling" a mere 5 years ago. It seems resistant to insect attack, too, unlike the Japanese Flowering Cherry.

Pink, white, vermillion - a day of visual contrasts.

In a day of visual contrasts, the main street of Robertson was coated in pink snow (fallen petals of the Cherry Trees). By contrast, the road to the Cemetery was graced with lovely white blossoms of Clematis, as well as the sweet-smelling Orange-blossom Orchids, and then, at sunset, we had brilliant orange-vermillion sunset.

The Orange-blossom Orchids, which I had taken somewhat for granted here, are highly regarded by the Illawarra Orchid enthusiasts from ANOS. They tell me these are a very good form of this species. Their flowers are larger than those found down on the coast, apparently. I did not know that, until I showed some of the local plants to a friend last year, and he got very excited by them. As with most epiphytic Orchids, they are somewhat difficult to see up close. Fortunately these are in a position where one can clamber up an earth bank beside the host tree (a Blackwood Wattle) and reach the camera over as close as one can go, without overbalancing, and then hope that the auto-focus settings on the camera work properly.

All in all, this was a pretty good result. More nimble photographers would simply climb the tree – but I am not up for that.
The very first time I saw this species in flower it was at the very top of a dead Blackwood, a huge tree, on the edge of the Nature Reserve. At least these flowers are a bit more accessible.

The Labellum of this Orchid is somewhat “slipper-shaped” in the manner of the familiar florist Orchids. But these plants have lovely detailing of deep tan stripes, against a yellow patch on the labellum. They also have a wash of purple on the petals. These details are barely visible unless one gets close to the flowers. Brilliant sunsets always fascinate me. At this time of year, the sun sets out in the open, (not behind a tree) when viewed from my kitchen window or from my back deck. The intensity of the colour deepened just after the sun set below the horizon, as it reflected its rays off the clouds.
The end of a day of colourful contrasts.

Cherry Blossom Time in Robertson

The Cherry Blossoms are starting in Robertson. I have had messages from Australians of Japanese origins in previous years asking about when the Cherry Blossoms are going to start. So, if you have friends from Japan, please let them know - the Cherry Blossoms in Robertson are starting.
We have a main street which is planted with double flowered pink Cherries. They are lovely when the bloom. Normally this coincides with the October Long Weekend, which is great, because it coincides with the start of the Springtime in Robertson Festival.After a warm patch of weather over the last few days, the first flowers opened up today.

For the people of Robertson, it is like welcoming back an old friend, to see these lovely flowers opening again.

Laurence Langley Memorial Redwood Grove.

Local residents realise that the Cherry trees along the Illawarra Highway (Hoddle Street) are a major feature of Robertson. They flower in mid-spring, each year, around about the October Long Weekend.Few people realise that the man behind the selection and planting of those Cherry trees, as well as the Redwood Grove, which replaced the Pine trees of the original Robertson School Forest, opposite the Nature Reserve in Robertson was Mr. Laurence Langley. Mr Langley, who I never met, once lived in a property out at the end of Mackey's Lane, where he grew many rare and interesting trees. In fact he created a private arboretum there.

But he was not content with that. As I said, he was responsible for the planting of the double flowered Ornamental Cherries along the Illawarra Highway, through Robertson (Hoddle Street). He also was responsible for a fine stand of Douglas Fir trees as street trees along the top end of Caalong Street (between May St and the Robertson Showground).

However, as far as tree planting is concerned, his greatest achievement in Robertson was the grove of Californian Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) which stand opposite the Robertson Nature Reserve, on the corner of Meryla Street and South Street.

Grey Goshawk perched in one of the Redwood trees

As a lover of grand trees, Mr Langley had researched these trees, and knew that they ought be suitable to Robertson high rainfall and rich, acidic red basalt soil. He imported seed from another Southern Hemisphere area, where they had been successfully established (New Zealand), and then he personally raised the plants from seed. I understand that a major working bee was held to plant these trees where there had been a plantation of Pinus radiata trees (which had originally been planted as a revenue source for the Robertson Primary School). Those trees reached maturity and then were harvested, and replaced by the Redwoods.

Some time ago, Mr Langley left Robertson, and moved to the Coast. He died there last year.

Today, the Robertson Environment Protection Society held a working bee to cut back (and paint with Glyphosate) numerous Privet bushes which were blocking the view of the old sign. Then they erected the new sign, made by Ian Foster (shown fixing the new sign in place).It proudly proclaims the "Laurence Langley Memorial Redwood Grove", which was previously known as the "Robertson School Forest". The erection of this sign coincides with the Council's recent recommendation that: "The Lawrence (sic) Langley Memorial Californian Redwood Grove, Robertson" be included on the list of properties for future heritage review. Recommendation 11 of the recommendations for the "Heritage Survey review" Pages 290, and 291. WSC Agenda 24 April 2008.

Reference:"o-EP1 Draft Wingecarribee LEP 2007 – Public Submissions on Exhibition REF: SPM 5900" "The purpose of this report is to provide Council with details of the public consultations and submissions in relation to the exhibition of the Draft Wingecarribee LEP 2007."
http://www.wsc.nsw.gov.au/files/5184/File/2008-04-30_Agenda.pdf

Some of the workers who put up the sign, and cleared the woody weeds to allow it to be clearly seen from the roadway.The new sign, as seen from Meryla Street, just after crossing the Railway Line. The new sign is clearly visible, now, because of the removal of many Privets and some Scottish Broom (woody weed) shrubs.

Cherry Trees of Robertson in full flower

As predicted several days ago, the Cherry Trees of Robertson are now in full flower.

This photo was taken in the middle of the Illawarra Highway ("Hoddle Street"), so Robertson is still a sleepy enough town to allow the occasional bit of casual photography, smack in the middle of the busiest street in town! Long may that continue!
What is not clear from this photo is that the length of the main section of Robertson is lined with these trees. This is along Hoddle Street, from the western end (at the railway crossing), right up through the town, past the school, the "School of Arts" Hall, and the Police Station and past the Pub, and up towards the Cheese Factory. Trees have been removed (or possibly not planted) in some places, such as in front of the Pub, and other shops. But in general, these Cherry Trees run for about one kilometre. I did not take a "long view" perspective photo because the town was busy when I was out looking to take photos, and there were many cars parked underneath the Cherry Trees, which would have spoiled the visual effect, in the photo.

Here are the flowers - against the bright blue Robertson sky, today 5 October 2007.Close-up shot of the flowers.

Cherry Trees and Peonies in flower in Robertson

First blossoms opening on the Cherry Trees of Robertson.

Several weeks ago I received an inquiry about the Cherry Trees of Robertson, from a Japanese/Australian, apparently living in Sydney.
I promised to report when the Cherry Trees of Robertson were about to open their flowers.
Today is the day they have started to open.

By next weekend, the Cherry Trees along main street of Robertson ought be in full flower. This is one image of trees, taken on 1 October last year. Let us hope the strong winds of the last weekend drop, and allow the trees to make a good show, before their flowers fall.

The Tree Peonies in my garden have also been starting to open. This was the first flower to open, this season, on 22 September 2007. This is the classic Australian Tree Peony "Destiny". It is clearly a descendent of the famous Chinese Tree Peony "Rockii". If grown in isolation, "Destiny" comes true to type, from seed, but it has some subtle differences from the true species. I love this plant, even though it does not last all that well, especially not in hot winds. This flower is a late bloom, on a plant which has mostly finished flowering. Even so, this lovely flower is in good condition, and was about 7 inches (approx 16 cm) wide.
Here is a pale pink semi-double Japanese Tree Peony. I believe this to be "Fushakin". Owing to the extreme weather we have had this last weekend, I have yet to see the flower fully open, so I am not entirely sure, just yet. It has a lovely colour, but only 2 flowers on this young plant. The flower is about 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter (when still half-closed).
It is interesting that despite heavy rain in July, and some late frosts this year, the Tree Peonies have opened on exactly the same days as they first opened, two years ago (according to my Peony Diary from 2005).

Here is the first bud of Paeonia ostii - the blush pink buds open to a pure white flower, with a deep magenta-red carpel in the centre of the flower. But there are no purple-red flares on the petals, in contrast to Destiny.Here is a glimpse of the central carpel on P. ostii.
While the Peonies are exactly on schedule, it is interesting that the Cherry Trees in the main street of Robertson are one week later than last year.

In search of Single-flowered Cherry Trees

Cherry Trees in Robertson, NSW - 1 October 2006

Today I received a "comment" on my posting of 11 August "Cherry Tree and Photo Exhibition"

Hello, Mr Denis Wilson. Thank you for showing us cherry blossoms. The Flowering Cherries are the most beloved trees in Japan.

Mr. Wilson, I would like to ask you about flowering cherry trees in Australia. I see only double flowering type of the cherry in Australia. On the other hand, 80% of the Japanese cherries are Somei-yoshino cherry (Prunus yedoensis). Is there any Somei-yoshino cherry in Robertson area? If you have Yoshino cherry in your area, please show us.

Japanese people in Australia are looking for Yoshino cherry for OHANAMI (flower viewing).
We miss Yoshino cherry very much.

Thank you.
Kai

**********

I have responded to Kai on that post, but I will put something up here too.

Kai is generally correct to observe that the favoured Cherries in Australia are mostly the double-flowered forms. Certainly this applies to the wonderful Cherries of Robertson. Ours are NOT the single flowered one called Somei-yoshino Cherry which Kai is seeking. There are some lovely single-flowered Cherries, in private gardens, but I do not know of any large displays of these single Cherries.

If anyone does know of such a display in Australia, would they please let me know, via the comments facility below. Then Kai and other Japanese lovers of Cherry Trees will be very happy.

Here is an image of the Somei-yoshino Cherry taken by Sakurai Midori, in Osaka on 10 April 2005 (courtesy of Wikimedia).

Does anyone know if there is a good display of these single Cherries somewhere in eastern Australia?

There are many good Cherries in Canberra, and that includes a stand of Cherry Trees which were a gift to Australia from the Government of Japan. So presumably they are of the form which is so admired for Ohanami (Flower Viewing) in Japan. Those trees are near the Captain Cook Memorial Water Jet, beside Commonwealth Avenue (near the bridge), in the centre of Canberra.

The double-flowered Cherry Trees are a glorious picture in Robertson. Usually they flower at their peak over the long weekend in early October. My photos were taken on 1 October 2006.
I have promised Kai that I will publish photos of the Cherry Trees of Robertson, when they begin to flower - this coming Springtime. So keep a look out on my Blog, Kai.
Expect them to start to open in the last week of September.

I love enthusiasts - whether for Cherry Blossom, or for Orchids, Roses or Peonies.
All welcome.