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Gardening is one of those activities that frequently gets included on lists of most popular pastimes (probably hovering somewhere below ‘cruising the Internet’).

No wonder. As Greg Czechura points out in ‘Scratchings & Rustlings’, there are so many reasons for gardening: the prestige of ornamenting the property with shaved lawns, expensive statuary and weed-free beds of colour; the pleasure of beautiful, fresh produce with flavour and variety you’re unlikely to find in a supermarket.

This edition embraces another aspect: wild gardens.

By Chris Phoebe.

'In October 2005 I loaded up the motorbike and rode north through station country, into the Western Australian Goldfields to see the wildflowers on display in an area not generally recognised for its flowers.The climate is harsh and dry. Kalgoorlie is the main city; the region is surrounded by the Great Victorian and Gibson Desert and the area known as the Southern Wheatbelt.'

To get the best of Western Australia’s Goldfields region wildflowers, you might need to get off the main roads as Chris discovers on this colourful photographic journey.

By Colleen O’Malley

Olive Pink Botanic Garden lies on the eastern bank of the mighty Todd River, a waterway that flows only rarely along the edge of the Alice Springs town centre. Fifty years ago, the gazettal of 16ha of fairly heavily goat-browsed floodplain and rocky hill habitat marked the founding of the Garden as the ‘Australian Arid Regions Native Flora Reserve’.

First Honorary Curator of the Reserve, the legendary anthropologist Miss Olive Muriel Pink, lived in an ex-Army unlined tin hut on the Reserve for 15 years, until she passed away in 1975 at the age of 91.

By Greg Prostamo & Martin Fingland

Astonishing skin, astounding eyes and, if you live in a mild to warm weather zone, there may very well be one in your garden.

While many of us encourage wildlife and enjoy seeing fauna in our gardens, the idea of snakes pushes the ‘wild garden’ concept a bit too far for some. These attitudes are changing, especially when the distinction is made as to whether the snakes are dangerous or, like Australia’s python species, rarely threatening to humans.

By Lee K. Curtis

The spectacular Cairns birdwing, Australia’s largest butterfly, is even more interesting close up.

With cameras poised, two avid wildlife gardeners manage to miss the emerging moment, but capture almost every other aspect of the Cairns birdwing butterfly.

By John T. St L. Moss

The traditional European Christmas decoration has a fascinating and important array of southern relatives.

Often castigated as parasitic pests, mistletoes, on closer acquaintance, prove to be admirable guests. In exchange for a drink from their hosts, they provide beauty and diversity as well as food and shelter for many other visitors.

By Kate Clarke

'I’ll build you a pond', she thought, and opened a window on wildlife discoveries. A back yard in Busselton opens a window on a world of frogs.

Ponds need to be designed with a diversity of conditions to meet the requirements of a variety of frog species...

• Waterwise Gardens
• Flora for Fauna
• Birds in the Backyard
• Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants
• Fair Trade Association

Editorial, City Animal, NatureWatch, Books Reviews, Summer Skies, Young and Wild, Scratchings and Rustlings, Wildside, WPSQ in Action, Swamp Cartoon and our regular environmental crossword.

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