Wildflowers in the Wheatbelt
2010 Season
The rainfall event in early July when Merredin had around 30mm has lifted the expectations that the wildflowers will blloom well this year in the Wheatbelt area . Follow up rains are essential for both the flowers and the crops.
Green hood orchids sprang up after the rain and are currently flowering at Tamma parkland in Merredin. Shrubs are commencing flowering in the bush land with wattles starting the flush. The leaves of spider orchids are in evidence. With more rain the season could extend into mid October.
Tours
Discover the Wheatbelt Tour
A half day tour is offered by Discover the Wheatbelt Tours from Merredin. The tours will commence daily from late August and operate daily subject to weather conditions until October .For more details see www.discoverthewheatbelt.com.
Santaleuca Tours - Narembeen
Walking tours daily in the wildflower season. Bookings are essential. Fully experienced guide. Monday to Friday 10:00am. Minimum of two people. Cost is $20.00 per person. For more information please contact Steve and Michelle Fry on +61 428 647 419 or +61 428 647 409 or email: fryclan@bigpond.com.au.
Wheatbelt Wildflower Information
Below is a guide to likely areas for wildflower exploring. The notes tell of what flowers are likely to be out, where to find them and when to find them. They can be used as a guide only as the actual blossoming of the flora is very dependent on seasonal conditions which can be patchy.
The information below should be checked closer to the date of your visit by contacting the local Visitor Centre.
Beacon
Beacon is the most north-easterly town in the Wheatbelt, adjacent to extensive native bushland and pastoral country. In normal seasons opening rains set the district up for a brilliant display of wildflowers from June to October including masses of white, pink and yellow everlastings, up to 20 varieties of orchids and many bigger trees and shrubs such as wattles, melaleucas, hakesas, grevilleas, and climbing clematis vines.
A wildflower drive along the east shoreline of Lake Moore on Remlap Station will reveal masses of white everlastings, some in full bloom, many in bud and some two or three weeks away from their best, with clumps of pink and yellow everlastings here and there. Nearby can be found numerous spider, blue and greenhood orchids. Mouroubra Road, 22 kilometres along the Bonnie Rock-Burakin Road, is a picturesque alternative route to Paynes Find, passing Remlap Station. It winds its way through a glorious display of colour if the everlastings are out while you enjoy the panorama of Lake Moore and the startling transition from wheatlands to pastoral country.
Granite outcrops and shady clumps of eucalypt forest around Beacon invite picnickers and campers to explore. For Directions call Roz Anstee at the Beacon Telecentre +61 8 9686 1014 Tuesday to Friday. After hours there are brochures available outside the telecentre for self drive tours.
For more information about Beacon, please click on the following link. www.beaconwa.com.au
Bruce Rock
Bruce Rock, 244 kilometres from Perth has a wildflower drive and an amphiteatre and native gardens for the viewing of flora. The flowers on view include isopogons, tinsel flowers, gastrolobiums, spider orchids, verticordias and triggerplants. The stunning scenery includes brilliant salmon gum-gimlet woodlands, granite outcrop, sandlewood and honey myrtle areas. Other areas in Bruce Rock shire include Babakin, home of the rare underground orchid, and Ardath with its local nursery and heritage hotel. Kokerbin Hill, near Shackleton, has spectacular views of the countryside and a picnic area. The base of the granite rock is an ideal location for wildflowers and you can walk to the lookout. Call the Shire of Bruce Rock,
+61 8 9061 1377 and speak to Jen Shearing.
Corrigin
The Shire of Corrigin has a wildflower drive which is just off the main Brookton Highway on the way into the town opposite the Dog Cemetery. Some of the wildflowers available to see in the district are painted feather flower, wild foxglove, blue squill, red toothbrush grevillea, purple enamel orchids, triggerplants, phebalium, cowslip orchids, everlastings, cone flower and many more. Spring is the best time to see the wildflowers and they usually flower for a few months. Contact the Shire of Corrigin on +61 8 9063 2203.
Dalwallinu
The area around Dalwallinu has the most species of wattle anywhere in the world. The south-eastern corner of the remnant bushland adjacent to the Dalwallinu townsite has a nice bush walk. Along the Great Northern Highway north of Wubin a selection of shrubs such as grevilleas, brachysemas, melaleucas, hibbertia, pimelia, pop flowers, and dampiera will be flowering. Leschenaulta macrantha, the wreath flower lies east of Wubin on Goodlands Road, 20km south of the Great Northern Highway. The various rock formations at Petruder, Xantippe, Wubin and Buntine provide sightings of orchids plus many other flora. Miamoon, west of Wubin, also has orchids, everlastings, grevilleas with many still to come.
Call the Shire of Dalwallinu on +61 8 9961 1001, or Wubin Information Centres +61 427 553 622 for the latest information.
The Dallwallinu Wattle Week Festival will be held on 4th to 14th September, 2010. Phone: +61 8 9661 1751
Kulin
Kulin is 283 kilometres south-east of Perth and the shire encompasses the towns of Kulin, Pingaring, Jitarning, and Holt Rock. En route to Wave Rock, Buckley's Breakaway is a picturesque landform where erosion has cut through the orange laterite and formed spectacular white cliffs and gullies from the underlying clay. The gully is dominated by cypress pine, blue mallee and box poison, but it is the top of the breakaway which has the most interesting plants. It's a natural garden, with something in flower year-round. There is a profusion of golden dryandras, soft pink petrophiles, pink and yellow verticordias, blue dampiera and many others. In the shelter of the shrubs look for delicate orchids, triggerplants and sundews.
Buckley's is 70 kilometres east of Kulin, off the Holt Rock Road. On the same road but 20 kilometres east of Kulin (follow the Tin Horse Highway), there is a shady picnic spot at the base of Jilakin Rock. An easy climb to the top of the rock provides spectacular views of Jilakin Lake and the surrounding wheatbelt. Wildflowers form a wonderful display when the season is good. Jilakin Rock has the most isolated known stand of Jarrah (150 kilometres from the main Jarrah belt), surviving on the water run-off and quality soils at the base of the rock. Kulin shire has an abundance of wildflower reserves. Hopkins Nature Reserve comes to life in the early spring and is an extremely important flora conservation area. North Jitarning Nature Reserve has a picnic area and is perfect to walk through and experience many different vegetation areas. Roadside flora is also abundant. Contact the Kulin Resource Centre on +61 8 9880 1021 for more information.
The Macrocarpa Trail adjacent the townsite offers an easy walking trail through interesting bushland.
Merredin
Wildflowers bloom well in the area, which is three hours from Perth. August to October is a good time to see many species of shrubs in flower and orchids if the winter has been kind. In the Merredin townsite, reserves such as Tamma Parkland and Merredin Peak are worth exploring. Hakea and wattle species, tea trees and hibbertia are some species that put on a show. These look beautiful under the tall salmon gums and morrel trees. Wheatbelt woodlands have some of the greatest diversity of plants of any habitat in the State. Around the numerous granite rock outcrops in the southern section of the Merredin shire the shrubs are blooming. Patches of everlastings and understorey shrub displays make rocks such as Mt Moore,Totadgin, Elachbutting, Sandford and Baladjie worth a visit. Half day wildflower tours depart daily in season. Contact the Central Wheatbelt Visitor Centre for more information on +61 8 9041 1666.
Mt Marshall
The Shire of Mt Marshall is within the north-eastern Wheatbelt, 273 kilometres from Perth. It is made up of both pastoral and cropping country and has numerous granite outcrops and nature reserves that put on a magnificent wildflower display given good seasonal conditions. The shire includes the towns of Bencubbin and Beacon. Wattles, foxgloves, grevillea, hakea, bottlebrush, milkwort, pompoms and some orchids may be seen around the rocky outcrops (snail, spider and donkey orchids). One great drive follows Bimbijy Road, where you can travel through the pastoral country and take in excellent views of the district from Mt Churchman. Another interesting drive is Mouroubra Road Walong which you can travel north through the shire to Payne's Find and the Great Northern Highway. Maps of the district and tourist drives are available from the Mt Marshall Tourist Centre or contact the Shire of Mt Marshall on +61 8 9685 1202.
Mukinbudin
Acacias are a feature around the granite rocks. Calothamnus quadrifidus provides a great display of red one-sided flowers and as does Leptospermum erubescens with its show of pink and white. If you keep your eyes open you may see the upside down pea bush with red flowers. Elachbutting rock and the many other granite rocks will be well worth a visit with salmon gum and mallee, colourful understorey and spectacular rock formations. Roadsides from Echo Valley Road in the east of the shire to the Mukinbudin-Bencubbin Road in the west will have their share of the light land species such as hakeas, grevilleas, dampieras, thryptomenes, Pityrodia terminalis (native foxgloves) and Hemiphora elderii (red velvet), Keraudrenia integrifolia (firebush) and later the verticordias (feather flowers) in pinks, yellows and whites. Contact watsonway4@bigpond.com.
Narembeen
Travel through Narembeen either as part of a Wave Rock tour or as an alternative to the Great Eastern Highway on your way to Kalgoorlie. On the Hyden-Mt Walker-Narembeen Road, stop at Hidden Hollow where you may find orchids, eremophilas and other wildflowers. On the Narembeen-Merredin Road, right through to Gelka, there are a huge array of shrubs and wildflowers on the roadside - cyanostegia, grevilleas, hakeas, sandalwood, keraudrenia, glishrocaryoun and dampiera. There is a bush walk near the Narembeen Golf Club and for $5 visitors can combine a game of golf and bushwalk. Tours are available of Wadderin Reserve .Contact Stephen and Michelle Fry on +61 428 647 419 or +61 428 647 409 from the Santaleuca Forestry for more information.
Perenjori
Perenjori is in the centre of the wildflower country on the Wubin-Mullewa Road, 350 kilometres from Perth. Flowers that can be seen are the unique wreath flower, orchids, endless vistas of pink, white and yellow everlastings and the various bushes that come alive during the season. The best time frame for viewing is August to early October. Contact the Perenjori Tourist Centre on +61 8 9973 1105 for more information.
Wongan Hills
Wongan Hills, 184 kilometres from Perth, has more than 250 species of flowering plants, with 16 unique to the area. Rogers Nature Reserve covers 341ha to the west of the town. It is an excellent place to see wildflowers. Elphin Reserve, 198ha, west of town, is noted for its breakaway vegetation. Reynoldson Reserve is renowned for its magnificent Verticordia, which flowers in November. It is 15 kilometres north of Wongan Hills on the Old Ballidu Road. Mt O'Brien lookout is 10 kilometres out on the Waddington/Piawaning Road, and offers a scenic drive to the top with magnificent views. Mt Matilda Walk Trail, one of the top five walk trails in the state is a three-hour return walk which shows some of the diverse and unique flora of Wongan Hills. In spring Christmas Rock Walk Trail has many colourful wildflowers. Follow the signs starting in Wandoo Crescent, just north of the caravan park.
Dingo Rock, a popular picnic spot with a big gnamma hole, is 26 kilometres east of Wongan Hills on the Manmanning Road. The best time for wildflowers is between September and November.
For more information contact the Wongan Hills Tourist Promotion Centre on +61 8 9671 1051.
Anyone visiting the Wongan Hills area at this time please do not hesitate to call in and see us at the Wongan Hills Visitor Centre or contact us on +61 8 9671 1973 or e-mail: wongantourism@westnet.com.au
Wyalkatchem
Korrelocking Reserve, about 10 kilometres from Wyalkatchem townsite, has a variety of orchids on the west side of the reserve given a good season. Wyalkatchem Nature Reserve is worth having a look at to see what is flowering. Though not a major wildflower area, there is a good selection throughout the season. Contact Shire of Wyalkatchem on +61 8 9681 1166 for more information.
Yilgarn
For a wonderful view of our wildflowers, it is best to drive along the Emu Fence Road from Hyden to Marvel Loch and out to the Great Eastern Highway, near Yellowdine. Along the Southern Cross South Road, a must-see is the Southern Cross Common. Ask at the Southern Cross Caravan Park for up to date information, a map and directions. Corinthia, Forrestania and South Nulla Nulla roads will all have a show of hakeas (emu tree), camel bush, flannel bush, eremophila, dampiera and common firebush. For Golden Pipeline travellers, there will be spider orchids under jam trees (in a good season), many feather flowers, short paper lilies on the sandplain and golden grevillea along the highway.
Our granite rocks are rich with orchids from July to November, given a good season, with snail orchids starting the rush. Ask at the Moorine Rock Store for the latest information on the flowers at Nurdungarra Rock. Contact Kaye Crafter of Yilgarn Bush Tours on +61 8 9049 1467 for more information.
