Wattle time

I’ve always been a bit of a scavenger.  Ever since I was a kid I’d pocket pretty shells, inspect interesting leaves or steal stems from the garden.  It’s a habit that I’ve maintained into adulthood and I love taking a wander a somewhere, just to see what I can find.

The Malvern Hills were literally a five minute walk from our house in England and I loved the freedom of having a wander through woodland, often coming home with a pine cone, pebble, or in the spring, wild garlic.

Now the weather’s starting to warm up in Australia, I’ve been spending a little bit more time outdoors and the other day I spotted the first of the wattle starting to bloom…

Wattle trees are hugely abundant across south-western New South Wales.  Every August these fairly nondescript trees burst into flower, bearing tiny, fluffy ball-like blooms. Whether it’s because I missed last spring’s show, or because it’s been so very dry, the wattle this year seems to be laden with more flowers than usual.

Driving to work the other day I noticed a dozen or so wattle trees quite close to home, heavy with bright sunshine-like flowers just off the road.  This week I finally found the time to stop and take a walk through the trees.

The first thing I noticed when walking up to the groves of wattles, was the noise – there were bees everywhere! They were flitting from bloom to bloom and making the most of pollen on offer. The next was the smell – wattle (or mimosa as it’s known in parts of the northern hemisphere) has this sweet, almost honey-like smell.  I love it – to me it is the smell of spring in Australia, and Fragonard’s Mimosa is one of my favourite scents to wear in the warmer weather.

My urge to scavenge was high and I couldn’t help but cart away with me a few stems of wattle.  They’re a bit unruly, but I love their wild, almost sculptural look when arranged.  The silver-green foliage is a beautiful contrast and I’ve placed the vase in a spot in the bedroom so the flowers will be one of the first things I see when I wake up in the morning. With frosty weather set to return this weekend, they’ll be a little reminder that spring is almost here.

Have a wonderful weekend. x