Re: Spring notes
tnottle@picknowl.com.au wrote:
>
> Dear Medit-planters
>
> Spring lasted exactly 3 days.
Trevor
My thanks for your sharing of joys and sorrows and so eloquently too. We
are just entering on our regular spring gales which can be pretty
destructive, but at least we have no bordering desert to shrivel us up
with its hot breath andour own garden is really well sheltered.
We had such a mild winter that a whole lot of the spring flowering is
already advanced or over, though officially it has only been spring for
around a week. Rainwise it has fortunately been a reasonably average
season.
It has certainly been a good daff year with us as well as you, and
Helleborus foetidus and H niger are also doing us proud. I lost my only
plant of Sternii last summer and haven't got round to replacing it yet,
but certainly mean to do so, as well as looking for some of the hybrids
you mention.
Camellias are in full bloom and while we used to get possum trouble we
have not had them for a year or two following trapping nearly thirty
ourselves and then being assisted by an official poisoning campaign in
the local bush. In spite of every effort throughout the country they
continue to destroy both out forests and their inhabitants (did you know
they eat bird's eggs as well as many of the berries on which our birds
depend?). The latest count puts the possum population of NZ at about 80
MILLION (and climbing) We are now resigned to the fact we will never be
rid of them, but the current aim is to work on an area at time and
reduce its population to a level that will take a fair while to climb
back before moving on to another. Eventually, it will no doubt be
necessary to do the first one again.
What is also being achieved is the establishment of refuges for our
indigenous wildlife mainly on offshore islands, but there is a
revolutionary concept being realized within the bounds of Wellington
city where a valley, which once housed the City's water supply has just
been surrounded by a predator-proof fence enclosing about 255 hectares
and is in the process of being cleared not only of possums (so far a
thousand have been caught) but also of stoats, rats, mice, hedgehogs,
goats, deer, rabbits and hares -not to mention sundry wandering dogs and
cats). The pets have as far as possible been rescued, but the rest it is
hoped to get rid of by a concentrated airdrop of poison which is due to
take place as soon as the weather is sutable. Once all these are gone it
is hoped to gradually return the forest to its pristine state and
introduce all the original wildlife (birds, bats, lizards and some very
unusual insects) which would have lived there when the Europeans first
arrived. One special aim for the millenial year is for the voice of the
Kiwi to be once more heard in Wellington after a 100 years. Of course it
wiil be essential for all predators to be out before such a precious
treasure can be risked.
We have a very high-powered expert to direct the clearence. She has had
splendid success on a couple of offshore islands, but this is a real
challenge for her, as she has never before had to deal with so many
different species. We are both founder members of the trust which is
developing this concept and help where and when we can. As you can
imagine only a few paid staff can be employed and much of the work is
done by volunteers.
Replacing the forest, including growing mature Podocarps, is not, we
realize exactly short-term, and we shall certainly not live enough to
see more than the very early years, but we feel it is our contribution
to the future and the spirit of conservation and are gaining a lot of
pleasure and interest from being a part of it..
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata,
New Zealand (astride the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
