My nature blog is two years old. I have learned a lot in this time, and I also feel I have made a worthwhile contribution to raising the vital subject of environmental awareness within our society.
I am at a stage in my life when I am ready for change. I wish to become actively involved in the community by way of volunteer work helping elderly people, and helping to preserve or restore native habitat. In order to undertake these projects, I will have to make changes to my life. These changes will involve my time, and physical and emotional energy. Therefore, some of my leisure activities will have to be curtailed - my Hunter Valley Backyard Nature Blog will be one.
As nature is a vital part of my everyday life, I will continue to post up my nature observations, interactions and experiences, in my journal blog Snippets and Sentiments. I hope to update my journal blog a few times every week, and I would find encouragement and inspiration if regular readers of my nature blog were inclined to visit my journal blog.
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One local observation that I made recently, which I am pleased to be able to share, is that of the Christmas Orchid (Calanthe triplicata) .
Unlike many of our terrestrial orchids, Calanthe triplicata is an evergreen, which forms bushy clumps. It has large, pleated, thin-textured, dark green leaves, to 90cm x 18cm. It has sturdy scapes (flower stems), to 1.5 metres tall, which carry up to 40 white flowers, to 3cm across, crowded near the top.
The flowers have widely spreading segments, a lip which is deeply divided into four lobes, and also a long basal spur. Flowering occurs between October and February in moist to wet shady sites in rainforest and other moist to wet forests in NSW and Queensland.
I found these plants in the rainforest of Barrington Tops National Park. It was the first time I have found them flowering, and they were spectacular.
Calanthe triplicata - Christmas Orchid
Rainforest habitat of Calanthe triplicata
Perhaps I will get back to continue this blog, but in the meantime, readers will find my nature observations and photographs at Snippets and Sentiments.
Sincere thanks to all those other nature bloggers, and readers who contributed via comments and emails, who have taken an interest and encouraged me. Thank you especially, to those who have offered corrections and asked questions.
Regards,
Gaye.
