Diario de pratyeka

Travel

Great year in botanical travel terms. Visited Fiji's Taveuni and saw some interesting remnant vegetation, alas mostly invaded by weeds introduced by the Americans in war time. Much of the island has been deforested or is in a very poor state. Also visited Perth and Rottnest Island, both very interesting. I hope to return to WA in the future. Visited the US and took at look at a lot of Californian scrub, saw wild deer as well as some of the Redwood forests and a wild elk preserve. Visited the California Academy of Science museums in San Diego and San Francisco, plus Chicago's amazing Lincoln Park Conservatory and the small but stylish Atlanta Botanic Garden (the only such garden I've seen with a wine stand at the entrance - those people know how to enjoy botany!). I feel very lucky to have the chance to enjoy such pleasures.

Socials

Socially, visited our native plant society fern group and the local native plant society plant propagation group. Easily the youngest participant in both cases. Attended an iNaturalist bioblitz event (not the youngest) and performed admirably despite only being active for one of the three days. I think I placed fifth in the city, which is more than I could have hoped for.

Gardening

It has been fantastic to see the garden begin to pay back my sustained efforts. Many native plants are flowering for the first time, and many have gone to seed which I have been collecting for further propagation. A dry spell during which I was away unfortunately killed off a feature tree fern I'd painstakingly relocated despite it having successfully sprouted six large fronds. I put this down to the combination of relocation and frequency of surface watering negating the otherwise anticipated depth of the plant's root system which would otherwise have been present and allowed it to survive a dry spell. All is not lost though as it has become host to some Asplenium epiphytes and unseasonably warm and wet weather has generally benefited most plantings. Despite a smattering of other losses, most plants are beginning to accelerate growth. I look forward to enhanced privacy and a further temperature drop and moisture increase once dense peripheral plantings reach relative maturity.

Weed-wise I am still fighting a persistent Nandina domestica colony (really need to remove this at the subsurface level), and a large amount of dispersed Tradescantia fluminensis which is without doubt the most persistent of all weeds but is slowly being tamed. Other difficult ones which are now coming under control are Ochna serrulata ("mickey mouse bush"), Ligustrum lucidum (broad-leaved privet), Nephrolepis cordifolia (fishbone fern), Asparagus aethiopicus (ground asparagus fern) and Jasminum polyanthum (jasmine). Simiarly, Tillandsia usneoides which was very prevalent has been largely removed except where out of reach.

Propagation efforts have begun to yield results, with a large number of acacias and a few other species germinating from seed. I have given away many native plants already and look forward to duplicating some of the numerous existing plants for which I would like to have additional specimens.

Expansion out on to the verge has apparently upset some anonymous member of the public who complained to the council. The council said the garden was 'dangerous' on account of (1) stakes and (2) wooden edging. Ignorant foolery, obviously. I asked them to clarify how this was so, and why in fact the council stakes its own verge plantings in residential areas (within eyesight) but they seem to be implying we cannot. In response to this they have been so far silent. Hopefully logic prevails. If not, I will be taking the matter up with the mayor's office and subsequently meeting the mayor in person with the support of a local councilor who assures me they will not allow idiocy to triumph. Pleasant remarks and positive reinforcement from most passing locals are meanwhile appreciated.

More recently beds are being established for edibles, which is a new frontier for me. Research seems to suggest wildly disparate views exist on treated timber in proximity to veggies, however after conducting a cursory literature review I concluded it's nothing to worry about.

Tools

Microscopy has once again become possible with the acquisition of a new monocular microscope. This version is higher resolution and has USB so it is now possible to easily capture stills and I have already obtained results with various software for focus stacking and the automatic addition of an in-image scale. This is pleasant because it is infinitely more useful to analyze a fixed image on a screen than try to do so squatting down outside, and it is great to be able to keep an accurate record of all of the fascinating seeds, flowers, creatures and so forth obtained from the garden. Recently I have sometimes begun to feel that I could simply document things living here all day every day and never get bored...

An interesting journey of late.

Regarding iNat, I feel their technical leadership has sort of lost the plot and invested in some questionable technology decisions and is apparently not open enough to discuss them. Happens a lot when you get ego involved with the stresses of an established platform and user base, things become change averse and personal domains reign. This is sad. I became aware of and temporarily engaged with lobbying for improvement on those issues when some rare first observations I made in Hainan were modified and the original labels lost. Now I am less motivated to invest in the platform and am more interested by learning.

Three and a half years of gardening has fielded some success and failures. A lot of plantings were lost to bad tenants which yielded a court case and much associated kerfuffle. Still awaiting a ruling but confident of some degree of financial reparations. Completed extensive repurchasing and replanting as a result, a huge time investment. Three water features have been installed and are receiving increasing numbers of visitors. Unfortunately there are some roaming cats around which may be keeping the fauna down. I have been scaring them when seen, but need to find a solution. The ringtail possum formerly resident in a bird's nest fern was electrocuted on a nearby power line and died. It was a female with no young in its pouch. An exterior planting of 3+ years vintage was destroyed by someone walking on it recently, despite being staked and in a raised bed. Sometimes you just can't win. My callistemon caught thrip and I had to prune them back heavily. After realising the organic insecticies were only a single active ingredient (Potassium laurate) and overpriced I launched a chemistry mission to obtain bulk quantities of Lauric acid and Potassium hydrochloride and am preparing to mix them for a prolonged treatment. According to a chemist friend the recipe is as follows.

Preliminaries

• The active ingredient is Potassium laurate.
• According to an environmental scientist friend, that is a potassium salt and I am told that potassium salts occur naturally in the body.
• Based upon commercial retail product labeling, the target solution strength is 2% in water and this has been certified organic by some authority or other.
• Based upon my recent research, you can't buy it at full strength as far as I know, but you can buy two precursor chemicals: potassium hydroxide and lauric acid.
• It's an acid-base reaction. Therefore you need to work on equal molarity not equal weights.

Recipe

1. Obtain potassium hydroxide and lauric acid
2. Weigh out 20.03g of Lauric acid, dissolve in 200mL water.
3. Weigh out 5.61g of Potassium hydroxide, dissolve in 200mL of water. This will get hot so you will need to wait until it cools down.
4. Mix the two solutions. It will give you 400mL solution containing 23.84g potassium laurate (60g/L).
5. You can then dilute it to whatever you need.

Excepting my own efforts I have visited some interesting gardens and begun to network with a few more interesting groups, chiefly fern people who are as eccentric and varied as you would expect. I was the new blood and I'm over 40.

I have also begun a journey toward watercolours, among similarly advanced peers, and with minor success. I completed one simpler botanical watercolour with which I am relatively pleased... perhaps there may be more in future. A lot to learn, and my drawing which is fundamental remains poor.

Although I will have to leave the garden again soon, I have begun propagating a few species from seed: one elegant thin-leafed Lomandra cultivar with seed collected in the garden, 100 Cordyline stricta (also from the garden) and a fair number of Cordyline indivisa (purchased). In addition, I have begun propagating some ferns - predominantly from spore, about 8 species, but also some from leaves. I've purchased a number of large Platycerium and Asplenium nidus from individual sellers (really - why would you sell such a thing?) to bolster the garden's existing stock, and collected some other species mostly gifted.

Observing the spring in the garden has been particularly hard. So many plants have flowered so quickly, in many cases I could not recall what I had planted. However, it has been fantastic to see some positive results of some early gardening labors. Less positively I lost a lot of small cuttings to the heat of the sun, also lost some ferns I imported from Queensland, a Hawkesbury-endemic philotheca, etc. It is interesting how killing plants is sometimes very easy, sometimes very hard. I even managed to kill some trees ... I believe these may have been soil type related deaths, though cannot be certain.

A trip to the Hunter region showed me how diverse our bird life is once you step away from the coastal areas in to deeper rainforest. Apparently I made the first confirmed observation of an Australian land snail that is endemic to the area. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/62270403

Other minor wins include some audio recordings, an echidna and a swimming snake https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/62082204

Alas I must leave Australia and return to China for work now, it is unlikely I will have time to contribute in the near future. Although, should I have the chance, I would like to upload pictures of the giant snails in our area in China, and some of the mountain flora.

Looks like getting back to China is shelved: not only is the government not issuing visas, but we have heard rumours the consulate will be closing due to the geopolitical climate.

Upside is more time in the near future to do bushwalks!

Got a NSW NPWS membership, so cheaper access to national parks now.

Recently did another ANPS walk which was interesting, learned a bit more about Hakea identification and also Grevilleas.

Spotted a termite which came from a palm purchased during unpotting for planting in to our garden, if I'd known what it was at the time I would have squashed the blighter!

Encountered the world of commercial arborists, conclusion is they are mostly criminals. Quotes ranged from $4200-$6050 for the same work, I talked the expensive guy down to the medium price as he seemed the only one with a license and insurance and the trees in question overhang the neighbour's roof. Don't want to be paying urgent roof repair damages.

My most interesting observation recently was this bright red coral-looking fellow which experts couldn't agree on precisely but is either Petrophile pulchella or Isopogon anethifolius. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/55006845 Feels great to stump the experts in any domain!

Began to plan a bushwalk in the Hunter region, circa Barrington Tops. Bit cold yet but seems promising.

Got some decent walking shoes, finally. Most of my stuff is still in China, and half of what I brought was lost when my bag burst open at the airport on the way over at Christmas. What a year eh.

Heard about a couple of great wildflower areas, one is https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/muogamarra-nature-reserve which is closed except 6 weekends per year (and totally closed this year) and one is a secret track said to be on par with the former.

Looking forward to a local bushcare event (first post-COVID!) and an exploration of the secret track.

Managed to join the ANPS Isopogon / Petrophile and Fern study groups, a black art in either case. The former received me in to their junk mail and the latter were contemplating shutting down. It seems the market for eccentric interests is ever-reducing and the millenial expresses their not-so-disparate entertainment wonts through TikTok in lieu of associations. For shame!

So far I've had a great time reacquainting myself with Australian and introduced flora and fauna.

Unexpected discoveries have been many and varied.

Firstly it was mushroom season, which was a frequent period of interest while living in Yunnan. It was quite fascinating to see the diversity of species in Sydney, so much so that I got so tired of squatting and standing up so many times during walks that I got lazy to photograph some of the new ones! My family have all become avid mushroom hunters (my wife was already talented) so it's great when we can get an ID, as hard as this may be sometimes.

Secondly I was very impressed to see the community of aquatic iNaturalists around Sydney. I am sure there is some serious investment involved in diving or even snorkelling some of these areas as well as the general confidence and fitness required plus situational awareness re. boats, etc. Great stuff from all those people is consistently surprising.

Had a quick dalliance in to ferns due to spotting some interesting ones bushwalking. This lead to some interesting private messages with a local iNat user, an appreciation for how difficult they can be to germinate from spores after some emails to local fern experts and nurseries and the acquisition of the local reference work.

A cockroach I have never seen was ID'd in a relatively central part of Sydney as hailing from Suriname by an entomologist with a world cockroach collection. Awesome!

There are so many amazing people with specific interests on iNat. A Crimean entomologist ID'd a lacewing for me after 6 months of no motion.

All great stuff. I am learning a lot and this has been an invaluable resource in broadening our family's gardening horizons as new gardeners.

Can't wait to get back to China in six months and ID some of the species in local forest.

Gotta love nature!

Go iNat!