Houelly, you must have too much concrete. The leaves & flowers of the Jacaranda only require one slow run with a mower to chop them up enough to sink into a lawn, feeding it.

Jacarandas are one of the "good" plants, acting as nutrient pumps. Their deep roots gather nutrients from way below where most plants, & all grasses can access them. A lot of this is distributed on the surface by leaf & flower fall, making them available to a whole range of desirable plants.

Unlike our eucalyptus who's leaves take years to rot, this nutrient is soon available, making everything flourish.

Hasbeen, my world is yellow. Yellow with wattle flowers. Not now – too late in the season. Mostly in spring.

There are nigh on 1000 species of them in Australia. Acacias, that is.

As a botanist I worked on them in WA in the late 70s and early 80s. I collected over 100 then unnamed species. I’ve got one named after me and I have collected the type specimens for a few species.

In immense variety, they put on magnificent floral displays right across Australia in practically all vegetation types from rainforest to desert.

They’ve coloured my world enormously for four decades.

Wow, Acacia Luddy!

On my impoverished sandy, but neutral PH soil, I have used them a pioneer, to add some nitrogen, & shelter things like mangoes & Illawarra flame trees for a few years.

I also used them for quick privacy. I have been amazed at the amount root growth they leave. Where they expire, there is quite a mound left behind.

The jacarandas have been great this year near my office but are starting to fade now, looking forward to the great shows of red/orange which normally follow from the poincianas (I spotted the first poinciana flowers I've seen this season last weekend).

Not much colour in it but my grapes have the best bunches on them at the moment thatbthey have had in years. Hopefully the minors won't destroy too many.

R0bert

8 mm of rain last night, mind if I post again.
Each of us from different back grounds and walks of life have found reason to be gardeners.
That returns ten fold to us what we put in.
Put 12 Irises over the fence free this morning, but the smile was worth far more than cash.
As I select my day lillys, keeping the best more smiles and a beut garden next door, next year? may find another who wants some too.
Eating out of mine, not strictly to save money but the sheer pleasure of eating fresh.
Minors gone, for how long? well not too concerned it appears others hate them more than me.
Predicted about 50mm but it is not here unfortunately, will take much more to fill empty tanks all around here.

Hi Belly, great stuff, I hope you can send us some. My daylilies have mostly dropped their buds in self preservation.

I'm just keeping some of my stuff alive this year. Watering it all, enough to be productive would be a full time job I'm afraid, & too expensive on water.

No lemons or mandarins next year, they have dropped all their buds, & are just holding on.

It really is crazy, in a year when we'd had above our total annual rainfall before the end of June, that it is this bad. Of course my house is on the top of the hill, to get the breezes, but it drains too well. Down the slope there is still some moisture keeping even the grass going for a while.

My biggest problem is the roos. With my place being very lightly grazed, a reasonable grass, we have a lot coming in. Many of them are bush kanaka roos, from the deep bush, probably the heavily treed national parks, that have really dried out. They just don't understand fences. The local roos just jump over them no trouble.

I am no longer even trying to keep the fences up on the bottom paddocks, & have had to put down 3 roos that badly injured themselves smashing those fences.

The sooner it rains, & they go back to the parks, the happier I'll be