TUATEAWA AUTUMN

Despite a few, heavy but short downpours, there are many signs of drought around Tuateawa. The fronds of many black pongas have dried and died. Trees that were once dense and luxuriant are now a little more see through. The ground below is covered with more than the usual quantity of shed leaves.

On Kahutara, where the bones of the land are closer to the surface, there are large areas of browned off vegetation, presumably titree. In and amongst there are larger trees, maybe rewa rewa that have died. It is not unusual but it does seem a little more extreme than I can recall. Come the winter rains and it will start to recover.

Some things seem to be doing remarkably well. We have a legion of very healthy swan plants. The paper wasps, illegal aliens them selves, seem to be removing the Monarch caterpillars before they can really make an impact. There are far fewer adult Monarchs to be seen.
Most things seem to be proceeding as normal, the drought is just a small hiccup. The quail have forgotten summer differences and are in sizeable flocks. There are a lot of fruits around for the birds.

Some you would prefer to eat yourselves and others that will create weed problems in the future.

These Cotoneasters produce an heavy crop of fruit attractive to birds and the plant is becoming increasingly common in Tuateawa.

Not so edible is the seed of the Pohutukawa. Seed is just starting to be released and it is produced in incredible quantities.

Project Crimson has good advice on growing your own Pohutukawa from seed if you search out their website.