it's very dry here

No one seems to be discussing the weather lately, which is strange for Melbourne. I guess we're all just glad we didn't have many bush fires this summer and we're enjoying the glorious cool, sunny weather.

But when will we get some proper rain?

We walked in Darebin Parklands today and it was disturbing to see how dry everything is.

I'm interested in weeds, especially the edible ones, but I didn't recognise the plants that are surviving in the desert landscape of the dog area of the park. I wonder what they all are? Some were dandelions, those mineral-filled nutritious plants that are so ubiquitous, but they were the only ones I knew.

In one area where there has been a bonfire, a baby wattle has sprouted. I think I read somewhere that wattles are one of the first-line plants after a fire. They grow, add nitrogen to the soil, and prepare the way for other plants to colonise.

Seeing that little plant made me think of the plant that has sprouted in one of my vegetable beds in my own garden. (I've transplanted it, but I'm not sure it will survive.)

It's a baby lemon scented gum, probably offspring of the giant in our street. (The tree is so tall I couldn't get far enough away to get the whole tree in this photo.)