Recovery of trees and plants after fire

from w
Although we were devastated by the loss of life and tragedies of the bushfires in Victoria a month or so ago, fire is a natural phenonema in our Australia bush and it takes the heat of such a fire to open the seeds of many species such as hakea and banksia, and for some plants to actually grow again. Tiny leaves form on the bark of trees or at the base, and the grass trees grow quickly. Even lilies grow again after a fire. Here are some photos of recovery after bushfire. We would not be so presumptuous as to drive to the blackened areas this time, but I remember Ash Wednesday we drove to Anglesea and Angahook forest because Peceli was a scout chaplain at the time and we needed to see the Euramella camp. When we drove that way three months later the recovery of the bush was remarkable, the gum trees green with new growth. The photos in the mosaic above are not mine, but 'borrowed' from the internet.

Two pictures - grass trees and Buckley's Falls

from w
A friend kindly came and took digital photos of some of our paintings etc. so now they are on file and occasionally I can put one or two into this blog. Here are two: one is an acrylic of grass trees at the Geelong Botanical Gardens, on canvas and unframed. The other is a pastel on black paper, which is framed behind glass. It's of Buckley's Falls, Geelong. The latter has been on the wall a few years, but the one of grass trees was made in recent months.