Homework March 24 'My Childhood Hideaway'

[Terry]

My Childhood Hideaway
Where the gentle breezes drifted with a hint of sweet perfume,
over miles of untouched bushland with boronia in bloom.
And to us it was a sanctuary that few would get to see,
where exotic plants would greet you in this place that used to be.

And where tiny tinkling streams meandered lazily throughout,
and the many scattered pools were nature’s way of beating drought,
for the gilgies, frog’s and tadpoles, just to name a special few,
in the struggle for survival neath the bushes wet with dew.

Then the rarest plant of all, cute tiny Pitcher Plants abound,
beautiful breathtaking ancient plant forms waiting to be found.
There among the orchids and the vibrant colours waiting there,
with the ever-present scent of sweet boronia to share
-------------------------
All is gone, now slashed and burnt, then ploughed to make a grassy field,
such is the price of progress, though hearts like mine have never healed.
©T.E.Piggott

Boronia = Bur – ron – i - a

[Maureen K Clifford]

Love it, very evocative - I had forgotten how beautiful the scent of boronia is, but your words reminded me and I had to look up gilgies as that was a word quite unknown to me ... so today is a good day because I have learnt something new

Picture plants has me stumped though???? Perhaps they are a W A plants name??? At the risk of sounding like Pauline Please explain

[Catherine Lee]

I'll be watching for the answer on that one too, Terry..... Meanwhile, this is a delightful poem - really enjoyed the images as always, and the way you've ended it with those two lines is very effective in making a strong point!

[Terry]

Thanks Maureen and Catherine

Gilgies of course is the local native name for what you might call Yabbies.

Pitcher plants (sorry about the spelling must correct it) they look like tiny jugs with a lid that can close because they are insectivorous plants.
This one is known as the Albany Pitcher Plant that survive on trapping insects mostly ants.
There were other insectivorous plants there as well, one that we used to call rainbows had dozens of small sticky round hairy flowers.
We as kids were in awe of them, they looked so alien I suppose.
In the early spring the scent of Boronia could be smelt miles from where it grew releasing an almost intoxicating beautiful scent.
We built cubbies out of the bushes on the slightly higher ground one of our favorite's was next to a tall pink Boronia bush they are much less scented than the brown one with the yellow inner.

Terry

[Catherine Lee]

Thanks heaps, Terry - I have now investigated further on Google as well. Really interesting - I only wish I could remember the scent of boronia because by not doing so am really missing out!

[Terry]

Hi Catherine

Itis really such a lovely scent and can be smelt from miles away,
an interesting aside regarding boronia scent is that even though it's a pleasantly strong scent,
there is a very rare group of people who can't smell it, unbelievable as that may sound.
I had a very good friend like that, and I just couldn't believe it, so I checked up on it, and it is a fact.
I forget the exact reason for it, but it's something like unable to smell a certain range of scent - I repeat - hard to believe but true.
If you would like to have the chance of smelling again this beautiful scent, you can now buy potted plants,
The best time to buy is about late July to early august over here, I imagine it's the same over east if you live somewhere in Australia.
You buy the plant when it's heavily in bud and you will have a couple of months to enjoy it's scent. the other reason to buy as mentioned,
is that the plants are short lived usually any more than a couple of years is rare.
As there are various forms of boronia I will hunt up the scientific name and add it to this asp - You need to get the right one!

The name is Boronia Megastigma - nothing else get close to its wonderful fragrance

Terry

[Ron]

Good one Terry, you have rekindled a few childhood memories for me there too.
I always remember as a small child, Mum would take us for a bit of a bushwalk and I remember her saying quite often, 'ah, smell the Brown Boronia! beautiful!' and needless to say that scent has stayed with me to this day!
I don't know if it was the same as you have over in the West, but Brown Boronia was the common name here way back then.
I had heard of Gilgies, but the pitcher plants is a new one to me. (we learn something every day).
Enjoyed the read mate,
Ron.

[Terry]

Hi Ron

Don't know if you have the same boronia over there but most of them have a lovely scent,
But this one is unbelievably beautiful, it has a sort of deep Marone to brown colour and yellow on the underside.
It tends to grow in low swampy areas which unfortunately, are easily cleared more's the pity.
The Gilgies over here similar but quite different to eastern state Yabbies I've seen.
most of the farm dams and indeed a lot of the station dams have been stocked with yabbies,
we often got a feed if prospecting near a dam mostly in the more southern goldfields.

Terry

[alongtimegone]

Hi Terry there's not too much untouched bush land around any more but I remember the feeling of wandering through it. I spent many hours playing in 'the bush' as a child. In Queensland yabbies are pumped from sandbanks at low tide and used for bait.I've never heard of gilgies but it sounds like what we would have called lobbies that were found in small district water holes that also don't exist any more. I know that W.A. has the marron and it's quite an industry. Queensland also has a fresh water cray called red claw. Our dams are full of them. I don't think I've ever smelled boronia and I feel that I'm missing out on something after reading your words. I loved your poem. It painted so many beautiful pictures.
Wazza

[Terry]

Thanks, Wazza

Gilges are a small freshwater crayfish found in all the southern WA creeks dams and waterholes,
a sort of smaller version of the Maron you mentioned.
I don't think you will find Boronia up your way its (our type anyway) is confined to the lightly swampy areas in the lower southwest.
I really hope you get to smell it Warren it is such a wonderful intoxicating scent especially where it grows wild, and you can smell miles away.
There are still areas of untouched bushland where it grows, but it is under threat.

Cheers Mate
Terry