Swamp Paperbark or Melaleuca ericifolia is a tough, versatile all-round good guy. It's hard to go wrong with this plant even if gardening is not your thing. If you garden by neglect, forget to water or love your plants too much, and they die from too much water, Swamp Paperbark is the perfect plant for you.

Swamp Paperbark is an incredibly hardy, fast-growing plant, prized for its ornamental values. It has dense, bushy appearance with dark green, narrow needle-shaped leaves. The bark is pale and papery, peeling off in layers. Swamp Paperbark produces masses of creamy-white or pale yellow bottlebrush-like flower spikes, usually in spring and early summer. These flowers are fragrant and attract honeyeater birds, bees and insects. Its dense foliage makes ideal habitat.

Swamp Paperbark is able to withstand permanently wet soil, salt, coastal exposure, shade and frost. It can be seen growing along many rivers and coastal estuaries and swamps. If allowed to grow to full size it will reach 4 metres, and in swamps, may reach 5-6 metres and form dense thickets. However, it is very hardy in dry frosty areas, including the Midlands, where it can be found growing along some rivers as a shrub.

As Swamp Paperbark is very adaptable to a wide range of soils and conditions. It makes an excellent species for shelter, soil stabilization, salt areas, hedging, screening and wildlife habitat. 

Aboriginal people used the bark of this tree for paintings, blankets, and roofing for shelters. The wood was used for spears, clubs and digging sticks. Oil from the leaves was used for medicine and nectar from the flowers was used to make sweet drinks.

​If using the flowers to make a sweet tea, place flowers in a teapot and pour over boiling water and allow to steep for a few minutes. Dilute to taste. Older trees produce paperbark that can be used in wrapping meats and vegetables. This gives the food a rich smokey flavour.

The wattles are bursting into bloom, with their blast of yellow publicizing spring has arrived. The birds are busy making their nests and plants are starting to stir into new life. There is something truly remarkable about this time of year, a relief after such a cold winter, a sense of renewal. Nature has its own calendar, a rhythm that is comforting and reassuring, and it says Spring has arrived.

Winter has gone, and so have the Olympics and all those magnificent athletes who have trained so hard for the last four years for the honour of competing for the country. The women's marathon with four competitors sprinting the last 100 metres to try and win a gold medal was truly inspiring.

And in the Ironman Competition held earlier this year in Far North Queensland, magnificent men and women athletes swam 3.8 km, then a 180km bike ride and if that wasn't enough, they ran a marathon to get to the finish line. That also was truly inspiring. But perhaps the most inspiring , was the Japanese contestant, Hiromu Inada competing at age 91 years.

But for me the most inspiring athletes are the swallows returning here to celebrate spring. They have  flown thousands of kilometres, without a map, flight instruments or in-flight service. These athletes weigh in at just a few grams, to land safely back home. What a privilege to witness their Supreme Olympian Challenge.

And yet perhaps all these efforts pale in comparison to the Shearwater, the Mutton Bird. They are extreme athletes, competing in some crazy ultimate challenge. These birds weighing 500 grams are returning home from the Aleutian Islands near Alaska, and Kamchatka in the Russian Far East. They come home via the tourist route, travelling down the coast of california

Frogs are a friendly and entertaining addition to any garden, and their welcoming calls indicate a healthy place. In the nursery they make a formidable team of pest controllers.

Frogs require water and a variety of plants that provide both refuge and insects. Adult frogs are carnivorous, unlike tadpoles which are herbivorous. Their diet consists mainly of insects and spiders. Food location is by sight and their prey needs to be moving to stimulate the frog into capturing  its prey. Their long, sticky tongue is flicked forward, ensnaring their prey.

At the moment frogs in the nursery are very sleepy, hiding under pots, not wanting to move, but will do so unenthusiastically, as if moving is a tremendous inconvenience. Frogs don't actually hibernate but go into an inactive state known as brumation. When temperatures begin to drop and the days begin to get shorter, frogs seek out a warm, safe hiding place where their metabolism slows to the bare minimum. They rest until it starts warming up in spring time. This winter torpor is essential, to help frogs conserve energy, survive harsh winters conditions and a lack of food. Brumation slows a frog's metabolism and temporarily stops essential activities such as eating, drinking, defecation and movement. 

Frogs don't stay inactive during the whole winter period. They will occasionally increase their activity and forage for food and move reluctantly  if I disturb them. How often they do this will depend on the weather. Milder days will cause frogs to stop brumating and become active again. If the weather gets colder, they will return to a state of brumation.

Not all frogs have the luxury of a hot house with flower pots to hide under.  Some bury themselves deep into the ground or underneath leaf litter, especially along the edges of creeks and wetlands. Others climb up trees and find shelter in deep hollows with moisture.

When the weather warms up and we get a decent rain, hundreds of frogs will make a real racket as if throwing a celebration party to say thank you to the heavens. Different species have different songs, but it's the males making all the commotion.

To attract frogs to your garden you can make a frog pond. Ideally your pond will be irregular in shape with varying water levels. Stock your pond with floating vegetation and protruding branches or rocks, so young frogs have perches and escape routes. Provide some thick leafy plants near the water edge to protect baby frogs leaving the pond, preferably with some leaf litter. Remember to keep your pond free of detergents or other chemicals as these can harm your frogs.