Just for a short break from my lazy gardener series, this photo taken by Gordon Smith shows the White Mountain Banksia ( Banksia integrifolia subsp. monticola) in flower near Armidale in Australia's New England.
Growing up in this area I came to love the European feel of the landscape created by the European's love of plants from home. This creates the colours of autumn. But I also came to love the often subtle shades of the natural Australian landscape.
Mind you, there is nothing subtle about some of the bright reds and ochres of the Australian outback. However, most colour changes are more subtle.
I have never seen the two loves as inconsistent. We all change the world we live in. Australia's indigenous peoples did this, just as we do today.
There can be a difficult balancing act between preservation and change. However, I have little sympathy for some metro enthusiasts who want to lock Regional Australia up in an apparently unchanging stasis as their personal preserve.
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