Expert explains why Mullewa’s wildflower season was late to bloom this season and will flower until October

Wet weather and warmer days have been blamed for a slower-than-usual start to the Mullewa wildflower season but an expert says there is no cause for alarm. Mullewa youth and family support worker Kathryn Park is also a wildflower expert, volunteering for the wildflower show every season for the past 30 years and offering tour walks and tourist information. Ms Park said the wildflowers had been slow to bloom this season compared to last year but expected the colours to flourish over the next week. “We just need this rain to go away for a while; a bit of sunlight and some cold mornings and we will find them,” she said. Ms Park said the wet weather and warmer days meant the orchids were having a hard time blooming this winter. “I haven’t found a spider orchid so far this year, but I’ve found two patches of donkey orchids,” she said. “Last year we had a big abundance of the green hooded orchid — or green ants because they look like aliens — and heaps of spider orchids. “I wouldn’t say this season was a disappointment, I would just say they are going to be later because of all the rain.“ Some wildflowers are already beginning to make an appearance and Ms Park said when the sun began to shine more the flowers would open up for a later-than-usual season. Ms Park said wreath flowers were unique to Pindar and a few other areas such as Perenjori because they stemmed from a taproot buried six feet underground in disturbed soil. “Mullewa is known for a type of flower called the emu bush. Someone actually brought one in last year; that’s on the endangered species list and nobody knew it was there,” she said. Ms Park has begun tagging species that are beginning to bloom so visitors can explore where the flowers will be available on the Mullewa Bushland Trail. One species Ms Park is yet to discover was the kangaroo paw. “I’ve never found it; other people have and it’s meant to be in this area as well,” she said. “Because we’ve had so much rain, you will see different coloured moss this year.” Ms Park said as long as the temperature did not get extreme, the wildflowers would bloom through to October. “Climbing fringe lilies, pin cushions and sun dews are starting to come out,” she said. Ms Park said to find wildflowers, people had to take their time and go for a wander in the bush. “A lot of people drive and say they didn’t see anything — go slower, don’t hold up your traffic of course, or just pull up to the side of the road where it’s safe,” she said.