Wildflowers provide blooming good playground for children

Wildflowers are in bloom across the Mid West and beyond, with some reporting the best display they have ever seen in their patch. Lara Jensen, from Wondinong Station in the Murchison, said this wildflower season had been one of the best she had seen in the Mount Magnet area due to the unusual amount of rainfall. “We’ve had good regular rainfall and it got the flowers germinating. It’s been a standout year this year,” she said. Ms Jensen said where she lives — 80km north-east of Mount Magnet — was not the best place in the Mid West to find wildflowers, but this year they had blossomed throughout her paddocks. “We get a mixture of them, but predominantly we’ve seen white and pink everlasting daisies,” she said. “That rain starting out in March has continued and it’s quite unusual. We usually don’t expect rain in September at all. “We’ve just edged over 200mm for the year.” Ms Jensen said those travelling on rural roads to visit the wildflowers should remain cautious at all times. “It can be dangerous on some of these tracks when they get wet,” she said. While wildflowers and canola provide picturesque backdrops, biosecurity officers from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development are reminding travellers to avoid venturing too far when admiring the Mid West countryside as visitors pose a risk to farm crops. DPIRD has issued a warning to visitors and photographers not to enter farmers’ properties due to risk of creating a biosecurity incident. DPIRD grains biosecurity officer Jeff Russell said locals and tourists alike could unwittingly spread weeds, pests or diseases, posing a biosecurity risk to crops and livestock. “Weed seeds and soil material that may contain a fungal disease could easily be spread on footwear or vehicles to other properties, which could have a potentially devastating impact,” he said. “It is not appropriate to jump the fence onto a farmer’s property and a far too great a biosecurity risk, so best to stay on the road verge to admire the view and take photographs from there.”