Greetings fellow Foxies,
Visitors to Narrogin in summer could be forgiven for thinking that many understorey plants have died, but each winter most  burst into life again.
 There are many plant strategies for coping with our seasonal droughts.
Each November, the marri trees drop some leaves to reduce their water use, and orchids survive as twin underground bulbs.
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 True specialists are resurrection plants that completely dry out but, become green and active within days of rain. Examples are lichens (OK not plants) and Borya species, “pincushion plants" mostly found in soil on granite rocks 

​Many other plants partially shrivel and change colour to ultraviolet resistant purple, red, and yellow, but remain alive in most seasons. However it takes days for them to recover after rain, and plants will die in severe droughts.
The compact bush tucker plant kickbush (Astroloma acervatum) is a good example

I followed the rejuvenation of one plant in summer after rain in the first week of February followed by another in the first week of March 2021

​Allocasuarinas (sheoaks and tammars) can also markedly change colour as shown in dwarf tammar (Allocasuarina humilis) images below  near the Claypit. I noticed colour differences within the plant where some branches were more water stressed than others.
Random comment – why do taxonomists use the Latin word humilis for smaller?
As a person of moderate stature, I consider this heightist bias, and feel no humility towards my larger brethren (poor souls).

​This interesting extract from a book edited by Professor Hans Lambers is a great read for those wishing to understand more about drought tolerance of our native plants.
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 Have you ever wondered why Australia has no cacti and few succulents compared to other countries?
Succulent plants rely on salts in their cells to retain large amounts of water. Their evolution has not been favoured on most of our soils which have formed on leached and weathered materials, except in saline basins where one finds salt tolerant succulents like bluebush, pigface, and samphire.

​Greetings fellow Foxies,
Over the years, the Claypit has been a labour of love and source of frustration. The reason for the existence of the twin excavations is unknown, with possibilities being a brick clay quarry (unlikely as it is poor quality clay, borrow pit for adjoining Bottle Creek dam or as a soak. The initial name, Beavers Dam was also a mystery until several years after I renamed it Claypit for brevity. Guy Maley told me that he and other kids used to throw sticks in the water, which were were blown by wind into one end to resemble a beaver’s dam.
 Images below show changes from 2011 to 2019

 The Claypit was a favoured place for tadpole collecting, a cycle circuit, trail bike jumps and 4WD enthusiasts. After many years of vandalism, and trail bike and 4WD incursions on walk trails and through the bush, I realised that Foxes Lair would never be a good place for walkers while the Claypit remained a magnet for undesirable activity exponents
Tony and Deb Hughes-Owen donated bridge timbers that were placed by the Central South Naturalist Club to create a picnic area. In a battle of attrition over several years, 4WD drivers would breach the barriers and trash facilities and I would repair them and cart in tonnes of rocks, logs, soil for landscaping, barrier reinforcements, and stepping stones. Images below show a 2016 incident 

​The famous “Claypit Challenge” arose after I scabbed rocks, logs, and limestone blocks from a range of sources to create a stepping stone circuit for the young and young at heart.
Recently the shire’s insurance assessor cast an eye over and (justifiably) insisted that the logs and rocks were a safety hazard and had to go. 

Narrogin shire donated 8 one metre long reconstituted limestone blocks, and will hopefully cut them in half .
 However more blocks are needed. Suitable limestone blocks would be gratefully accepted by yours truly