At the beginning of Spring, we took a day trip to the Wheatbelt (a couple of hours North of Perth) in search of Lechenaultia macrantha, commonly known as Wreath Lechenaultia or Wreath flower.

These unique and stunning wildflowers are a Western Australian plant that grow in a striking circular formation with pink, red and cream flowers. I’d never seen them in person, but I had come across images online of vast stretches of these flowers growing along dirt roads where the graders had come through and disturbed the gravelly, sandy soil. They only flower for a short period in Spring, and although we talk about seeing them every year, we always manage to miss the narrow window.

We left home early one morning, just the three of us: me, my husband, and our dog.

The landscape along the way was painted in canola yellow.

Beside the highway and dirt roads, native plants and trees were heavy with their new season blooms.

And off the road, in bushland, the ground cover was bursting with pink and white delights.

It was warmer than we expected, unusually hot for Spring, and the flies were everywhere, thicker than anything we’re used to in the city. The only one who didn’t seem to mind was our dog, Thea. She enjoyed snapping at them with her teeth (you can see or, better yet, listen to her here).

We only spotted a few small patches of Wreath flowers, this time, a couple of kilometres up a dirt road just north of Wubin. It was less than what I had hoped for, but still incredibly magical.

The colours, the space, the company, and that first real taste of Spring made the drive totally worth it.

I will definitely be making this trip again.

Jacqui x