{"id":893245,"date":"2026-09-15T20:28:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T20:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/893245\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T20:28:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T20:28:21","slug":"western-australia-wildflower-season-mid-west-region-records-best-bloom-in-nearly-two-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/893245\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Australia wildflower season: Mid West region records best bloom in nearly two decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Holly<\/p>\n

September 16, 2026 \u2014 3:00am<\/p>\n

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Western Australia\u2019s Mid West has recorded the best wildflower season in almost two decades, with early winter rains contributing to ideal conditions for seeds that had been lying dormant for years to finally sprout.<\/p>\n

In the Shire of Murchison, more than 800 kilometres north of Perth, flowers blanketed the region across August and into September.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in WA\u2019s Mid West wildflower region.CSIRO\/ Red Empire Media<\/p>\n

At the CSIRO\u2019s Radio-astronomy Observatory, the variety has impressed long-time Murchison local Andrew Whitmarsh \u2013 also the CSIRO\u2019s land manager for the observatory site.<\/p>\n

The flowers this year have bloomed right up against the radio telescopes that peer into the far reaches of space.<\/p>\n

The season also began early this season, triggered by generous downpours starting with Cyclone Mitchell back in February.<\/p>\n

Whitmarsh said the soil\u2019s \u201cseed bank\u201d had come alive, with the early season rains allowing many seeds that were dormant for years through drier conditions to germinate.<\/p>\n

\u201cDifferent species like different conditions, but this year has been a free-for-all with so many varieties blooming at the same time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen a display this good since 2008.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CSIRO\u2019s observatory land management team work closely with WA biodiversity experts to monitor and document the species at the observatory.<\/p>\n

Over the last decade, the observatory\u2019s presence has necessitated a change in land use for the site, from pastoral lease to radio astronomy only, which included adapting water management and land care activities.<\/p>\n

\"CalandriniaCalandrinia Mirabilis. CSIRO\/ Red Empire Media<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take samples and help monitor populations, gathering information to support biodiversity work in Western Australia,\u201d Whitmarsh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve helped trace new populations of protected wildflowers, resulting in one already being reduced from a priority 1 to a priority 3 protected species last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That species is the Calandrinia Mirabilis, listed as priority 1 until 2025, when the flower\u2019s classification was dropped after additional populations were documented at the observatory site.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the 2026 season<\/a>, Bush Heritage senior ecologist Michelle Hall said this year\u2019s wildflowers were putting on a \u201cspectacular show\u201d.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Wildflowers<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t many places in the world where you can see this kind of thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mid West is particularly known for these amazing carpets of flowers. It\u2019s an extreme arid environment that occasionally gets cyclones coming through. That\u2019s what caused this big display.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the wildflower season comes towards its end across the Mid West, the CSIRO team already has their eyes on the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe plan to increase our water flow management activity across the site, minimising the movement of water where it wouldn\u2019t naturally go through reducing road-side windrows and constructing pond banks,\u201d Whitmarsh said.<\/p>\n

While he said he doesn\u2019t expect to see another wildflower season like this one again next year, it is likely there will be growing displays as the land changes with its new use.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing extra plant variety and growth in the areas where the soil has been disturbed near the telescopes, as well as slow-growing tree species like Mulgas growing and surviving in new spaces across the site,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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\"HollyHolly Thompson<\/a> is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in education and the environment.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 16, 2026 \u2014 3:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":893246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[64,63,128],"class_list":["post-893245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}