It's barely August, but a warm one, and many of the spring flowers are already appearing around the place. It's a bit of a shock, but let's welcome them anyway as they appear.

One of the most colourful local shrubs, Austral Indigo (Indigofera australis) is just starting to show its cheerful purple-pink flowers now. 

Austral Indigo is an adaptable local plant and you can see it in coastal areas, usually in the hind dunes, or in woodland of eucalypt forests along the coastal plain and escarpment. Its pretty compound leaves (with many small grey-green leaflets) and distinctive purple-pink flowers set it apart from all other local natives. 

If you head into Wollongong Botanic Garden in the next few weeks, this plant is bound to be doing well and looking impressive. The high rainfall over the last three years of La Niña has set many species, including this one, up for a bumper year of flowers and fruit. Enjoy.