Seasons of South Western Australia

When European settlers came here they tried to force the seasonal weather of this part of the state into the four European seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. It made no sense really and nearly two hundred years on we're still trying to work to that pattern and it still makes little sense.

In recent years, though, instead of simply ignoring the history of our indigenous people at last Australia is beginning to see that there was a rich culture here before colonisation and that we should not ignore the traditions our First Nation people. After all, they lived here successfully for many thousands and thousands of years. It would be surprising if they hadn't learned quite a lot about what works and what doesn't in the Australian landscape.

Nowadays, a 'welcome to country' forms a part of many gatherings and we're belatedly looking into bush tucker - indigenous foods - which it turns out is very tasty. I'd like to see us go further and look at the seasons.

South western Australia is Noongar country - the Noongar people are the traditional owners of this area - and if there's one thing that should be obvious to anyone who lives here it's that we don't have the four three month seasons of Europe. For gardeners like me trying to follow those artificial seasons just doesn't make sense so when I discovered the Noongar divided the year into six seasons I was delighted. It works so much better.

The Noongar seasons are governed by weather patterns and so aren't rigidly tied to the months although they occur approximately at the same times. They are:

 Birak - December and January on the calendar and it's very hot and dry (it used to be the season when controlled fires were set to promote new growth).

Bururu - February and March and the hottest months of the year.

Djeran - April and May and the season we're just coming to the end of. This is when the nights cool down and the mornings are dewy.

Makuru - June and July is the coldest and wettest time of the year.

Djilba - August and September is when the weather is a mix from cold and clear to warmer, wet and windy.

Kambarang - October and November and the days are lengthening and warming with less rain.

I now work my plantings around these seasons and my garden is the better for it.

If you want to find out more about the Noongar seasons you can find it here.