By Romy Stephens
If there’s one place in Victoria that truly shows the beauty of wattle, it’s the Yarra Ranges.
With today (1 September) marking National Wattle Day, the Star Mail is taking a look at the importance of the Acacia, commonly known as wattle, in the region.
Since 1992 Wattle Day has been celebrated on the first day of September in all of Australia’s states and territories.
This year marks the 110th anniversary of the first celebration of Wattle Day on the same day in more than one place – Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.
A newspaper article published in the Lilydale Express in 1911 reflected on the importance of Wattle Day by describing how wattle springs to life within the local area between winter and spring.
It explained the beauty of the Cootamundra Wattle in winter with “the golden crown of this glorious tree is half hidden in the ermine of the snow.”
“Following these, the Silver Wattle, beginning shyly in some sunny reach of the Yarra, and often found tentatively blossoming over the floods of July, takes heart apace, and soon makes the month of August glorious, and in every way worthy its imperial name.”
The article also mentioned the “delicious perfume” of the Acacia leprosa on Fernshaw Road and “sometime in September the Spur will be one mass of radiant gold tossing in the sunshine and the wind.”
According to the Mount Evelyn History Group, the Evelyn State School opened in 1910 – the same year Wattle Day was first suggested.
Jean Edwards, who was one of the authors of the school history, said that Wattle Day was celebrated in the early years of the school. However, there’s no specific information on how it was celebrated.
Wattles native to Mount Evelyn include the Silver wattle Acacia dealbata, Blackwood Acacia melanoxylon, Golden Wattle Acacia pycnantha, Cinnamon Wattle Acacia leprosa, Narrow-leaf Wattle Acacia mucronata, Myrtle Wattle Acacia myrtifolia, Hop Wattle Acacia stricta, Prickly Moses Acacia verticillata.
In 1992 the Healesville and Yarra Glen Guardian also reported the sale of Wattle Day buttons in the Shire of Lilydale.
To help celebrate the occasion of National Wattle Day, the Star Mail sent photographer Stewart Chambers to go capture its beauty throughout the Yarra Ranges.
