Ann

Sorry not to answer earlier.

Local native trees and flora are much better acclimatised to droughts in the region.

Early settlers were confused by native forests thinking the soil must be fertile if a forest could grow. But gums can grow in poor soil so clearing them did not always yield good farming soil.

We have a band of very old and tall gum trees running along the North Para River which bisects the property. The tallest of these trees might be 120 feet or more (guesstimate). These trees probably reach roots down to subterranean streams.

Jacarandahs are not native to Southern South Aust and do better in Coastal areas of Queensland, NSW, parts of Vic and parts of South Australia. The Barossa Valley is inland and has winter frosts. Jacarandahs do not do well with near zero temperatures in winter and when young need to be sheltered.

A claret ash tree has died as has a wattle of some sort which has a couple of branches left alive. Also a large pine tree on the headland of a vineyard has died. The pine tree would be an introduced pine not a native one. Most of our native pines have died out a long time ago, being shorter lived. Need to replant some if I can get them to grow.

Probably time to take some Summer photos of the property again.

On the BIG plus side, we had 30 mms of rain plus some extra, the weekend before Christmas which was excellent for the vines and other trees. The weeds will be growing again though! This will have refreshed a lot of the vines as good rain is always better than irrigation. Today is 38 deg C however and it will be very hot for next week.