Bluey Food Plants for Outdoor Enclosure

[Scotts1au]

I'm after suggestions for plants ie. groundcovers, edible weeds etc to grow in an outdoor bluey enclosure in our temperate climate in Victoria Aus.

I'm thinking along with native saltbushes to grow dandelions etc.

Believe it or not I even considered buying some dandelion seed on the internet cos I couldn't find any - it has been so hot and dry that they have dissapeared. I managed to find a few in the garden at work I pinch them on the weekend.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Leigh]

I'm after suggestions for plants ie. groundcovers, edible weeds etc to grow in an outdoor bluey enclosure in our temperate climate in Victoria Aus.

I'm thinking along with native saltbushes to grow dandelions etc.

Believe it or not I even considered buying some dandelion seed on the internet cos I couldn't find any - it has been so hot and dry that they have dissapeared. I managed to find a few in the garden at work I pinch them on the weekend.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Dig the thing up root and all,plant in your garden it'll keep growing, again and again, year after year if you keep it watered(maybe even if it dries up), I've got ONE single dandelion, it's lasted three years so far, that I pick off a few leaves and let it grow more, all year round. If you let one flower grow into a clock, you could then plant the seeds.

[Blotch]

blackberry plants obviously grow like weeds - just keep them under control!

[Richard.C]

lol luke,good luck keeping black berry bushes under control,pmsl,scott have u tried growing tomatoes in there,strawberrys as well,i grew up in sorrento and behind the bungalow down the back yard was a vegie patch,when we grew tomatoes and strawberrys funnily enough a few easterns and a blotch called the slab of the bungalow home,no tomotoes got to ripeness with in there reach,we even had one eastern that would continuously climb the bush to get to higher tomatoes,quite amusing to watch,they loved the strawberrys to just before they got ripe,when we didnt grow strawbs and tomatoes,no blueys lived under the slab,lol,ive never tried a tomato bush in my cages but will this season,good for escaping the heat as well,then they die off when it cools down so u lose the cold dampness factor under it

[Lisa]

If you knick the ones from work, make sure they aren't cat's ear. While dandelion flowers are yummy for them, the cat's ears can give them a tummy upset. I was told this years ago by a long time bluey breeder.

Not sure if you knew that already? They are very similar weeds, the main differences being that dandelions grow one flower per stem but the cats can grow multiple, and that the leaves on the cats are smoother and rounder, whereas the dandelions are more forked and pointy. Apparently cats ears are more common than dandelions as weeds.

[Geoff Gates]

Scott,

I would not grow dandelion or blackberry (blackberry is the last thing you would want to establish itself in your garden. The birds will spread the seeds everywhere.)

Here's a few suggestions.

Dianella revoluta. I've watched wild blotchies eat the berries (near Cape Otway). Great for them to hide under and climb through too.

Correa sp. low growing forms are great bluey habitat and useful for sloughing. Blueys probably eat the odd flower.

Eremophila glabra/maculata prostrate forms. Bluey's eat the the fallen flowers.

Kunzea pomifera

Brachyscome multifida.

All of the above will also attract insects (some are the food source for beetles) At times Christmas beetles become a staple food source for blueys.

I know of a few more but they are prickly and you'll cut yourself to sheds trying to extricate a bluey from under them.

Cheers,

[Scotts1au]

Thanks for the suggestions.

lol I have American blackberries in the backyard. I think they might get terminal roundup next year. V.tough and great fruiting but they are taking over and oooogly.

Geoff, not sure what you've got against poor old Dandelions I tried bluey with a few E.maculata flowers to no avail - I might have just got him on a bad hair day. I was thinking maybe Pigface (native Carpobrotus sp?) I have several Dianella species, I'll divy some up and chuck them in the spaces. Do you know if the berries on Lomadra longifolia are edible? I have Walenbergias, Calotis (burr daisy), Brachyscome basaltica and multifida - I just had trouble imagining how they could result in a food source. My Kunzeas all got fried from -6C frost last year - all but parviflora is a dead loss here. I have some cuttings of a scrambling form of E.glabra I'll try that.

Richard - I like the Tomato idea, I might chuck in some cherry tomatoes, or Romas and See what happens. Strawbs would be good but realistically probably too hot and dry to keep them alive through summer.

Lisa and Leigh yeh these ones are true dandelions, lots of cats ears and other stuff than look like dandelions around - I'll try a Hamilton tree planter and try and core them out to transplant. I thought Dandelion cos they could pick off the leaves/flowers at will in the enclosure.

[Geoff Gates]

Geoff, not sure what you've got against poor old Dandelions I tried bluey with a few E.maculata flowers to no avail - I might have just got him on a bad hair day. I was thinking maybe Pigface (native Carpobrotus sp?) I have several Dianella species, I'll divy some up and chuck them in the spaces. Do you know if the berries on Lomadra longifolia are edible? I have Walenbergias, Calotis (burr daisy), Brachyscome basaltica and multifida - I just had trouble imagining how they could result in a food source. My Kunzeas all got fried from -6C frost last year - all but parviflora is a dead loss here. I have some cuttings of a scrambling form of E.glabra I'll try that.

..and you're an Ag scientist? All the plants mentioned attract insects & bugs. The bugs feed off and lay their eggs on the plants and the blueys will eat any bug that they can run down. I've seen mine chase and eat moths attracted to Brachyscome.

Not sure about Lomandra berries being edible but i did have lomandra in the old pit.... tough as old boots.

I have the coastal form of Carpobrotus at my place. I think it is worth a try. I note that many of the wild westerns I've seen were living in a locale with pigface..... might be something in that.

Dandelions are weeds.... that's what I have against them
In a country where we have the most spectacular/unique plants in the world I cannot understand why anyone would want to plant a weed.

..and remove that blackberry pronto

[Scotts1au]

..and you're an Ag scientist?

I was looking at a post by a guy in the US who put his blueys in an outdoor enclosure - was thinking edible annuals and the like would be useful as I wouldn't have to invest much effort in the enclosure etc and could pick it up an change the design easily without having to worry about the plants.

Probably the best bug attracting plant that I have in my garden is the simple old Poa labs (tussock grass). I have lots of locusts in the enclosure but never seen the blueys eat them. They watch them walk past. I even tried throwing a few Cockchafer grubs in but not interested.

I have seen bluey dig under rocks and looked like he was eating slaters. I figured he was wanting to hunt and browse at will.

[Leigh]

Goeff, the definition of a weed is, ANY plant growing where it isn't supposed to be.

Can you get rasberries, grape vines, blackcurrents and the such like from nurseries, for the garden? What about a banana tree, on the bananas theme,I couldnt work out why people didnt see it as a good bluey food, QLDers are known as banana benders, coz of the old days,where do piles of easterns live????answer= QLD.

I found that Blue didnt see locusts or beetles as food when they used to hop/crawl around, until I put a near dead one on the food pile,he took it then was happy to chase the live ones I put in, maybe yours are a tad lazy, or need introducing.

[Geoff Gates]

Probably the best bug attracting plant that I have in my garden is the simple old Poa labs (tussock grass). I have lots of locusts in the enclosure but never seen the blueys eat them. They watch them walk past. I even tried throwing a few Cockchafer grubs in but not interested.

I have seen bluey dig under rocks and looked like he was eating slaters. I figured he was wanting to hunt and browse at will.

Blueys love slaters (wood louse). Infact i often feed them to neonates.
In my outdoor pits slaters often congregate under the water dishes.
Some of my blueys will sit by the waterbowl waiting for me to remove it for cleaning....there is a free for all feeding frenzy on the exposed slaters.
Unfortunately I have no idea as to the nutritional value of slaters.

One of my old females would eat that cockchafer in a split second if that was in the pit. She also eats cicadas, moths, centipedes and huntsmen spiders (usually after i've disabled them).

Poa labs is a great plant. There are a few in my backyard and I would put them in an outdoor pit.

[Geoff Gates]

Scott,

here's a few old pics...

My old pit with following plants. Correa 'Dusky Bells', Chrycephalum Apiculatum, Dianella Revoluta, Lomandra Longifolia, Calocephalus brownii, small lemon tree for shade, ficinia nodosa.


Snap eating a cicada (Snap died a few years back she was at least 15 years old... I still miss her.)



Devil eating a moth


Devil climbing in Dianella Revoluta


Arrow climbing in cushion bush

[Funda]

Nice looking pit and great selection of plants you had there.


f.C

[Scotts1au]

Great shots Geoff. I tried Bluey with some Bogongs and Emperor Gums to no avail. I really wanted to see him try that.

[Fatal_S]

I have to say that photo of Arrow in the cushion bush is amazing!

[Lisa]

We refer to them white grubs as marshmallows!! Mine love them. Mine like slaters, too, but they're quite small once they roll into a ball.

I own 24 acres near Picton (approx 70kms SW of Sydney) and there's lots of Lomandra on there which are a haven for dwarf eastern green tree froggies. The lomandra with the yellow flower stems smell divine, but I fell onto one once and the spiky leaves nearly ripped me a new one. I wouldn't want to stick my hand in one to retrieve a bluetongue.