Growing with the six seasons Eastern Maar Country

Warrnambool Community Garden sits on Country that has been carefully tended and understood for tens of thousands of years. We respectfully acknowledge the Maar Nation incuding the Eastern Gunditjmara, Chap Whurrong (Tjap Wurrung or Djab Wurruug), Peek Whurrong, Kirrae Whurrong, Kuurn Kopan Noot and Yarro Waetch Peoples – as the Traditional Owners of the lands, waters and skies where we live and grow. We pay our deepest respects to Elders past and present, and to emerging leaders who continue to care for Country and culture in this place we now call Warrnambool.

Why gardening advice often misses the mark

If you’ve ever searched online for gardening tips, you’ve probably noticed that much of the advice comes from the northern hemisphere. There, the gardening year is built around cold, often snowy winters, spring thaws and summer monsoons that don’t quite match our local experience.

While some principles are universal like healthy soil, good mulch, looking after pollinators, the timing is often completely wrong here.

In south‑western Victoria, our coastal climate is shaped by the Southern Ocean, strong winds, summer fire risk and drying soils. Advice that tells you to “plant in spring after the last frost date” or “mulch just before fall frosts” doesn't translate well to a Warrnambool garden that may never see Jack Frost, but will see fierce north winds, salty air and long autumn droughts. If we rely only on that advice, we risk wasting water, planting at the wrong time and growing plants that struggle instead of thrive.

Learning from Eastern Maar six seasons

Long before gardening books and websites existed, First Nation's people understood the year through careful observation of Country. Their seasonal calendar is not based on dates, but on what is happening in the sky, the soil, the wetlands, the bush and the ocean.

Six seasons: Kooyang, Ballambar, Gwangal moronn, Chinnup, Larneuk and Petyan, tell the story of what is happening on Country and guide when to harvest, when to burn, when to rest and when to prepare.

These form a sophisticated climate science built over thousands of years. They help people read the land: noticing when certain orchids flower, when insects emerge, when birds move, when water levels rise or fall and when animals breed. This knowledge shapes decisions and shows us that each place has its own pattern that deserves respect.

The Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation manages native title rights for the Eastern Maar Peoples and is the Registered Aboriginal Party for Eastern Maar Country where the Warrnambool Community Garden is situated. This information is from the Eastern Maar Country Plan and we encourage everyone that lives to read and help move towards the vision outlined in the plan.

At James Swan Reserve in Warrnambool, a striking freestanding corten steel mural depicts the Six Seasons of the Peek Whurrong people. Designed by Warrnambool College First Nations students with artists Sherry Johnstone and Mel Steffensen and brought into the community through a collaborative local project, the artwork shows how changes in plants, animals, winds and skies guide the year and ongoing care for Country. It stands as a powerful reminder that Warrnambool’s landscapes sit within a much older story of seasonal knowledge, connection and responsibility.

Kooyang – eel season (late January to late March)

Kooyang is the season of eels, when the lingering heat of Ballambar persists and is broken by waves of hot conditions and cool changes blowing off the sea. After months of warm weather, surface water is scarce and fire risk remains high. At night, the sky is bright and clear, and in the wetlands the nardoo (Marsilea drummondii) is growing strongly while water ribbons send up their flowering spikes.​

During Kooyang, mature eels and galaxias fish are migrating, tadpoles fill the remaining pools, and many birds are moulting. This is also a time when insects are changing form, butterflies, moths and beetles are emerging from larvae, and sawfly wasps are feeding on new eucalyptus leaves. In the garden, this reminds us to be cautious with fire, to protect and value any remaining water, and to notice the life in our wetlands and ponds, not just our raised beds.​

Gwangal moronn – honeybee season (late March to end May)

Gwangal moronn is the season of honeybees. The land begins to cool after summer, with cool mornings and warm, still days that make the most spectacular sunrises and golden sunsets. River red gums, manna gums and candlebarks are flowering alongside heaths and grevilleas, and greenhood orchids appear as small rosettes at ground level. It's the peak of fungi season, as mushrooms and toadstools emerge in leaf litter and on logs.​

Reptiles are preparing to hibernate as the mature eels head out to sea to breed. Bees are abundant, honeyeaters and wrens are busy catching insects, pied currawongs call as they move through, and the first flame robin juveniles arrive from the mountains. Marsupials and dingoes are active, and wattle goat moths are emerging. In the garden, Gwangal moronn points us towards planting for pollinators, observing fungi in mulch and bush edges and collecting seeds safely before winter storms arrive.​

Chinnup – cockatoo season (around June to late July)

Chinnup is the season of cockatoos, characterised by bleak mists, frosty mornings and freezing winds and rain. The aquila constellation signals the return of Bunjil to the sky. Fungi appear in coral shapes on mossy ground and as colourful boletus in wet leaf litter. Early winter orchids including greenhoods and chocolate lilies begin to flower, and fire‑damaged trees show shoots as they recover.​

This is a key breeding time for small mammals such as phascogales, antechinus and echidnas. Powerful owls are laying eggs while possums have young in the pouch. Brown thornbills are building nests, and yellow‑tailed black cockatoos, satin bowerbirds and little ravens move through the landscape. Rising wetland waters push ducks to seek new places to feed and nest. For the garden, Chinnup suggests a time to focus on habitat, leaving leaf litter, shelter and old wood and to notice the life that continues even when days feel cold and grey.​

Larneuk – nesting bird season (pre‑spring, late July to August)

Larneuk is the nesting bird season during the wettest months of the year. Rivers are running high, the weather is cold and changeable, and yet the bush is alive: many ground orchids and bush peas are flowering, manna gums and wattles are in bloom, and grass trees send up tall, striking flower spikes while tree ferns unfurl new fronds.​

Fledgling owls step out from the nest and many other bird species are building like pardalotes, lapwings and more. The first butterflies appear, king crickets lay eggs in banksias, and migratory birds like sandpipers and reed warblers return from distant journeys. Mosquito larvae wriggle in great numbers in still water. In Larneuk, gardeners can look for cues to begin early sowing and pruning, while being mindful that ground‑nesting birds and emerging insects need undisturbed spaces.​

Petyan – wildflower season (late August to mid‑November)

Petyan is the wildflower season when the bush springs to life. Days grow longer and warmer, although the weather can still swing between balmy and blustery. This is the time when Maar Ancestors held large gatherings on Country. Orchids and lilies, banksia, box and wattle trees burst into colour, along with herbs and grasses such as yam daisy (murnong) and lomandra mat‑rush. Cherry ballart fruits and wetland plants carry showy flowers.​

Birds are nesting and laying, frogs and insects call and court, and mammals are breeding, leaving tell‑tale diggings in the soil where bandicoots and echidnas search for food. Many birds travel south to escape colder regions, and native trout move downstream to spawn. Bees swarm and winged termites take to the air, while aquatic insects emerge as adults. For gardeners, Petyan is a natural time to plant, graft, divide and celebrate, mirroring the abundance and activity in the broader landscape.​

Ballambar – butterfly season (mid‑November to late January)

Ballambar is the butterfly season, characterised by hot, dry conditions and a high risk of fire. The strong sun begins to dry the Country, yet many plants are still in flower: teatrees, hop goodenia and cheerful guinea flowers, while cumbungi and water ribbons grow in streams and kangaroo grass and silver wattle set seed. Butterflies chase the warmth, and frog song fills the evenings as they call from creeks and dams.​

Young bee‑eaters, kookaburras and sacred kingfishers birds are still in the nest or just fledged, while orioles and white‑throated warblers call from the canopy and kites hunt mice and locusts in open paddocks. For gardeners, Ballambar is a time to protect soil with thick mulch, to provide water for wildlife and to think carefully about plant selection, choosing species that cope with bright sun, wind and limited rainfall.​

Next time you are planning what to plant, how to harvest or when to rest a bed, consider stepping away from overseas gardening calendars and looking instead to the cues around you: the return of certain birds, the emergence of fungi, the flowering of local gums and heaths, the rise and fall of wetland waters.

In doing so, we can begin to align our gardens more closely with the six seasons of this Country, and honour the deep knowledge of the Traditional Owners who have always read and cared for this land.