Seasons

I've been thinking a lot about the seasons. About how the seasons here never seem to match what is 'supposed to be' according to the English model. In Kakadu National Park the Bininj/Mungguy people recognise 6 seasons that are absolutely connected to what is happening in their environment. Everyone else just says there is a wet and a dry (and some people talk about 'the buildup').
Down here we are supposed to have 4 seasons of three months each. Tim Entwisle based in Sydney talks in his blog about recognising spring in Aug and Sept; pre-summer Oct, Nov; summer Dec, Jan, Feb, March; autumn April, May and winter June and July. Its much the same here except I call Aug pre-spring with Sept, Oct and Nov being spring because our climate is a bit cooler than Sydney's climate. It can be hot here in Nov but it can be quite cold too. The BATH doesn't think Dec should be part of summer - he thinks it is really pre-summer. Jan, Feb and March are definitely summer (its always stinking hot when school goes back!) and April and May are autumn which means we have a very short winter of only two months - how good is that?! Winter to me always seems to be over before it gets started. These days I seem to wait and wait for it to get cold and it just doesn't anymore. I hardly put a woollen jumper on during June and July this year. It would be interesting to hear the thoughts on this subject from gardeners elsewhere in the country.

Here is my model for Central Victoria
Aug: daffodils and wattle flowers, birds start to mate; the grass starts to grow, windy weather
Sept Oct Nov: trees leaf up, other flowers come out, birds nest, grass growing madly
Dec to March: growth slows and flowering finishes as heat climbs, lawns brown off, birds disappear, no rain - plants are stressed
April and May: as the weather cools the garden (and gardeners!) come slowly back to life, usually some rain, leaves fall, calm weather
June and July: growth continues slowly - seedlings pop up, lawn regreens, birds reappear