*Ø* Blogmanac September 1 | Wattle Day, Australia

This here is the wattle,
emblem of our land.
You can stick it in a bottle,
you can hold it in your hand.
Monty Python

Formerly August 1, gazetted September 1 by the Keating Government in 1992. The wattle may be one of many species available, and it is said that across Australia, on any day of the year there is at least one species flowering.

The flower loved by Australians (except allergy sufferers) was so named because the early British settlers used wooden slats and sticks of these Acacia trees to make their wattle-and-daub huts, being made of clay spread over light timbers in the British style. Australia's colours are green and gold, due to the popularity of the plant and its frequent presence in the Australian bush alongside the omnipresent gumtrees (Eucalyptus spp).

Australia's national floral emblem is the Golden wattle Acacia pycnantha.

First day of spring
Australians call September 1 the first day of spring, just as March 1 is first of autumn, December 1 is the first of summer and June 1 is the beginning of winter. The custom dates back to early colonial times and has to do with the dates on which uniforms were issued to the British guards of the convict colony.

Wattle 'nymphs' – art photography from 1921