THE Friends of Coolbinia Bushland are gearing up for another Djilba of restoring remnant bush, and are inviting folk along to get to know their rare urban woodland on Bradford Street.

The group’s now marked a year tackling the exotic weeds that had been crowding out the native vegetation, having revived a dormant Friends group that fell away many years ago.

On September 4’s open day they’re marking the Noongar transitional season of Djilba with a smoking ceremony by Phil and Neville Collard, guided walks through the area to learn Noongar knowledge, and some millennial ventures like workshops on how to take a decent wildflower pic with a mobile phone.

FoCB coordinator Karen Lee says it’s calming and restorative to spend time in urban bushland, a bit like a bush holiday but with less travel time.

“Local bushland is an undiscovered gift right here in our neighbourhood. You have a chance to step out of your everyday experience to see the wonders of more than 90 local plant species, many of them in flower right now. Once your senses are attuned, you can return whenever you like.”

The group holds regular busy bees and they’re hoping more people get onboard with helping preserve the patch.

“Urban bushland needs people to know it and care for it to keep it safe as habitat, for our enjoyment right now, and for future generations. If we don’t look after this place, it will be lost,” Ms Lee says.

Phone photographer Sophie Xiang is heading along to teach people how to get the most out of their phone flower pics.

“I love the bright colours and rugged beauty of Western Australian wildflowers,” she says.

“It’s amazing that you can see them in the city too in places like Coolbinia Bushland.”

And she sees a lot of character in our flora: “I like taking portrait-style photographs of flowers to convey their unique personalities.”

It’s on Saturday September 4 from 1pm and everything’s free, but some events have limited numbers so plug “Coolbinia” into trybooking.com to nab a spot.

by DAVID BELL