The lawn at Riverdell has a few extras in it. Between the grass are little orange, yellow and pale-purple flowers, with white clover heads sitting a little higher. From a distance it all blends into green. Down at flower height, there's quite a bit going on.
The white clover is a good one to look at closely. What looks like a single round flower is a head made up of lots of smaller flowers, each with its own folded shape. Some are white, while the lower ones have a touch of pink. White clover is an introduced plant, now widespread in NSW lawns; a flower growing freely here isn't necessarily a native wildflower.
The yellow wood-sorrel has a different arrangement: five open petals above little heart-shaped leaflets. The leaves are almost as noticeable as the flowers. Alongside it, tiny pale-purple blooms sit in clusters, while an orange flower manages to stand out against several shades of green.
We like the contrast between these small plants and the much taller trees around the farm. There's a whole change of scale between looking across the lawn and looking into it. A few centimetres of ground can hold more shapes and colours than the wider view suggests.
Naturalised means an introduced plant has become established beyond cultivation. It describes how a plant is growing here, rather than making it native. That distinction is useful in a farm lawn, where familiar garden and pasture plants can sit close to the vegetation around the creek and bush.
Here in Riverdell, the garden, grass and bush all have their own details. The lawn might be the least imposing of the lot, but it isn't short of things to look at.