Winter in Western Australia

Linking to:
Mosaic Monday
Macro Monday
Today's Flowers
SOOC

My Red Orchids Rock

My red orchids have been featured before when they shared the limelight with my dianthus in a post about Red rubies in my garden. Today I am pleased to feature them as the crown jewels of mygardenhaven this month! I had moved these vanda plants nearer to where the sunlight could trigger their flowering mechaninism. And it worked like it always does.With vandas, or possibly with all orchids, this does the trick. However, I noticed that their leaves were getting scorched in the process, whilst the blooms were as fresh and as crisp as cabbages in the refrigerator. It would be timely to remove them from full sun, I thought, so, in order to keep them fresh and crisp, I  decided to place them in a safer, cooler environment. Remember my purple orchid post, My Precious molly-coddled purple orchids? They were not blooming because I had put them in almost 90% full shade. That was why only one spray emerged; and that was from the plant nearest to the light. What I've done now, is, I've moved my precious red orchids to that place of 90% shade...oh, did I forget to boast about the FOUR sprays that emerged from two of the three plants? Yes, my FOUR sprays will last much longer in the shade now that they have endured enough sunshine.


Here they are, introducing my ravishing red orchids!

A Tribute To Nature's Gift

nature's gift of  life

borne of the soil,

nurtured by the elements

bearing beauty beyond belief

gifts that we treasure beyond measure

lives that we tend to, 

lives that we propagate

proliferate and  pamper to produce

abundance

abundant sustenance, feasts for the table

abundant inflorescence, feasts for the eyes

that is nature's gift so valuable

 a  blessing to our lives

Linking to:

Mosaic Monday

Macro Monday

Poetry Potluck

Miss Rosa Frilly Petticoat

I've named my hibiscus flower Frilly Petticoat as I have no idea what it is actually called. I only know that it is a hibiscus, which is the genus name for shrubs in the mallow family (Malvaceae) of which there are several hundred species!I am sure you'll excuse me for not knowing the real name of Miss Frilly Petticoat here. She has such a large family, I just can't identify all of these pretty Rosas.

This is a first ... this page is experiencing a solar flare! I've never posted a page with such brilliant colours coming from one flower.

Linking to:

Macro Monday

Mosaic Monday

A Foxy Tale

Since I have begun to feature palm trees, I find that there are actually so many interesting varieties here in my town itself. This one is a Foxtail Palm. There are many tales about the Fox Tail...

The trunk is self-cleaning and has a smooth appearance.

Tale # 1
The botanical world didn't know about the foxtail palm until 1978 when a man named Wodyeti brought it to the attention of Australian botanists.


Tale # 2
The palm was given the genus name Wodyetia after Wodyeti, an Aboriginal man.

It got its common name, Foxtail Palm, from the shape of the foliage.

Tale # 3
It was classed as a rare palm in Queensland.

Tale # 4

After it became known to the world, these palms became so sought after that a blackmarket trade formed for selling the seeds of the foxtail palm. Today. it is the world's most popular palm.

The flowers are produced when the palms are mature at 12 years of age!

Stalks of white flowers grow from the base of the crownshaft.

If you look close enough, you can see a yellow bird taking cover from my prying eyes. Too bad it didn't peek out at me...that would have been the perfect shot! This particular tree is about 20 feet high; Foxtails can grow up to a height of 30 feet.

The large, oval-shaped, green fruits turn orange-red when ripe.

Linked to:

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

Macro Monday

Mosaic Monday

Nutty Over Palm Nuts

These are the biggest palm nuts I've ever seen. They are not coconuts, but a certain kind of palm nut. This palm is very popular as landscape plants in tropical countries. I think it is commonly known as Silver Palm. I've seen them just about everywhere, in parks and botanic gardens, but had never seen the nuts before.


Here's the palm tree, I'm sure many of you know it.

 

                                                          








Linking to Macro Monday, Mosaic Monday and SOOC Sunday

Another Kind of Apple

Here's another kind of 'apple' which I have in my backyard, which is technically not an apple! Those people who name the plants just love to confuse us.  

This pineapple plant had produced the perfect pineapple two years ago. We harvested that large, heavy fruit and had a feast. I was planning to pull out the plant but noticed two small suckers growing from the sides of the parent plant, so I decided to leave the whole plant intact. After two whole years, now I have two more perfect pineapples to admire...and then to enjoy, of course. Who's complaining? Not me.


Linking to Haiku Heights for the prompt "Innocence"

Innocence is not all 

it appears to be

pure and  pristine but prickly 

Linking to Macro Monday and Mosaic Monday.

      

Yellow Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair

I sort of vaguely remember that there's a song with such a title. Is there? It is just that when I look at the spray of yellow orchids that I am posting today, the lyrics keep popping into my head...














These photographs above were taken when I was in Auckland in the Winter Garden conservatory. Presented here for Mellow Yellow.

  

The two macros are orchids from my own garden, served up for Macro Monday.







These two plants have been faithfully blooming for years...they certainly understand the art of aging gracefully!The mosaic above showing the plants from way back , when they were younger, is made for Mosaic Monday.


    

On the wane

For more Macro Monday, click here,

Lovely Mellow Yellow

Presenting the Second Cousins from Mygardenhaven! These two varieties of  yellow hibiscus dwell side-by-side in neighbouring flower-beds. They were both acquired from a local garden nursery, and have been blooming regularly in their new location. Guess they like their new neighbourhood!




Here's one for the macro album:

And another for company.

I love them both for their colour, their form, their performance, and their impressive appearance!


To visit more Macro Monday beauties, click here,  to see more Mosaic Monday compositions, click here and to follow Mellow Yellow Monday, click here.




                               

Red Rubies in Mygardenhaven

Ruby red heart of the dianthus...does that symbolize passion? Or could it be a burning fire of jealousy in one's heart?

Then there is the speckled ruby of my red vanda, wonder what this precious gem symbolizes...she is an awfully reliable bloomer and when one spray is spent another soon takes its place. Sometimes I get two new sprays! To me she represents constancy. 

For more Ruby Tuesday and Macro Monday, please click on the links below:

                             
                  http://lisaschaos.com/                            http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/