CLOUDSCAPE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

BLANDFORDIA

Blandfordia grandiflora is a species of flowering plant native to south-eastern Australia. B. grandiflora is commonly known as the Large Christmas Bell because it generally flowers in December and January. It is a perennial herb, and has tubular, bell-shaped flowers. It is one of only four Blandfordia species.

The name Blandfordia honours the Marquis of Blandford and the name grandiflora means "large flowered". Of the four species of Blandfordia, B. grandiflora is considered the most robust, so the name grandiflora suits the plant. At one time, B. grandiflora went by the name B. flammea.

Although Blandfordia grandiflora is only native to Australia, in the nineteenth century, many botanists grew it in Great Britain because it can easily be grown as a potted plant. B. grandiflora grows well in sandy soils. The wet coastal heaths of Australia, such as, New South Wales and Queensland have the sandy soil necessary for B. grandiflora to grow.

In order for B. grandiflora to grow, the soil should be light and well-drained and the plant should not be in direct sunlight or in heavy shade. B. grandiflora is a very slow growing plant, so more aggressive plants easily swamp it in the wild.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

BIRDBATH IN RAINY GARDEN

Rain in the garden,
Making it green, lush, gladsome;
Glorifies God's gifts.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme.

CANNA

Canna (often called canna lily, although not a true lily) is a genus of nineteen species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the Zingiberaceae (gingers), Musaceae (bananas), Marantaceae, Heliconiaceae, Strelitziaceae, etc. The name Canna originates from the Latin word for a cane or reed.

Canna is the only genus in the family Cannaceae. The APG II system of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998) also recognises the family, and assigns it to the order Zingiberales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots.The species have large, attractive foliage and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered and bright garden plant. In addition, it is one of the world's richest starch sources, and is an agricultural plant.

Although a plant of the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world as long as they can enjoy at least 6–8 hours average sunlight during the summer, and are moved to a warm location for the winter.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

PLATYCODON

Platycodon grandiflorus (from Greek "πλατυκώδων", meaning a broad bell) is a species of herbaceous flowering perennial plant of the family Campanulaceae, and the only member of its genus. It is native to East Asia (China, Korea, Japan and East Siberia). This species is known as platycodon. Depending upon the region, it is also referred to as the Korean bellflower, Chinese bellflower, Japanese bellflower, common balloon flower, or balloon flower (referring to the balloon-shaped flower buds).

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme.

PATIENT CAT

This post is part of the Camera Critters meme.

MIRROR BALL

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

MORNING STAR

A cool morning, a clear sky and the brilliance of the morning star in the sky just before sunrise.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

RED GERANIUM

Pelargonium x hortorum is also known as the common geranium, zonal geranium or bedding geranium and is a common species in the Geraniaceae Family. This species of geranium is most commonly used as an ornamental plant. Hybrids include the usual nursery "seed-grown" and the "cutting grown", which can easily be grown at home by cutting and planting side branches.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

FOWL

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

BRACHYSCOME

Brachyscome multifida is a perennial herb in the family Asteraceae. Common names include cut-leaved daisy, rocky daisy, and Hawkesbury daisy. The species is endemic to Australia.

This species has an erect, matting growth habit growing to 45 cm in height. The foliage is fine and deeply divided and the flowerheads arise above the foliage on 4 to 40 cm long peduncles. The ray florets are mauve, pink or white and are 7 to 10 mm long. The main flowering season is early autumn to mid winter, but the daisy-like flowerheads may appear throughout the year.

The species and its cultivars are popular in horticulture, and are used for mass plantings, in hanging baskets, in borders and spilling over retaining walls. They can be grown in a wide range of soils and tolerates dry conditions, but will benefit from supplementary watering. Plants are best situated in a position with full sun, although partial shade is tolerated. Although relatively frost tolerant, foliage may burn. The plants is readily propagated by cuttings which strike readily. Plants may also be propagated by layering or from seed, though germination rate is usually poor.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

BLUE

This quirky sculpture is found in the Bulleen Art and Garden nursery in one of Melbourne's Easter suburbs.

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme.

BACKYARD CHICKEN

This post is part of the I Heart Macros meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

MAGIC LANTERN

The reflection on the glass of the old lantern shows the cash register where another customer is buying an old lantern that is reflecting me, on its glass...

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme.

AFTERGLOW

Coming back from a walk the other day, the sky put on a show, after the sun set...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

BOUGAINVILLEA

Bougainvillea is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees with flower-like spring leaves near its flowers. Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus. They are native plants of South America from Brazil west to Perú and south to southern Argentina (Chubut Province).

Bougainvillea are also known as Bugambilia (Mexico), Napoleón (Honduras), veranera (Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama), trinitaria (Colombia, Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic & Venezuela), Santa Rita (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), Bonggang Villa(Philippines) or papelillo (northern Peru).

The vine species grow anywhere from 1 to 12 m tall, scrambling over other plants with their spiky thorns. The thorns are tipped with a black, waxy substance. They are evergreen where rainfall occurs all year, or deciduous if there is a dry season. The leaves are alternate, simple ovate-acuminate, 4–13 cm long and 2–6 cm broad. The actual flower of the plant is small and generally white, but each cluster of three flowers is surrounded by three or six bracts with the bright colours associated with the plant, including pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white, or yellow.

Bougainvillea glabra is sometimes referred to as "paper flower" because the bracts are thin and papery. The species here illustrated is Bougainvillea spectabilis. The first European to describe these plants was Philibert Commerçon, a botanist accompanying French Navy admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville (hence the generic name), during his voyage of circumnavigation, and first published for him by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789. It is possible that the first European to observe these plants was Jeanne Baré, Commerçon's lover and assistant whom he sneaked on board (despite regulations) disguised as a man (and who thus became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe).

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

EVENING TRANQUILLITY

Eirenic evening in eremitic environs.

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

SYDNEY HIGH RISES

Away from the glamour of the Harbour, far from the iconic super-structures of the Bridge and the Opera House, quite some distance from the picturesque inlets and waterways, Sydney is just as much a modern megalopolis with lots of (well, yes, frankly ugly) high rise buildings...

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

GOOD MORNING!

Mirabilis jalapa (the four o'clock flower or marvel of Peru) is the most commonly grown ornamental species of Mirabilis, and is available in a range of colours. Mirabilis in Latin means wonderful and Jalapa is a not uncommon place-name in Central and North America. Mirabilis jalapa is said to have been exported from the Peruvian Andes in 1540.

Here it is blooming in our garden on this Summer morning and making a wonderful "contre jour" subject.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme.

ST MARY'S CATHEDRAL, SYDNEY

The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, currently Cardinal George Pell. The cathedral is dedicated to "Mary, Help of Christians", Patron of Australia.

St Mary’s holds the title and dignity of a minor basilica, bestowed upon it by Pope Pius XI on 4 August 1932. St Mary's has the greatest length of any church in Australia (although it is neither the tallest nor the largest overall). It is located on College Street in the heart of the City of Sydney where, despite the high rise development of the Sydney central business district (CBD), its imposing structure and twin spires make it a landmark from every direction. In 2008, St Mary's Cathedral became the focus of World Youth Day 2008 and was visited by Pope Benedict XVI.

This post is part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme.

AUTUMN APPROACHING

This post is part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the I Heart Macros meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

GARGOYLE

A dragon gargoyle spotted in our neighbourhood during a walk today. There are quite a few of these architectural ornaments around and made a mental note to take some more photos of them...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

SUMMER BOUQUET

A summer bouquet of flowers from our garden. There are roses, daisies, feverfew, jasmine, lantana, coreopsis, geranium, perennial statice and montbretia. Although the heat has been excessive lately, with a good watering most of the plants seem to be doing well.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

SPRINKLER

Early morning watering in the garden centre on a hot Summer's day. I was grateful for any stray droplets that came my way...

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CHILLI

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

SUNNY

The sunflowers are in bloom at the moment and it's very hard not to take photos of them, they are extremely photogenic!

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme.

LEONOTIS SEED CASES

Leonotis leonurus, also known as lion's tail and wild dagga, is a plant species in the Lamiaceae (mint) family. The plant is a broadleaf evergreen large shrub native to South Africa and southern Africa, where it is very common. It is known for its medicinal and mild psychoactive properties. The main psychoactive component of Leonotis leonurus is leonurine. This is the empty seed case shown below. See the flowers here.

This post is part of the I Heart Macros meme.

ARCHITECTURE CHALLENGE

The building here is found in the lower end of LaTrobe St that leads to the Docklands area. The typical high rise, public service, block construction has been disguised somewhat by some interesting textures.

This post is part of the TR-black and White challenge.

CAT AND FRIEND

This post is part of the Weekend in Black and White meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.