RHODES, HARBOUR

Rhodes (Greek: Ρόδος, Ródos) is the principal city on the island of Rhodes, an island in the Dodecanese, Greece. It has a population of approximately 80,000. Rhodes has been famous since antiquity as the site of Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The citadel of Rhodes, built by the Hospitalliers, is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe which in 1988 was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The City of Rhodes is a popular international tourist destination. The city is home to numerous landmarks. Some of them date back to antiquity and most of the others remain from the medieval period. They include: The Grand Master's Palace (15th century); Knights Street; Acropolis of Rhodes; Mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent; Medieval walls, created in the mid-14th century on a previous line and remade after the Ottoman siege of 1480 and the earthquake of the following year; Gothic buildings in the historical upper town. Recently, the Byzantine harbour was excavated, discovering medieval shipwrecks.

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.

ARGYRANTHEMUM MADEIRA "CRESTED MERLOT"

Reminiscent of the flowers of scabious, the daisy Argyranthemum Madeira ‘Crested Merlot’ (like all argyranthemums) is a hugely long and prolific flowerer. Use it to edge a pat or border or pack it into a pot. It is a tender perennial grown as hardy annual, It needs a moist but well-drained soil in a site of full sun and shelter. Height: 50cm  and spread 35cm. Deadhead regularly to encourage a long flowering period. Flowers (Southern Hemisphere): December - May. It makes a great cut flower, lasting up to a week.

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.

CHILLI PEPPERS

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,

and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme.

ALOE

This post is part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

SCRYING BALL

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

SILVER SUN

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

SALVIA FARINACEA

Salvia farinacea (Mealy sage, Mealycup sage) is a herbaceous perennial native to Mexico and parts of the United States including Texas. Violet-blue spikes rest on a compact plant of typically narrow salvia-like leaves; however, the shiny leaves are what set this species apart from most other Salvia, which bear velvety-dull leaves.

This perennial forms a shrubby upright clump 60 cm tall by 30 cm wide, with white mealy stems and glossy green leaves. It bears deep, lavender-blue flowers on tall spikes from early summer to frost. Salvias are some of the showiest plants for containers, annual borders, and mixed borders. Butterflies (such as this Cabbage White, Pieris rapae) and hummingbirds love them.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

OLD WARES FOR SALE

An open-air market in St Andrews, to the north of Melbourne, Australia. Many opportunities to give the old wares a once-over in the great outdoors. Open for business every Saturday morning and don't forget to buy some sourdough bread straight out of the oven in the bakery!

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

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

BURGUNDY ICEBERG ROSE

Burgundy Iceberg is a beautiful, eye-catching rose worth planting en masse. Abundant velvety, generally wine-red flowers with a very delicate fragrance cover the plant. The colours often vary, from wine red to pink, and there is always a pinch of white in the heart of the open rose, with dark filaments in the centre. The petals have a light, almost pale back. A gardening book that discusses bestsellers and favourites would be incomplete if it did not include the iconic Iceberg rose. Introduced way back in 1958, this white floribunda rose has been sold by the millions around the world and it is still going strong.

This lovely rose that flowers so willingly, producing pointy rosebuds and large open flowers cannot be resisted. They are planted in formal rose gardens, in pots, between other flowering shrubs in mixed beds, and with lavenders in the popular Tuscan style. They are even planted as security hedges, because, planted as close together as 1,5 m or even closer, they make quite a formidable barrier.

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.

TUNNEL VISION

This is a view down a long waterworks pipe, which is being laid down in my neighbourhood at the moment.

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

EASTER EGGS

HAPPY EASTER, KALÓ PÁSCHA, & PEACEFUL PASSOVER!

This post is part of the I Heart Macros meme.

NATURE'S REFLECTIONS

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

SUNRISE IN MELBOURNE

"At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear. It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us. You can love completely without complete understanding." - Norman Maclean

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

PINK PASSIONFLOWER

Passiflora, known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 500 species of flowering plants, the namesakes of the family Passifloraceae. They are mostly vines, with some being shrubs, and a few species being herbaceous. The monotypic genus Hollrungia seems to be inseparable from Passiflora, but further study is needed.

Nine species of Passiflora are native to the USA, found from Ohio to the north, west to California and south to the Florida Keys. Most other species are found in South America, Eastern Asia, and Southern Asia, New Guinea, four or more species in Australia and a single endemic species in New Zealand. New species continue to be identified: for example, P. pardifolia and P. xishuangbannaensis have only been known to the scientific community since 2006 and 2005, respectively.Some species of Passiflora have been naturalised beyond their native ranges. For example, Blue Passion Flower (P. caerulea) now grows wild in Spain. The purple passionfruit (P. edulis) and its yellow relative flavicarpa have been introduced in many tropical regions as commercial crops.

A number of species of Passiflora are cultivated outside their natural range because of their beautiful flowers. Hundreds of hybrids have been named; hybridising is currently being done extensively for flowers, foliage and fruit.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

"N" IS FOR NIXIE

nix noun (fem.nixie |ˈnɪksi| ) a water sprite.
ORIGIN mid 19th cent: from German; related to the archaic English word nicker, denoting a water demon believed to live in the sea.

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

and is also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

GRANDE AMORE ROSE

Rosa 'Grande Amore' is a standout among red hybrid tea roses, acclaimed for its depth of colour and exceptional disease resistance. It produces continuous flushes of dark red, pointed buds, which open into high-centred blooms of shiny, intense red, set against dark green, slightly glossy foliage. Resistance to blackspot and powdery mildew is outstanding. Awarded 5 International medals, including Golden Rose at the Hague Lyon, Rose Hills International and the ADR award. Winner of the International Gold Certificate in the Portland International Rose Garden in 2012. Flower Size: 10 cm. Fragrance: Moderate. Hybridiser: Kordes, 2004.

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.

AUTUMN TONES

As Autumn makes its presence increasingly felt in the Southern Hemisphere, it's hard to ignore the yellows and oranges that seem to be all around...

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

AUTUMN TREES

This post is part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

MYER REFLECTIONS

Myer Melbourne is an iconic name in retail and is now the largest and most comprehensive department store in the southern hemisphere. The store at 314-336 Bourke Street int eh City has been renovated and this view from the ground floor up through the middle of the central escalator well provides an almost kaleidoscopic view of internal reflections.

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

GLENELG, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Glenelg is a popular beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a popular tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of restaurants.

Established in 1836, it is the oldest European settlement on mainland South Australia (the oldest being Kingscote on Kangaroo Island), with the proclamation of the colony of South Australia. It was named after Lord Glenelg, a member of British Cabinet and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.Through Lord Glenelg the name derives from Glenelg, Highland (previously Inverness-shire), Scotland. In Scottish Gaelic the name is Gleann Eilg. The name Glenelg is noteworthy for being a palindrome.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.