JIGSAW PUZZLING

The Art and Fable Puzzle Co - @artandfablepuzzles - in the USA have produced two great quality 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles based on my paintings. You can buy them online and they are also available in Australia in several shops (eg: Mind Connect). They make great gifts for the puzzlers in your life!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme,
and also part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

IVY FLOWER

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

KALANCHOE

Kalanchoe uniflora is a very versatile, easy to care for succulent with small oval-shaped, flat green leaves on burgundy stems that burst out with vivid red, bell shaped flowers in spring. It's a gorgeous trailing plant perfect for hanging baskets, grown in rockeries or hot spots in your garden.

Kalanchoe, is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent plants in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae, mainly native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. A Kalanchoe species was one of the first plants to be sent into space, sent on a resupply to the Soviet Salyut 1 space station in 1979.[4] The majority of kalanchoes require around 6–8 hours of sunlight a day; a few cannot tolerate this, and survive with bright, indirect sunlight to bright shade.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

FLOWERING PLUM

A flowering plum tree, always a sign that Spring is on its way in Melbourne.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

CHERVIL

Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium), sometimes called French parsley or garden chervil (to distinguish it from similar plants also called chervil), is a delicate annual herb related to parsley. It was formerly called Myrrhis due to its volatile oil with an aroma similar to the resinous substance myrrh. It is commonly used to season mild-flavoured dishes and is a constituent of the French herb mixture fines herbes.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

WARATAH

Waratah (Telopea) is an Australian-endemic genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees, native to the southeastern parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania). The most well-known species in this genus is Telopea speciosissima, which has bright red flowers and is the NSW state emblem.

The waratah is a member of the plant family Proteaceae, a family of flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The key diagnostic feature of Proteaceae is the inflorescence, which is often very large, brightly coloured and showy, consisting of many small flowers densely packed into a compact head or spike.

Species of waratah boast such inflorescences ranging from 6–15 cm in diameter with a basal ring of coloured bracts. The leaves are spirally arranged, 10–20 cm long and 2–3 cm broad with entire or serrated margins. The name waratah comes from the Eora Aboriginal people, the original inhabitants of the Sydney area.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

LAVENDER

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DAISY AND BEE

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VELVET GROUNDSEL

Roldana petasitis, also known as the velvet groundsel or Californian geranium, is a species of the genus Roldana and family Asteraceae that used to be classified in the genus Senecio. It is native to Central America. Preferring constant heat and thriving in sheltered gardens, it is an evergreen subshrub with weak stems. It grows up to 1.8 m tall and has large leaves with 7 or more broad, blunt lobes.

The flower heads, like daisies, of about 6 ray ligulate petals are borne in foliaceous panicles. The plant blooms from winter to early spring. The plant is native to the subtropical highlands (Sierra Madre del Sur) of Oaxaca in Mexico, south to the tropics in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Climatically, it is found in the tropical savanna climates grading into the drier semi-arid or temperate wet/dry areas, where it is present from Veracruz in the north to Nicaragua in the south, in both pine-oak and mountain cloud forests between 1,000m and 2,500m, whereas the cristobalensis variety is found in Chiapas, the southern most Mexican state, and in Guatemala between elevations 1,000m and 1,600m. It is naturalised in parts of southeastern Australia and New Zealand.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

WATTLE AND BEE

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WINTER BOUQUET

The flora of South Africa and Australia is quite distinctive with quite a few rich botanical families that provide a diverse and amazing bouquet of flowers. The Proteaceae (banksias, grevilleas, waratahs) and Myrtaceae (eucalypts, bottlebrushes, titrees, lillipillis) especially are well represented. Many of these flowers bloom in Winter to early Spring, so they can brighten up the grey days of the season.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

BINDWEED

Convolvulus Blue (Convolvulus sabatius) is a super vigorous, non invasive, easy to grow ground cover that covers those difficult to maintain places. The violet blue flowers appear in early spring and continue until early autumn.

It is native to the Mediterranean region and suitable for a full sun to part shade position in well drained soil, requiring little water once established. Suitable as a spillover plant ground cover plant hanging baskets and coastal gardens.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

PERSIAN VIOLET

Exacum socotranum or Exacum affine or Exacum gracilipes, known commercially as the Persian Violet, is a species of plant in the Gentianaceae family. It is endemic to Socotra islands of Yemen. Its natural habitat is rocky areas. A small herbaceous biennial plant with dark green, ovate leaves. The small purple flowers have a yellow centre with fragrance. It is endemic to Yemen. Its natural habitat is rocky areas. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the species is currently critically endangered due to housing development in its habitat.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

DAISIES

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WATTLE

The genus Acacia belongs to the family Mimosaceae. There are some 1350 species of Acacia found throughout the world and close to 1000 of these are to be found in Australia. Commonly known as Wattle, Acacia is the largest genus of vascular plants in Australia. Different varieties will flower at different times, but usually we see them flowering in wintertime. 

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

QUEENSLAND SILVER WATTLE

Acacia podalyriifolia is a perennial tree which is fast-growing and widely cultivated. It is native to Australia but is also naturalised in Malaysia, Africa, India and South America. Its uses include environmental management and it is also used as an ornamental tree. It is very closely related to Acacia uncifera. It grows to about 5 m (16 feet) in height and about the same in total width. It blooms during winter. Common names for it are Mount Morgan wattle, Queensland silver wattle, Queensland wattle, pearl acacia, pearl wattle and silver wattle.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

YELLOW DAISIES

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CERATOSTIGMA

Ceratostigma or Chinese plumbago is a lovely blue and brightens up the Autumn garden.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

PALE VIOLET

A violet with very light-coloured flowers growing happily in our garden.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

PROTEA 'PINK ICE'

A Protea neriifolia x susannae "Pink Ice" for today. Protea neriifolia is part of an ancient plant family, the Proteaceae, which had already divided into two subfamilies before the break-up of the Gondwanaland continent about 140 million years ago.

Both the Proteoideae and the Grevilleoideae occur mainly in the southern hemisphere. This is the hardiest of all proteas, and well suited to low maintenance, low water use gardens. These spectacular blooms are useful in floral arrangements, fresh or dried.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.