TULIPS

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

BLACK TULIP

A FLORAL TRIBUTE TO BLACK LIVES UNJUSTLY LOST OR WASTED

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

PINK FAWN LILY

Erythronium revolutum is a species of flowering plant in the family Liliaceae, which is known by several common names, including mahogany fawn lily, coast fawn lily, and pink fawn lily. It is native to the west coast of North America. Erythronium revolutum, a hardy perennial wildflower, grows from an oval-shaped bulb 3–5 cm long, producing usually two wide, flat, mottled green leaves near the ground. It is indigenous to Northwest Washington.

The plant flowers between March and June. Each bulb sends up a long, naked stalk bearing one or two showy lily flowers. The stalk bows at the end so that the face of the flower points at the ground. There are six tepals in shades of pink or light purple which may have yellow or white spotting toward the centre of the flower. The tepals may be straight or recurved so far that their tips meet behind the flower; they tend to recurve further as the flower ages. The anthers are bright yellow.

E. revolutum can be distinguished from related species by its pink flowers, swollen anther filaments and mottled leaves. The fruit is a capsule up to 6 cm long. Erythronium revolutum is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use in traditional and natural gardens. Its combination of attractively patterned leaves and graceful flowers in mid spring make it a desirable plant. The best forms (often called var. johnstonii) have darker, richer pink flowers and well marked foliage.

It should be planted in a shady spot (ideally beneath deciduous trees or shrubs) in humus-rich soil that does not dry out and is rather damp in spring. It will naturalise over time by self-seeding, though as seedlings take several years to reach flowering size this can be a slow process. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ORIENTAL LILY

Lilium (members of which are true lilies) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics. Many other plants have "lily" in their common name but are not related to true lilies.

Lilies are tall perennials ranging in height from 60–180 cm. They form naked or tunicless scaly underground bulbs which are their organs of perennation. In some North American species the base of the bulb develops into rhizomes, on which numerous small bulbs are found. Some species develop stolons. Most bulbs are buried deep in the ground, but a few species form bulbs near the soil surface. Many species form stem-roots. With these, the bulb grows naturally at some depth in the soil, and each year the new stem puts out adventitious roots above the bulb as it emerges from the soil. These roots are in addition to the basal roots that develop at the base of the bulb.

The flowers are large, often fragrant, and come in a wide range of colours including whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds and purples. Markings include spots and brush strokes. The plants are late spring- or summer-flowering. Flowers are borne in racemes or umbels at the tip of the stem, with six tepals spreading or reflexed, to give flowers varying from funnel shape to a "Turk's cap". The tepals are free from each other, and bear a nectary at the base of each flower. The ovary is 'superior', borne above the point of attachment of the anthers. The fruit is a three-celled capsule.

Oriental lilies are based on hybrids within the Lilium section, specifically Lilium auratum and Lilium speciosum, together with crossbreeds from several species native to Japan, including Lilium nobilissimum, Lilium rubellum, Lilium alexandrae, and Lilium japonicum. They are fragrant, and the flowers tend to be outward facing. Plants tend to be tall, and the flowers may be quite large. The whole group are sometimes referred to as "stargazers" because many of them appear to look upwards.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

TIGER LILY

Lilium (members of which are true lilies) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics. Many other plants have "lily" in their common name but are not related to true lilies.

The Tiger Lily, bears large, fiery orange flowers covered by spots. The name tiger probably refers to the spots on the petals. The flowers of this perennial can grow up to three inches in width. The Tiger Lily is also known as the Ditch Lily as it is found in and around ditches in large parts of America. This lily has a strong, sweet and distinctive smell. Besides producing a stunning spectacle, most parts of this plant are edible.

There are two varieties of the Tiger Lily: The Oriental Variety, which propagates through bulbs that form at leaf axils; and the Common Wildflower Variety, which propagates by tuberous roots. Due to its wild growing nature, the Tiger Lily is incredibly easy to grow. It thrives in moist to wet soils and hence grows well near ditches. Early to mid-autumn is the best time to plant out the bulbs in cool temperate areas, in warmer areas they can be planted out as late as late autumn.

The Tiger Lily is sterile and does not produce seeds. It can, however, be propagated through the bulbils (small bulbs) that grow in the axils of the leaves. Bulb scales can be removed from the bulbils and grown in moist peat in a cool dark place until they produce bulbets. They can be then grown in a nursery and later planted outside.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

ASIATIC LILIES

Lilium (members of which are true lilies) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics.

Many other plants have "lily" in their common name but are not related to true lilies. Asiatic Lilies are a very popular garden and florist flower and they offer a brilliantly colourful range of blooms to choose from. The bulbs of Asiatic lilies are tough and resilient, providing a bounty of colourful blooms for vases, very easily grown and wonderfully tolerant of searing Australia's hot Summers.

Asiatic Lilies come in a wide range of brilliant colours from bright red to soft and pretty pink which means they can be used to create pockets of colour or gentle waves of soft and pretty cottage colours. Asiatic Lilies have more advantages in that they are great in pots and the bulbs can be planted anytime between May and October (in the Southern Hemisphere).

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DITCH LILY

Lilium (members of which are true lilies) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics.

Many other plants have "lily" in their common name but are not related to true lilies. The Tiger Lily, bears large, fiery orange flowers covered by spots. The name tiger probably refers to the spots on the petals. The flowers of this perennial can grow up to three inches in width. The Tiger Lily is also known as the Ditch Lily as it is found in and around ditches in large parts of America. This lily has a strong, sweet and distinctive smell. Besides producing a stunning spectacle, most parts of this plant are edible.

There are two varieties of the Tiger Lily: The Oriental Variety, which propagates through bulbs that form at leaf axils; and the Common Wildflower Variety, which propagates by tuberous roots. Due to its wild growing nature, the Tiger Lily is incredibly easy to grow. It thrives in moist to wet soils and hence grow well near ditches. Early to mid-autumn is the best time to plant out the bulbs in cool temperate areas, in warmer areas they can be planted out as late as late autumn.

The Tiger Lily is sterile and does not produce seeds. It can, however, be propagated through the bulbils (small bulbs) that grow in the axils of the leaves. Bulb scales can be removed from the bulbils and grown in moist peat in a cool dark place until they produce bulbets. They can be then grown in a nursery and later planted outside.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

AGAPANTHUS 'BLACK PANTHA'

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme.

CHRISTMAS LILIES

Lilium candidum (popularly known as the Madonna Lily) is a plant in the genus Lilium, one of the true lilies. It is native to the Balkans and West Asia. It forms bulbs at ground level, and unlike other lilies, has a basal rosette of leaves through the winter, which die back in summer. A leafy flower stem, typically up to 1.2 metres high, sometimes up to 2 metres high, emerges in late spring and bears fragrant flowers in summer. Flowers are white, flushed yellow at the base.

It has long been cultivated, but is susceptible to virus diseases of lilies, and to Botrytis fungus. One possible way to avoid problems with viruses is to grow plants raised from seed. This can be a spectacular garden plant, especially if mass planted.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

TULIP FESTIVAL

The Dandenong Ranges (commonly just called "the Dandenongs") are a series of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, about 35 km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ranges consist mostly of rolling hills, steeply weathered valleys and gullies covered in thick temperate rainforest, predominantly consisting of tall Mountain Ash trees and dense ferny undergrowth.

The Dandenongs are home to 100,000 residents, but the area is very popular with visitors and tourists. many of which stay for the weekend at the various Bed & Breakfasts through the region. Much of the Dandenongs were protected by parklands as early as 1882 and by 1987 these parklands were amalgamated to form the Dandenong Ranges National Park, which was added to again in 1997. The popular Puffing Billy Railway, a heritage steam railway, runs through the southern parts of the Dandenongs.

There are many small towns and village-like settlements throughout , but there are also farms and orchards, flower gardens and nurseries. The relatively high altitude and cooler temperatures favour the growth of Spring bulbs and one of the larger bulb farms is the Tesselaar Tulip Farm, which is in existence from 1939. The annual Tulip Festival at this farm is well-attended event very popular with visitors and tourists.

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.

PINK LILY

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Pink Saturday meme,
and also part of the I Heart Macros meme.

TIGER LILY

Lilium (members of which are true lilies) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics. Many other plants have "lily" in their common name but are not related to true lilies.

The Tiger Lily, bears large, fiery orange flowers covered by spots. The name tiger probably refers to the spots on the petals. The flowers of this perennial can grow up to three inches in width. The Tiger Lily is also known as the Ditch Lily as it is found in and around ditches in large parts of America.

This lily has a strong, sweet and distinctive smell. Besides producing a stunning spectacle, most parts of this plant are edible. There are two varieties of the Tiger Lily: The Oriental Variety, which propagates through bulbs that form at leaf axils; and the Common Wildflower Variety, which propagates by tuberous roots.

Due to its wild growing nature, the Tiger Lily is incredibly easy to grow. It thrives in moist to wet soils and hence grow well near ditches. Early to mid-autumn is the best time to plant out the bulbs in cool temperate areas, in warmer areas they can be planted out as late as late autumn. The Tiger Lily is sterile and does not produce seeds. It can, however, be propagated through the bulbils (small bulbs) that grow in the axils of the leaves. Bulb scales can be removed from the bulbils and grown in moist peat in a cool dark place until they produce bulbets. They can be then grown in a nursery and later planted outside.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

TORCH PLANT

There are more than 325 species of aloes with about 60 different species known in cultivation in Australia. They vary in height from 60cm to 18m. Many aloes flower in winter, most will grow almost anywhere and all require very little maintenance. Despite these advantages aloes are rarely seen in modern Australian gardens.

Aloes grow naturally in arid and semi-arid areas, and are well-suited to dry climate gardens in Australia. They will tolerate low fertile soils and will survive infrequent watering, as well as salt air and extremely cold temperatures. Aloes will grow in semi-shaded areas, but prefer a position in full sun. Aloes are relatively tough plants requiring little maintenance. They can also be used to good effect in areas where nothing else will grow, such as an exposed dry hillside. Young plants need to be protected from severe frost.

Aloes will bloom every year and do not die back after flowering. One of the best known of the aloes is Aloe vera, which is used medicinally and cosmetically. The sap from this plant is useful for skin treatments, particularly for burns, and is available in many cosmetics, shampoos and ointments.

One of the most striking of the aloes is the winter-flowering Aloe arborescens: Known as the candelabra aloe or torch plant after its spikes of tubular scarlet flowers, Aloe arborescens is grown as a garden plant around the world. It is native to southern Africa, from the Cape to Zimbabwe and Malawi.  The plant grows in large clumps, reaching up to 2m tall, with a spread of up to 3m. In south-eastern Australia it flowers from late June to late August or September. Its glorious red blooms stand out against a blue winter sky.

The plant in the background is Agave attenuata.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

HYACINTHS

The Spring bulbs have been forced and one finds bunches of freesias, tulips, hyacinths, jonquils, daffodils out in full force in the nurseries and florist shops. These delightful pots of hyacinths were for sale at our local nursery.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.