SUNDAY BEST #329 - MAGNOLIA HEART

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.

The rules are simple:
1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;
2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;
3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;
4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity.

Please do not use this meme to advertise your goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately.

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Last week, Lydia in Sydney posted some nice photos of a pair of pigeons. Please visit her blog for more great shots!

CALIFORNIAN POPPY

An American wildflower, hybridised and now possessing a pink flower (rather than the wild bright warm yellow). Some alyssum in the background.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

BRACHYSCOME

Brachyscome angustifolia "Fresco Candy" is an Australian native daisy hybrid of the Asteraceae family. It is a perennial growing up to 25cm in height. Beautiful candy pink daisy shaped flowers are present for most of the year. Great butterfly attractor. Useful for mass planting, borders, hanging baskets, and retaining walls. It prefers to be planted in full sun to semi shade and will grow in any soil type: Clay, loam, sandy,  as long as it is well-drained.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

SPRING FLOWERS

Our winter has been fairly mild this year and Spring has come quickly. Pansies and "Princess" Lavender growing in a herbaceous border in the garden. Spring has definitely sprung!

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

PRIMULA

Primula malacoides (ht to 30cm) is a pretty winter/spring annual that is easy to grow and will tolerate shade. It is a determined self-seeder: Even if not planted for years the seedlings pop up everywhere in autumn - and in winter and spring they look so pretty with their tiered layers of simple flowers of shades of pink, mauve or white.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ROSA "EVELYN"

Rosa "Evelyn" from David Austin was bred from Tamora x Graham Thomas. The rose has the typical Austin cupped /rosette form. Evelyn is known for the beauty of the blooms, for their fragrance and for a marvellous display at flowering time.

The plant has a neat vase shape at the base, then reaches both up and out. It grows to about two metres tall with some canes spreading about the same width. Basals are produced readily, and throw candelabras of bloom - bearing huge, lush, drooping panicles of soft pink blossoms. Older canes tend to bloom with single buds, or in twos and threes.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

PROTEA

A bouquet of 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.

DAHLIA

Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native mainly in Mexico, but also Central America, and Colombia. A member of the Asteraceae (=Compositae), dicotyledonous plants, related species include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum and zinnia. There are at least 36 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants.

Flower forms are variable, with one head per stem; these can be as small as 5.1 cm diameter or up to 30 cm ("dinner plate"). This great variety results from dahlias being octoploids (that is, they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes), whereas most plants have only two. In addition, dahlias also contain many transposons (genetic pieces that move from place to place upon an allele), which contributes to their manifesting such great diversity.

The stems are leafy, ranging in height from as low as 30 cm to more than 1.8–2.4 m. The majority of species do not produce scented flowers or cultivars. Like most plants that do not attract pollinating insects through scent, they are brightly coloured, displaying most hues, with the exception of blue. The dahlia was declared the national flower of Mexico in 1963. The tubers were grown as a food crop by the Aztecs, but this use largely died out after the Spanish Conquest. Attempts to introduce the tubers as a food crop in Europe were unsuccessful.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

POMPOM TREE

Dais cotinifolia, known as the Pompom Tree, is a small Southern African tree belonging to the Thymelaeaceae family. It occurs along the east coast northwards from the Eastern Cape, inland along the Drakensberg escarpment through KwaZulu-Natal and the Transvaal, with an isolated population in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.

It flowers profusely during the summer months and produces a multitude of pink, sweet-scented, globular flowerheads about 10 cm across. Depending on the circumstances it can reach a height of up to 12m, although it rarely exceeds 6m in cultivation. This is a beautiful ornamental tree and the delicious scent of the flowers can make the whole area around the tree replete with fragrance.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

and also part of the My Corner of the World meme.

SWEET PEA

The sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to Sicily, Cyprus, southern Italy and the Aegean Islands. It is an annual climbing plant, growing to a height of 1–2 metres, where suitable support is available.

The leaves are pinnate with two leaflets and a terminal tendril, which twines around supporting plants and structures, helping the sweet pea to climb. In the wild plant the flowers are purple, 2–3.5 centimetres broad; they are larger and very variable in colour in the many cultivars. The annual species, L. odoratus, may be confused with the everlasting pea, L. latifolius, a perennial.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

HIBISCUS 'TROPICANA'

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, known colloquially as Chinese hibiscus, China rose, Hawaiian hibiscus, and shoe flower, is a species of flowering plant in the Hibisceae tribe of the family Malvaceae, native to East Asia. It is widely grown as an ornamental plant throughout the tropics and subtropics.

As it does not tolerate temperatures below 10 °C, in temperate regions it is best grown under glass. However, plants in containers may be placed outside during the summer months or moved into shelter during the winter months. Numerous varieties, cultivars, and hybrids are available, with flower colours ranging from white through yellow and orange to scarlet and shades of pink, with both single and double sets of petals.

The cultivar 'Cooperi' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Illustrated here is a Flamenco™ Hibiscus 'Tropicana', featuring spectacular long-lasting (4-5 days) large flowers. These varieties have a compact, well branched habit that provides a neat frame for the lush dark green foliage and the many spectacular full blooms that appear continuously during the warmer months.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ANDROMEDA

Andromeda polifolia, common name bog-rosemary, is a species of flowering plant native to Northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only member of the genus Andromeda, and is only found in bogs in cold peat-accumulating areas.

It is a small shrub growing to 10–20 centimetres (rarely to 40 cm) tall with slender stems. The leaves are evergreen, alternately arranged, lanceolate, 1–5 centimetres long and 2–8 millimetres broad, dark green above (purplish in winter) and white beneath with the leaf margins curled under. The flowers are bell-shaped, white to pink, 5–8 mm long; flowering is in late spring to early summer. The fruit is a small capsule containing numerous seeds.

'Compacta' shown here is a small evergreen shrub to 20cm in height, with oval leaves and terminal clusters of clear pink, globose flowers.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

LEWISIA

Lewisias are small, colourful flowering plants in the Montiaceae family, which are native to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Named after the US explorer Lieutenant Meriwether Lewis, these plants are wonderful for providing colour in rock crevices in a cool climate.

Lewisia cotyledon 'Elise' shown here’ flowers in the first season without a cold period and can be used as an annual for rockeries, beds and containers. The plant starts flowering 4-5 months after sowing and is sturdy, with attractive fleshy, succulent leaves and flowers all season long in shades of pastel pink, rose, salmon, orange, white and yellow, and bicolour patterns.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MOTHER & CHILD ROSE

Rosa "Mother and Child" is a hybrid from Rankin’s Roses released in 2015. The elegant strong stems of "Mother and Child" peak into highly fragrant clusters of dark pink flowers, with up to 10 flowers per stem. Set off by hardy, dark green foliage, the beautiful blooms of "Mother and Child" will flower profusely and will stay disease free (very resistant to black spot and mildew in gardens). The rose grows approximately 1.1m high x 0.6m wide. Rankin's "Mother and Child" sales will follow the tradition in supporting research into MND (Motor Neurone Disease) to find a cure for this terrible disease.

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.

MARGUERITE DAISIES

Argyranthemum (marguerite, marguerite daisy, dill daisy) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae. Members of this genus are sometimes also placed in the genus Chrysanthemum. The genus is endemic to Macaronesia, occurring only on the Canary Islands, the Savage Islands, and Madeira. Argyranthemum frutescens is recorded as a food plant of the leaf-mining larva of the moth Bucculatrix chrysanthemella.

Varieties and cultivars of Argyranthemum (sometimes listed under A. frutescens) are widely sold as garden plants, for summer bedding or containers. They produce prolific single- or double-flowered daisy-like flowers in shades of white, pink, yellow and purple throughout summer. They are generally half-hardy, and can be grown from seed or cuttings, or purchased as young plants to be planted out after all danger of frost has passed. Several cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Illustrated here is the cultivar Marguerite Daisy 'Madeira® (Argyranthemum Frutescens) 'Crested Merlot', which blooms prolifically. This is an easily grown variety that is particularly suited for pots and planters.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MY SUNDAY BEST MEME #63 - ORCHID

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.

The rules are simple:
1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;
2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;
3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;
4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity!

Please do not use this meme to advertise your goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately!

Dipodium roseum, commonly known as pink hyacinth orchid, in the family Orchidaceae is a leafless mycoheterotrophic orchid found in east and south-eastern Australia. The species was formally described in 1991. The type specimen was collected in Montrose in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges. The species was previously included in a wider circumscription of Dipodium punctatum.

For most of the year, plants are dormant and have no above-ground presence. Below the ground lie fleshy roots. Flower spikes ranging from 30 to 90 cm in height appear between December and April. These racemose inflorescences have 15 to 40 pink flowers with small darker spots. The sepals and petals are strongly recurved and the three-lobed labellum is pink with dark lines and a band of mauve hairs. A rare white-flowering form also exists.

Pollination of this species, as for all species in the genus, is by native bees and wasps. No leafless species of Dipodium has been sustained in cultivation due to the inability to replicate its association with mycorrhizal fungi in a horticultural context. I.e. it needs the wild underground fungi to nourish it as it has no leaves and cannot photosynthesise.

This post is part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

ARMERIA

Armeria is a genus of flowering plants in the Plumbaginaceae family. These plants are sometimes known as "lady's cushion", "thrift", or "sea pink" (the latter because as they are often found on coastlines). The genus counts over a hundred species, mostly native to the Mediterranean, although Armeria maritima is an exception, being distributed along the coasts of the Northern Hemisphere, including Ireland, parts of the United Kingdom such as Cornwall, and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in Wales. Some are popular with gardeners as rockery plants.

The garden hybrid illustrated here is Armeria 'Bees Ruby', which is a delightful clump forming evergreen plant ideal for edging, container culture or simply adding colour to the front of garden beds and rockeries. Tall, leafless stems of deep cerise coloured flowers cluster together to form impressive round globes from late winter through spring which last well if cut for fresh posies. The attractive foliage comprises of broader leaves than normally found in this family providing an interesting textural presence year round.

Armerias are a hardy perennial found in a range of soil types and climatic conditions around the world ranging from storm-swept coastal zones through to alpine meadows. They prefer a full sun position in a friable, well drained soil. Although dry tolerant once established occasional deep watering through extended periods of heat will maintain a more robust performance. No pruning required although removing spent flower stems will encourage further displays. Feed with a slow release fertiliser in spring.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

EVERGREEN AZALEA

Rhododendron is a genus of 500 to 900 species in the Ericaceae family and includes both of what we commonly call rhododendrons and azaleas. Most are evergreen but some are deciduous. Genus name comes from the Greek words rhodon meaning rose and dendron meaning tree. Transferred from the Greek name for Nerium oleander.They originate mostly from the Northern Hemisphere with high concentrations in western China, the Himalayas and Myanmar (Burma). They are grown for their showy spring flowers and in the case of evergreen types for their attractive winter foliage. True rhododendrons have 10 stamens in a flower and azaleas have only 5. Much hybridisation has resulted in a great number of hybrid cultivars.

Of note to gardeners in cool temperate areas are the large and small leaved evergreen rhododendrons and the evergreen and deciduous azaleas. Evergreen azaleas develop as multi-stemmed plants from the ground and usually grow 3-5 feet tall. They retain their leaves throughout the year and are not as winter hardy as the deciduous azaleas. In cold winters flower buds may be frozen resulting in reduced or no flowering and foliage may winter burn (turn brown and be killed). Colour range is mostly from white to pink, red, lavender and purple.

 'Conlec', commonly sold under the trade name of AUTUMN ROYALTY, is an evergreen azalea (Encore Series) that features large single purplish-pink flowers. It typically matures over time in an upright, dense, rounded form to 1.5 m tall and to 1.2 m wide. Large, open funnel-shaped flowers (to 10 cm diameter) bloom singly in early midseason (late April-May). A lesser repeat bloom may occur in late summer to fall. Matte green leaves (to 16 cm long) are evergreen. Parents are R. 'Georgia Giant' x R. oldhamii 'Fourth of July.' U. S. Plant Patent PP10,580 was issued on September 1, 1998.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

RHODODENDRON

Rhododendron (from Ancient Greek ῥόδον rhódon "rose" and δένδρον déndron "tree") is a genus of 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae), either evergreen or deciduous, and found mainly in Asia, although it is also widespread throughout the highlands of the Appalachian Mountains of North America. It is the national flower of Nepal. Most species have brightly coloured flowers which bloom from late winter through to early summer. Azaleas make up two subgenera of Rhododendron. They are distinguished from "true" rhododendrons by having only five anthers per flower.

This is Rhododendron 'Old Port', a very attractive catawbiense hybrid with a vigorous, dense, domed-shaped habit and glossy evergreen foliage reaching 1.8m in 10 years. Eye-catching, cerise-coloured flowers unfold in trusses in late Winter with frilled lobes with a distinct, blackish-purple splash on the upper lip. Requires semi-shaded position and rich, acidic, well-drained soil. Very hardy.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.