AFTERNOON SUN

Long shadows of a rapidly advancing afternoon in Autumn...

This post is part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme.

DENUDED

Bare branches, bare trees;
Cold felt by denuded twigs.
It's autumn again.

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

SYDNEY SKY

Just landed at Sydney airport and looking out towards the container ship harbour with the loading gantries visible on the horizon.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

IXORA COCCINEA

Ixora coccinea (or jungle geranium, flame of the woods, and jungle flame) is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family. It is a common flowering shrub native to Southern India and Sri Lanka. It has become one of the most popular flowering shrubs in subtropical gardens and landscapes. Its name derives from an Indian deity.

I. coccinea is a dense, multi-branched evergreen shrub, commonly 1.2–2 m in height, but capable of reaching up to 3.6 m high. It has a rounded form, with a spread that may exceed its height. The glossy, leathery, oblong leaves are about 10 cm long, with entire margins, and are carried in opposite pairs or whorled on the stems. Small tubular, scarlet flowers in dense rounded clusters 5–13 cm across are produced almost all year long.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ROMANCE

Snapped these gulls on top of a light by the Yarra River a couple of days ago. I'm sure that there was no love involved, but it's hard to look at this photo and not anthropomorphise!

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Winged meme.

SWAN RIVER, PERTH

Perth City is situated between the Darling Ranges and the Indian Ocean, and along the banks of the Swan River, 12 km from the ocean. The river is named after the famous black swans which can be found along the river. The city is bound by the river to the east and south. To the west of the city is Kings Park, which has over 400 hectares of natural Australian bush overlooking the city center and the Swan River.

The Swan River weaves its way through the metropolitan area to the Port of Fremantle, which has many beautiful houses, restaurants, and recreational areas along its banks. The river provides an ideal opportunity for the locals to enjoy the beautiful weather and participate in many different water sports such as boating, sailing, water skiing, wind surfing, rowing, fishing, parasailing, swimming, jet skiing, or just cruising the river on one of the many ferries.

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

AUTUMN'S LAST ROSE

We did some work in our garden last weekend and it was surprising to see that some of our rose bushes were still blooming, even though this is the end of Autumn with Winter fast approaching.

This is a delightful rose called "Mr Lincoln". It's hard to believe that "Mr. Lincoln" won an AARS distinction back in 1965. The velvety, deep red hybrid tea is still one of the most popularly grown garden roses. Beautiful as well as strongly scented, Mr. Lincoln's blossoms are held on stiff, upright stems.

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

ART GLASS

Kirra Galleries opened in 1997 and have focussed on building fine commercial exhibition galleries, displaying glass, sculpture and jewellery artworks in Australia. They now have an established reputation as one of the leaders in the Australian Contemporary Art Glass Movement.

Kirra Galleries showcase the most comprehensive  collection of Australian Art Glass, as well as collections of handmade jewellery, ceramics, timber and sculpture all made by Australian artists from the finest materials. This is their gallery in Federation Square Melbourne where some very beautiful pieces of art glass are displayed.

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

PLANE TREE SEEDS

Platanus is a genus comprising a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae.All members of Platanus are tall, reaching 30 to 50 meters in height. All except for P. kerrii are deciduous, and most are found in riparian or other wetland habitats in the wild, though proving drought-tolerant in cultivation. The hybrid London Plane has proved particularly tolerant of urban conditions.

After being pollinated, the female flowers become achenes that form an aggregate ball. Typically, the core of the ball is 1 cm in diameter and is covered with a net of mesh 1 mm, which can be peeled off. The ball is 2.5–4 cm in diameter and contains several hundred achenes, each of which has a single seed and is conical, with the point attached downward to the net at the surface of the ball. There is also a tuft of many thin stiff yellow-green bristle fibers attached to the base of each achene. These bristles help in wind dispersion of the fruits as in the dandelion.

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

And also part of the Weekly TopShot meme.

AUTUMN POND REFLECTION

Warm Autumn sunshine and reflections in a pool where fallen leaves are slowly drowning. The blue sky soon clouded over and the sun disappeared too...

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,

and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme.