SPRINGLIKE SKIES

We have had a spate of mild days in the midst of Winter and it has been nice to walk in the sun. Our plants have been misled somewhat and we've seen early Spring blooms and also green tree buds unfurling their leaves. Here an ash is stretching up to the sky with buds opening up to release burgeoning new leaves. As the old adage says: "Ash before oak, in for a soak"...

And yes, Winter weather is back and snow has already started falling in Victoria's alps, as the state braces for its coldest spell in two years. A cold front pushing up from the Southern Ocean, combined with a low pressure system developing off Gippsland, is expected to bring rain, hail, freezing winds and more snow to the state from tomorrow!

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

BANKSIA COCCINEA

Banksia coccinea, commonly known as the scarlet banksia, waratah banksia or Albany banksia, is an erect shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. Endemic to south west Western Australia, it occurs from Denmark to the Stokes National Park, and north to the Stirling Range, growing on white or grey sand in shrubland, heath or open woodland.

Reaching up to 8 m in height, it is a single-stemmed plant that has oblong leaves, which are 3–9 cm long and 2–7 cm wide. The prominent red and white flower spikes appear mainly in the spring. As they age they develop small follicles that store seeds until opened by fire. Though widely occurring, it is highly sensitive to dieback and large populations of plants have succumbed to the disease.

Collected and described by Robert Brown in the early 19th century, Banksia coccinea appears to be most closely related to Banksia speciosa and B. baxteri. Banksia coccinea plants are killed by bushfire, and regenerate from seed. The flowers attract nectar- and insect-feeding birds, particularly honeyeaters, and a variety of insects.

Widely considered one of the most attractive Banksia species, B. coccinea is a popular garden plant and one of the most important Banksia species for the cut flower industry; it is grown commercially in several countries including Australia, South Africa, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Israel. In cultivation, B. coccinea grows well in a sunny location on well-drained soil, but it cannot survive in areas with humid or wet summers.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ZAKYNTHOS, GREECE

Zakynthos or Zante, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, on the Western part of Greece. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. It covers an area of 410 km2 and its coastline is roughly 123 km in length. The island is named after Zakynthos, the son of a legendary Arcadian chief Dardanus. The name, like all similar names ending in -nthos, is pre-Mycenaean or Pelasgian in origin. Zakynthos has a population of 41,000 people (2011) and a thriving tourism industry.

The capital, which has the same name as the prefecture, is the town of Zakynthos. It lies on the eastern part of the northern coast. Apart from the official name, it is also called Chora (i.e. "the Town"). The port of Zakynthos has a ferry connecting to the port of Kyllini on the mainland. Another ferry connects the village of Agios Nikolaos to Argostoli on Kefalonia.

Bochali hill above the Zakynthos town contains a small venetian castle, and offers panoramic views onto the town. Strani's hill, located on the other side of Bochali, is the place where Dionysios Solomos, called "Our National Poet" by the Greeks, wrote Greece's national anthem.

Excuse the quality of some of these photos, but they are rather old and the deficiencies in early digital camera technology are apparent...

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,

and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

RED LEAVES

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footstep Digital Art Meme.

CRAFT SHOP

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

CAT PORTRAIT

This is a very friendly cat that lives in our neighbourhood and which loves having its photo taken...

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

SATURDAY SILHOUETTES #2

Welcome to the Saturday Silhouettes meme. This is a weekly meme that looks at SILHOUETTES in photography.

SILHOUETTE |ˌsɪlʊˈɛt| noun The dark shape and outline of someone or something visible in restricted light against a brighter background.
ORIGIN - late 18th century: Named (although the reason remains uncertain) after Étienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French author and politician.

Please join me by linking your photo in which a silhouette plays a prominent part in the composition of your image.

This post is also part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

TREE FERNS

Dicksonia antarctica (soft tree fern, man fern) is a species of evergreen tree fern native to eastern Australia, ranging from south-east Queensland, coastal New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania. These ferns can grow to 15 m in height, but more typically grow to about 4.5–5 m, and consist of an erect rhizome forming a trunk. They are very hairy at the base of the stipe (trunk). The large, dark green, roughly-textured fronds spread in a canopy of 2–6 m in diameter. The shapes of the stems vary as some grow curved and there are multi-headed ones.

The fronds are borne in flushes, with fertile and sterile fronds often in alternating layers. The "trunk" of this fern is merely the decaying remains of earlier growth of the plant and forms a medium through which the roots grow. The trunk is usually solitary, without runners, but may produce offsets. They can be cut down and, if they are kept moist, the top portions can be replanted and will form new roots. The stump, however, will not regenerate since it is dead organic matter. In nature, the fibrous trunks are hosts for a range of epiphytic plants including other ferns and mosses. The fern grows at 3.5 to 5 cm per year and produces spores at the age of about 20 years.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme.

BOUGAINVILLEA

Bougainvillea is a genus of flowering plants native to South America from Brazil west to Perú and south to southern Argentina (Chubut Province). Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus.

They are thorny, woody vines growing anywhere from 1 to 12 m tall, scrambling over other plants with their spiky thorns. The thorns are tipped with a black, waxy substance. They are evergreen where rainfall occurs all year, or deciduous if there is a dry season. The leaves are alternate, simple ovate-acuminate, 4–13 cm long and 2–6 cm broad. 

The actual flower of the plant is small and generally white, but each cluster of three flowers is surrounded by three or six bracts with the bright colours associated with the plant, including pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white, or yellow. Bougainvillea glabra is sometimes referred to as "paper flower" because the bracts are thin and papery. The fruit is a narrow five-lobed achene.

Bougainvillea are relatively pest-free plants, but may suffer from worms, snails and aphids. The larvae of some Lepidoptera species also use them as food plants, for example the giant leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia).

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

HALKIDIKI, GREECE

Chalcidice or Chalkidiki or Halkidiki (Greek: Χαλκιδική), is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the Region of Central Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region constitutes the easternmost part of the peninsula, but not of the regional unit. The capital of Halkidiki is the main town of Polygyros, located in the centre of the peninsula. Halkidiki today is a popular summer tourist destination. Aristotle was born here in 384 B.C.

Halkidiki has been a popular summer tourist destination since the late 1950s when people from Thessaloniki started spending their summer holidays in the coastal villages. At the beginning tourists rented rooms in the houses of locals. By the 1960s, tourists from Austria and Germany started to visit Halkidiki more frequently. Since the start of the big tourist boom in the 1970s, the whole region has been heavily developed for tourism, coupling modern hotel and entertainment. facilities with great natural beauty, clean sea and beaches and numerous historical and cultural attractions.

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