Christmas Bells

Christmas Bells
Christmas Bells - Blandfordia nobilis

Monday, September 17, 2007

Spring Flowers in my garden

Today I am tired, and so I am just showing some photos I took a couple of days ago, in my own garden.

Now, let it be said that I am not a Gardener's Gardener. I am a plant enthusiast - but not a really well organised one. I grow some interesting plants, but I tend to lose their names.

The most obvious of the Spring Blossoms in my garden at present, is Prunus elvins. This lovely small Plum covers itself with tiny flowers along its branches. It is the density of its flowering which makes it so showy. The individual flowers open white, and then as they mature, the flowers darken to a soft pink. This photo was take after a shower of rain, a few days ago. At the end of its flowering, the whole plant will be pink. A very lovely plant indeed.While the petals change somewhat, the main feature of the flower which changes is the colour of the stamens within each flower. As can be seen in this photo (above) the stamens start out white, and then, they turn quite a definite red colour. That gives each flower a dark centre, and greatly contributes to the over-all colour of the flowers.
This photo was taken late in the afternoon, with flash. In the daytime, this bush is surrounded by bees, which love the prolific pollen, which is also obvious in this photo.I said I was tired, didn't I? That is my excuse for publishing this photo of this little narrow-leaved Wattle without publishing its scientific name. Shame on me. This plant was bought at Wariapendi Nursery, but the plant grows wild at West Berrima and Medway (on the western end of the Wingecarribee Region). It is a lovely little wattle, with tight ball-shaped flowers of a clear lemon yellow. As soon as it finishes flowering, I shall prune it hard, to make it send out more stiff branches, on which it will reward me with flowers, next spring.

This next little flower is another native flower, for which I owe you another apology, for not remembering (or else not researching properly) its name. From memory it is amongst the Veronica genus, but don't quote me, please.
And another, a lovely little Paper Daisy, for which I also do not have a name at present. This is a tough little surviver, which grew fast, and then got swamped by other plants and weeds. Eventually I rescued it, and it came straight back and started flowering. Amazing. This is a popular little native Daisy. It is a great groundcover, and is readily available in Nurseries. The plant itself is soft, with fine grey-green leaves and the rosette flowers have several layers of silvery-white bracts outside the yellow centre part (which is where the true flowers are located).

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