ROSE IN AUTUMN

Rosa 'Just Joey' is probably the best of the orange roses, or roses with an apricot blend. Take a look at the image of this hybrid tea rose and you'll understand why this is such a popular rose with the home gardeners everywhere, but especially so in warmer climates. Of all the varieties of hybrid tea roses 'Just Joey' is definitely in the top five as far as beauty, fragrance, colour, compact form and disease resistance goes, it can't be beaten.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme.

LIONEL THE LION

Lionel the Lion

There was a Libyan lion,
(Yes, Lionel was his name),
Who was the hopeful scion
Of family of great fame.

He lingered by the lakeside
Lunching on tender lamb,
(And tears of pity cried
Because he hated Spam).

Lionel was a clement lion
With such a heart of gold,
But when it came luncheon
His taste, refined and bold.

Beware of kind-hearted foodies
Who will devour meats
While saying that such goodies
Are vegetarian treats.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters 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.

PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA

Phillip Island is an Australian island about 140 km south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. Named after Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, Phillip Island forms a natural breakwater for the shallow waters of the Western Port. It is 26 km long and 9 km wide, with an area of about 100 km2. It has 97 km of coastline and is part of the Bass Coast Shire.

A 640 m concrete bridge (originally a wooden bridge) connects the mainland town San Remo with the island town Newhaven. In the 2011 census the island's permanent population was 9,406, compared to 7,071 in 2001. During the summer, the population swells to 40,000. 60% of the island is farmland devoted to grazing of sheep and cattle.

Seal Rocks is a group of rocky inlets along Phillip island's coastline. It is home to Australia's largest fur seal population, numbering around 16,000. The population peaks between late October to December, but it is possible to view seals at all times of the year. Seals eat squid, cuttlefish and small fish. They can dive up to 100m and have excellent underwater vision.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

KALEIDOSCOPIC BERRIES

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

SUNRISE IN SYDNEY

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,

and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme.

KANGAROO & KOALA

Ken the Kangaroo

Ken was a clever kangaroo
Who lived a life of leisure,
He didn’t have a thing to do,
Just hopped about with pleasure.

Kathy Koala was his friend
But she was stressed and worried;
She fussed and grumbled without end
And generally was flurried…

The two were ever quibbling
About what to do together –
Ken wanted songs and fiddling,
Kathy to work forever.

So Ken just hopped and skipped along
While Kathy always laboured,
Neither was she right nor was he wrong,
They each their lifestyle savoured.

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

HOTEL DEL CORONADO, USA

The Hotel del Coronado (also known as The Del and Hotel Del) is a historic beachfront hotel in the city of Coronado, just across the San Diego Bay from San Diego, California. It is one of the few surviving examples of an American architectural genre: The wooden Victorian beach resort. It is the second largest wooden structure in the United States (after the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, Oregon) and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and a California Historical Landmark in 1970.

When it opened in 1888, it was the largest resort hotel in the world. It has hosted presidents, royalty, and celebrities through the years. The hotel has been featured in numerous movies and books. The hotel received a Four Diamond rating from the American Automobile Association and was once listed by USA Today as one of the top ten resorts in the world, though it has since been removed from that list.

Notable guests have included Thomas Edison, L. Frank Baum, Charlie Chaplin, King Kalakaua of Hawaii, Vincent Price, Babe Ruth, James Stewart, Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn. More recently, guests have included Kevin Costner, Whoopi Goldberg, Gene Hackman, George Harrison, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey. The following presidents have stayed at the hotel: Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CONFIDENCES

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

LADYBUGS

Harmonia axyridis, most commonly known as the harlequin, multicoloured Asian, or simply Asian ladybeetle, is a large coccinellid beetle. This is one of the most variable species in the world, with an exceptionally wide range of colour forms. It is native to eastern Asia, but has been artificially introduced to North America and Europe to control aphids and scale insects. It is now common, well known, and spreading in those regions, and has also established in South Africa and widely across South America.

This species is conspicuous in North America where it may locally be known as the Halloween ladybeetle. It earns this name as it often invades homes during October, in order to prepare for overwintering.In Japan, it is not generally distinguished from the seven-spot ladybird which is also common there. When the species first arrived in the UK, it was labelled in jest as the "many-named ladybird" due to the great quantity of vernacular names. Among those already listed other names include multivariate, southern, Japanese, and pumpkin ladybird.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

and also part of the part of the My Sunday Best meme,

and also part of the part of the Camera Critters meme.

JIMSON WEED

Datura stramonium, known by the common names Jimson weed or datura, is a plant in the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, which is believed to have originated in the Americas, but is now found around the world. Other common names for D. stramonium include thornapple and moon flower, and it has the Spanish name Toloache.

For centuries, datura has been used as a herbal medicine to relieve asthma symptoms and as an analgesic during surgery or bonesetting. It is also a powerful hallucinogen and deliriant, which is used spiritually for the intense visions it produces. However, the tropane alkaloids which are responsible for both the medicinal and hallucinogenic properties are fatally toxic in only slightly higher amounts than the medicinal dosage, and careless use often results in hospitalisations and deaths.

Datura stramonium generally flowers throughout the summer. The fragrant flowers are trumpet-shaped, white to creamy or violet, and 6–9 cm long, and grow on short stems from either the axils of the leaves or the places where the branches fork. The calyx is long and tubular, swollen at the bottom, and sharply angled, surmounted by five sharp teeth. The corolla, which is folded and only partially open, is white, funnel-shaped, and has prominent ribs. The flowers open at night, emitting a pleasant fragrance and is fed upon by nocturnal moths.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.