CAPE DAISY

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

EASTERN ROSELLA

The eastern rosella (Platycercus eximius) is a rosella native to southeast of the Australian continent and to Tasmania. It has been introduced to New Zealand where feral populations are found in the North Island (notably in the northern half of the island and in the Hutt Valley) and in the hills around Dunedin in the South Island.

The eastern rosella is 30 cm long. It has a red head and white cheeks. The beak is white and the irises are brown. The upper breast is red and the lower breast is yellow fading to pale green over the abdomen. The feathers of the back and shoulders are black, and have yellowish or greenish margins giving rise to a scalloped appearance that varies slightly between the subspecies and the sexes. The wings and lateral tail feathers are bluish while the tail is dark green. The legs are grey. The female is similar to the male though duller in colouration and has an underwing stripe, which is not present in the adult male. Juveniles are duller than females and have an underwing stripe.

The diet of eastern rosellas mainly consists of fruit, seeds, flowers and insects. The eastern rosella is sometimes kept as a pet. These birds are desired for their beautifully coloured plumage. They are intelligent creatures, which can be trained to whistle a wide repertoire of tunes and may even learn to speak a few words or phrases. Rosellas can make good companion parrots; however, they require a great deal of attention and many toys to satisfy their need for social interaction and mental stimulation.

These birds sometimes won't adapt to life as a family pet. Hand-raised birds can be fully domesticated, but usually they turn out still wild. Usually, this species doesn't like getting “petted” or “cuddled” and can bite in response to this type of handling. Many people believe that rosellas are best housed in large aviaries that enable them to fly freely with minimal human socialization. Despite these difficulties, many people enjoy the eastern rosella as a beautiful but sometimes feisty pet bird.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

and also part of the My Sunday Best meme.

RAINY

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

HELLEBORE

Helleborus niger, commonly called Christmas rose or black hellebore, is an evergreen perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. It is poisonous. Although the flowers resemble wild roses (and despite its common name), Christmas rose does not belong to the rose family (Rosaceae).

The plant is a traditional cottage garden favourite because it flowers in the depths of winter. Large-flowered cultivars are available, as are pink-flowered and double-flowered selections. It has been awarded an Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

It can be difficult to grow well; acid soil is unsuitable, as are poor, dry conditions and full sun. Moist, humus-rich, alkaline soil in dappled shade is preferable. Leaf-mould can be dug in to improve heavy clay or light sandy soils; lime can be added to 'sweeten' acid soils.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

PATTERSON'S CURSE

Paterson's Curse (Echium plantagineum) is an invasive plant species in Australia. The name "Salvation Jane" originated from, and is mostly used in South Australia, due to its use as a source of food for grazing animals when the less drought tolerant grazing pastures die off. Other names are Blueweed, Lady Campbell Weed, Riverina Bluebell, and Purple Viper's Bugloss. Three other Echium species have been introduced and are of concern; Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare) is the most common of them. Viper's Bugloss is biennial, with a single unbranched flowering stem and smaller, more blue flowers, but is otherwise similar. This species is also useful for honey production.

Paterson's Curse has positive uses — it is the source for a particularly fine grade of honey. As a fodder plant, with proper handling, it can be valuable fodder over summer for cattle and sheep, but not livestock without ruminant digestive systems. In the 1880s it was introduced to Australia, probably both as an accidental contaminant of pasture seed and as an ornamental plant. It is said that both names for the plant derive from Jane Paterson or Patterson, an early settler of the country near Albury. She brought the first seeds from Europe to beautify a garden, and then could only watch helplessly as the weed infested previously productive pastures for many miles around.

Paterson's Curse is now a dominant broadleaf pasture weed through much of New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania and also infests native grasslands, heathlands and woodlands.

Echium plantagineum contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids and is poisonous. When eaten in large quantities, it causes reduced livestock weight or even (in severe cases) death. Paterson's Curse can kill horses and irritate the udders of dairy cows and the skin of humans. After the 2003 Canberra bushfires, there were over 40 recorded cases of horses being put down after eating the weed.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

AFTERNOON SUN

Sun is thinking about setting...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

SPRING SKY

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

LORIKEET

The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus) is a species of parrot found in Australia. It is common along the eastern seaboard, from northern Queensland to South Australia and Tasmania. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. Several taxa traditionally listed as subspecies of the rainbow lorikeet are now treated as separate species.

Rainbow lorikeets have been introduced to Perth, Western Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; and Hong Kong. Rainbow lorikeets are true parrots, within the Psittacoidea superfamily in the order Psittaciformes. They include two subspecies: Trichoglossus moluccanus moluccanus and Trichoglossus molucannus septentrionalis.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

SUNSET

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

MAGNOLIA

This spectacular magnolia hybrid is blooming at the moment in a neighbour's garden. The large, showy, magenta blossoms are certainly an eye-catcher!

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

STORMY

Storm coming in from the southwest...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

WILD LEEKS

The three-cornered leek (Allium triquetrum) is an invasive weed in the Amaryllidaceae family that can carpet large areas very quickly because of its rapidly germinating seeds that quickly form a dense clump of leaves and flowers. Pretty though this three-cornered leek may be, don't be tempted to pick it as a cut flower because it does reek strongly of an oniony smell! However, all parts of the plant are edible. The leaves and flowers can be added to salads, and the bulbs can be substituted for garlic.

These are growing by the banks of the Merri Creek in Clifton Hill, Melbourne. In the background the brick road bridge. This bridge across Merri Creek at the southern end of High Street was built for the recently created Shire of Jika Jika in 1875 to a design by T.E. Rawlinson, Road Engineer in the Department of Roads and Bridges, although contributions to its design have also been attributed to the Jika Jika Shire Engineer, Evander McIver.

The bridge was constructed of Malmsbury bluestone (basalt) and bricks from local brickworks in Northcote. The bridge was widened in 1890 to allow for the extension of the Clifton Hill cable tram route up High Street. The widening was executed in a similar style to the original design and was supervised by George Duncan, Engineer to the Melbourne Tramways & Omnibus Company.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

TASMANIAN PASTORAL

Tasmania is an island state 240 kilometres to the south of the Australian continent, separated from it by the Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania, the 26th largest island in the world, and the surrounding 334 smaller islands. The state has a population of 507,626 (as of June 2010), of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart precinct.

Tasmania’s area is 68,401 square kilometres, of which the main island covers 62,409 square kilometres. The subantarctic Macquarie Island is also under the administration of the state, as part of the Huon Valley Council local government area.   Tasmania is promoted to tourists as the “Natural State”, the “Island of Inspiration” and “A World Apart, Not A World Away”, owing to its large and relatively unspoiled natural environment.

Almost 37% of Tasmanian land lies in reserves, national parks and World Heritage Sites. The island is 364 kilometres long from its northernmost to its southernmost points, and 306 kilometres from west to east.   The state capital and largest city is Hobart, which encompasses the local government areas of City of Hobart, City of Glenorchy, and City of Clarence, while the satellite town of Kingston (part of the Municipality of Kingborough) is generally included in the Greater Hobart area.

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.

CAMELLIA

This year, the flowers that usually bloom in late Winter have started to flower now, a third of the way into Winter. At the same time, some Autumn flowers have persisted till now and even a Summer flower pops its head up now and then. Climate change is something that may underlie this, but it all could have to do with the various weather microcycles that are going on all the time.

This camellia in full bloom, is something which usually happens in late Winter or early Spring.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

WINTRY LANDSCAPE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

LUNAR ECLIPSE

A total lunar eclipse occurred in Melbourne on May 26th 2021. A total lunar eclipse happens when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Full Moon and blocks all of Sun's direct rays from lighting up the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned (in syzygy) with Earth between the other two, and only on the night of a full moon.

The type and length of a lunar eclipse depend on the Moon's proximity to either node of its orbit. A totally eclipsed Moon is sometimes called a blood moon for its reddish colour, which is caused by Earth completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the Moon. The only light reflected from the lunar surface has been refracted by Earth's atmosphere. This light appears reddish for the same reason that a sunset or sunrise does: the Rayleigh scattering of bluer light.

Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly 2 hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only up to a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Also unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view without any eye protection or special precautions, as they are dimmer than the full Moon.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

VICTORIAN TERRACES

Terraced houses in Australia refers almost exclusively to Victorian and Edwardian era terraced houses or replicas, almost always found in the older, inner city areas of the major cities, mainly Sydney and Melbourne. Terraced housing was introduced to Australia in the 19th century. Their architectural work was based on those in London and Paris, which had the style a century earlier.

Large numbers of terraced houses were built in the inner suburbs of large Australian cities, particularly Sydney and Melbourne, mainly between the 1850s and the 1890s. The beginning of this period coincided with a population boom caused by the Victorian and New South Wales Gold Rushes of the 1850s and finished with an economic depression in the early 1890s. Detached housing became the popular style of housing in Australia following Federation in 1901.

The generic Melbourne style of terrace is distinguishable from other regional variations, often reflecting the popularity of Italianate villa architecture in the city.  Many Victorian era Melbourne terraces are built on foundations of bluestone, a solid and porous local rock quarried from the volcanic plains to the north and west of the city, although it is rare to find terraces completely constructed of the material due to the difficulty to mould it.

The majority of designers of Victorian terraces in Melbourne made an effort to deliberately hide roof elements with the use of a decorative parapet, often combined with the use balustrades above a subtle but clearly defined eave cornice and a frieze which was either plain or decorated with a row of brackets (and sometimes additional patterned bas-relief. Chimneys were often tall, visible above the parapet and elaborately Italianate in style.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

ANTARCTIC BLAST

We are in late Autumn, so colder weather and short days are to be expected. This week, we've had an Antarctic blast that caused leaden skies, wet weather and cold temperatures.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DOG LOVERS

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

FOUR SEASONS

The changing moods of the big pond at the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne. Different seasons change the atmosphere, but it's all beautiful!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.