PLUM BLOSSOM

The first wild plum blossoms have appeared even as the cold weather and the rain persist. It is Winter, but the scent of Spring is already in the air. As Japanese Edo Period poet Hattori Ransetsu (1654-1707) remarks:

One plum blossom

brings us just one more step

to the warmth.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

FOTHERGILLA

Fothergilla ‘Mount Airy’ is a hybrid Fothergilla cultivar that was discovered by plantsman Michael A. Dirr at the Mt. Airy Arboretum in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is a vigorous deciduous shrub that grows 1.5 m tall and is noted for its profuse spring flowering, excellent summer foliage, excellent Autumn colour and consistently upright habit.

Terminal, bottlebrush-like spikes (2-5 cm long) of tiny, fragrant, apetulous, white flowers bloom in mid- to late Spring after the foliage emerges. Flower colour comes from the dense clusters of showy stamens (white filaments and yellowish anthers). Flowers have a honey-scented frangance. Leathery, ovate to obovate leaves (4-10 cm long) are dark green above and bluish gray beneath.

Foliage turns excellent shades of yellow, orange and red-purple in Autumn. Genus name honours Dr. John Fothergill, 18th century English physician and early collector of American plants. ‘Mount Airy’ may be a cross between two southeastern U. S. natives, F. gardenii and F. major. It is taller than the former but shorter than the latter.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

FEIJOA FLOWERS

Acca sellowiana, a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, is native to the highlands of southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern Argentina, and Colombia. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant and fruiting tree in New Zealand, and can be found as a garden plant elsewhere such as in Australia, Azerbaijan, West part of Georgia, South part of Russia and South Africa. Common names include feijoa, pineapple guava and guavasteen.

It is an evergreen, perennial shrub or small tree, 1–7 metres in height, widely cultivated as a garden plant and fruiting tree. The German botanist Otto Karl Berg named feijoa after João da Silva Feijó, a Portuguese botanist born in the colony of Brazil. The flower petals are edible, with a flavour that is slightly sweet with hints of cinnamon. The most common use is as an addition to salads. They regularly are consumed by birds.

The fruit, maturing in autumn, is green, ellipsoid, and about the size of a chicken egg. It has a sweet, aromatic flavour. The flesh is juicy and is divided into a clear gelatinous seed pulp and a firmer, slightly granular, opaque flesh nearer the skin. The fruit falls to the ground when ripe and at its fullest flavour, but it may be picked from the tree prior to falling to prevent bruising.The fruit pulp resembles the closely related guava, having a gritty texture. The feijoa pulp is used in some natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant. Feijoa fruit has a distinctive, potent smell that resembles oil of wintergreen. The aroma is due to the ester methyl benzoate and related compounds that exist in the fruit.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

WINTER ROSES

Our local florist has no shortage of flowers whatever the season. Nowadays, with international air transport being what it is, fresh flowers can be loaded into a plane and within 24 hours they can be almost anywhere in the world, fresh and ready to be displayed like this.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

BLUE LITHODORA

Lithodora diffusa ‘Grace Ward’ (also called blue lithospermum, USDA Zone: 5-9) in the Boraginaceae family is a choice groundcover or rock garden plant, making an unforgettable display when grown well. Plants form a low, creeping mat of hairy dark-green leaves, studded with sapphire-blue star flowers from late spring through summer.

Plants must have a well-drained, acidic soil in order to thrive. Heavy clay soils are sure death. In colder regions this plant will benefit from a light covering of evergreen boughs as soon as the soil is frozen in late Autumn. Combines well with heaths and heathers, since plants have similar requirements. Evergreen where hardy, but not especially vigorous.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

PRICKLY PEAR

Opuntia ficus-indica in the family Cactaceae is a species of cactus that has long been a domesticated crop plant important in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. It is thought to possibly be native to Mexico.

Some of the common English names for the plant and its fruit are Indian fig, opuntia, barbary fig, cactus pear, spineless cactus, and prickly pear, although this last name has also been applied to other less common Opuntia species. In Mexican Spanish the plant is called nopal, while the fruit is called tuna, which are names also used in American English, especially as culinary terms.

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

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.

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.

WILD CLEMATIS

Clematis virginiana (also known as devil's darning needles, devil's hair, love vine, traveller's joy, virgin's bower, Virginia virgin's bower, wild hops, and woodbine; syn. Clematis virginiana L. var. missouriensis (Rydb.) Palmer & Steyermark) is a vine of the Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family) native to the United States and Canada from Newfoundland to southern Manitoba down to the Gulf of Mexico. The rationale for some of the common names is unclear, as they include examples normally applied to unrelated plants, including twining parasites (e.g. "devil's hair" for Cuscuta). The name "Love Vine" also is applied to alleged aphrodisiacs, such as Caribbean species of Cassytha, which are unrelated to Clematis, not being in the family Ranunculaceae.

This plant is an aggressively growing vine which can climb to heights of 3-6 metres by twisting leafstalks. The leaves are opposite and pinnately compound, trifoliate (3 leaflets) that have coarse unequal teeth on the margins. It produces small dull white flowers of 13 to 19mm in July into September that are faintly sweetly fragrant; normally dioecious so that there are separate staminate (male) and pistillate (female) plants. The male plants are a little showier in flower and don't bear seed.

The dry fruit is an achene with long hair as silvery gray feathery plumes attached in late August into November. It grows on the edges of the woods, moist slopes, fence rows, in thickets and on streambanks. It grows in full sun to light full shade and is very adaptable to many soils from sandy to clay, dry to draining wet, and acid to alkaline with pH range of 6.0 to 8.5. It has a deep but sparse, fibrous root system that makes it hard to transplant.Good for USDA hardiness zones of 3 to 8.

Virgin's Bower is not commonly planted in gardens and landscapes in most places. It is sold by a good number of native plant nurseries and some specialty and large conventional nurseries. What is usually sold at most every conventional nursery or garden centre is the similar sweet autumn clematis, Clematis terniflora, from Japan that is much more rampant growing, that bears heavier clouds of white flowers with a stronger fragrance, that has simple leaves not compound with 3 leaflets, that as one plant self-sows around a lot, and becomes an invasive plant when escaping cultivation in North America.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

HAWKWEED

Hieracium known by the common name hawkweed and classically as hierakion (from ancient Greek ιεράξ, hierax 'hawk'), is a genus of the sunflower (Helianthus) family Asteraceae, and closely related to dandelion (Taraxacum), chicory (Cichorium), prickly lettuce (Lactuca) and sow thistle (Sonchus), which are part of the tribe Cichorieae. Hawkweeds, with their 10,000+ recorded species and subspecies, do their part to make Asteraceae the second largest family of flowers.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

BORAGE

Borage (Borago officinalis), also known as a starflower, is an annual herb in the flowering plant family Boraginaceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and has naturalised in many other locales. It grows satisfactorily in gardens in the UK climate, remaining in the garden from year to year by self-seeding. The leaves are edible and the plant is grown in gardens for that purpose in some parts of Europe. The plant is also commercially cultivated for borage seed oil extracted from its seeds.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

SPOTTED SUN ORCHID

Thelymitra ixioides, known as the Spotted Sun Orchid is a common plant in eastern and southern Australia, it is also found in New Zealand and New Caledonia. Leaves are thin or lanceolate, up to 20 cm long. A small plant of the Orchidaceae family, it has spotted flowers, forming from August to January. They are usually blue, but sometimes violet. It grows in eucalyptus woodland or heathland.

Thelymitra is derived from the Greek thely, female and mitra, a headdress, referring to the appearance of the plumed column (the fused stamens, styles and stigma). The specific name ixioides means similar to the genus Ixia. It is known as the "sun orchid" because the flowers of most species only open fully on warm, sunny days. There are about 80 species of terrestrial orchids in the genus Thelymitra.

As T. ixioides has fairly specialised cultural needs (like most terrestrial orchids) it is cultivated mainly by orchid enthusiasts. Generally the plants are grown in pots in a freely draining, sandy mix. They require good air circulation in a protected position of about 50% sun during the growing period from autumn to spring. During this growing period the plants must not be allowed to dry out. After the leaves have turned brown in late spring to early summer the pots are allowed to dry out completely. Repotting of tubers can be carried out in summer. This orchid is not considered to be at risk in the wild.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

HYDRANGEAS

Hydrangea macrophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to Japan. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 2 m tall by 2.5 m broad with large heads of pink or blue flowers in summer and autumn. Common names include bigleaf hydrangea, French hydrangea, lacecap hydrangea, mophead hydrangea, penny mac and hortensia. It is widely cultivated in many parts of the world in many climates.

H. macrophylla blooms can be blue, red, pink, light purple, or dark purple. The colour is affected by soil pH. An acidic soil (pH below 7) will usually produce flower colour closer to blue, whereas an alkaline soil (pH above 7) will produce flowers more pink. This is caused by a colour change of the flower pigments in the presence of aluminium ions which can be taken up into hyperaccumulating plants. There are many proprietary 'bluing' chemicals that can be added to the soil around the plants to make the flowers blue.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

WINGPOD PURSLANE

Portulaca umbraticola (Wingpod Purslane) in the family Portulacaceae is an annual or short-lived perennial, up to 25 cm tall, often incorrectly sold under the name of Portulaca oleracea, the common purslane, often growing as a weed. This latter uncultivated species is the hybrid parent to many ornamental purslanes sold at garden centres.

The leaves of Wingpod Purslane are small, succulent, green and linear to spatulate in shape. The stems are fleshy, hairless, often reddish in colour, and prostrate, ascending, or erect. The flowers are small, up to 1.5 cm across and yellow or yellow tipped with red or copper, magenta, crimson, white or pied as seen on the hybrid below.

Portulaca plants are native to the arid areas of Central and South America and tolerate many kinds of soil but prefer sandy, well-drained soil and love the full sunlight. These plants are excellent for high heat and drought tolerance, and will seed and spread themselves very well. Some control methods may be needed to keep portulaca plants from becoming invasive to areas where they are not wanted. These wonderful plants do spread easily and very well.

Portulaca species such as Purslane require no attention at all when growing and flowering; however you should remove them from the garden before Portulaca have chance to set seed as they may take over the garden. You do not need to water often for proper Portulaca care. The cylindrical foliage of the Portulaca plants retains moisture very well, thus, regular watering is not needed. When they are watered, just a light watering will do, as their root zone is very shallow.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

JACARANDA

Jacaranda mimosifolia is a sub-tropical tree native to South America that has been widely planted elsewhere because of its beautiful and long-lasting blue flowers. It is also known as Jacaranda, Blue Jacaranda, Black Poui, or as the fern tree. Older sources give it the systematic name Jacaranda acutifolia, but it is nowadays more usually classified as Jacaranda mimosifolia. In scientific usage, the name "Jacaranda" refers to the genus Jacaranda, which has many other members, but in horticultural and everyday usage, it nearly always means the Blue Jacaranda.

The tree grows to a height of 5 to 15 meters. Its bark is thin and grey-brown in colour, smooth when the tree is young though it eventually becomes finely scaly. The twigs are slender and slightly zigzag; they are a light reddish-brown in colour. The flowers are up to 5 cm long, and are grouped in 30 cm panicles. They appear in spring and early summer, and last for up to two months. They are followed by woody seed pods, about 5 cm in diameter, which contain numerous flat, winged seeds. The Blue Jacaranda is cultivated even in areas where it rarely blooms, for the sake of its large compound leaves. These are up to 45 cm long and bi-pinnately compound, with leaflets little more than 1 cm long.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MAGNOLIA

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol. Magnolia is an ancient genus. Appearing before bees did, the flowers are theorised to have evolved to encourage pollination by beetles. To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are extremely tough.

Fossilised specimens of M. acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago, and of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae date to 95 million years ago. Another aspect of Magnolia considered to represent an ancestral state is that the flower bud is enclosed in a bract rather than in sepals; the perianth parts are undifferentiated and called tepals rather than distinct sepals and petals. Magnolia shares the tepal characteristic with several other flowering plants near the base of the flowering plant lineage such as Amborella and Nymphaea (as well as with many more recently derived plants such as Lilium).

The natural range of Magnolia species is a disjunct distribution, with a main centre in east and southeast Asia and a secondary centre in eastern North America, Central America, the West Indies, and some species in South America.

Magnolia virginiana, is most commonly known as sweetbay magnolia, or merely sweetbay (also laurel magnolia, swampbay, swamp magnolia, whitebay, or beaver tree) and shown here. It was the first magnolia to be scientifically described under modern rules of botanical nomenclature, and is the type species of the genus Magnolia.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

CLEOME 'CLIO MAGENTA'

Cleome is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cleomaceae. Previously, it had been placed in the family Capparaceae, until DNA studies found the Cleomaceae genera to be more closely related to the Brassicaceae than the Capparaceae.

Cleome x hybrida 'Clio Magenta' or "Spider Flower" is a great plant to add to any floral environment. Its high versatility makes it a wise choice to be used as a border crop or ground coverage. Create beautiful potted combinations and garden landscapes, or use it as the first layer of a border with a shorter plant in front.

Cleome 'Clio Magenta' has a spread of 30-60 cm and has an optimal height of one metre. This sun loving annual has rich thornless foliage and colourful, highly scented flowers. Its habit is very upright, containing divided, palmate leaves. The airy flowers are produced at the ends of hairy stalks in loose, globular, un-branched groups. Each flower has long stamens, giving it the "spider-like" appearance. This plant's unique ability to thrive in full sun, complement many other plants and flowers, or simply stand-alone make it a great choice for the garden.

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

MADONNA LILY

Lilium candidum, the Madonna lily, is a plant in the true lily family, the Liliaceae. It is native to Balkans and the Middle East, and naturalised in other parts of Europe (France, Italy, Ukraine, etc.) as well as in North Africa, the Canary Islands, Mexico, and other places. It forms bulbs at ground level, and unlike other lilies, has a basal rosette of leaves through the winter, which die back in summer. A leafy flower stem, typically up to 1.2 metres high, sometimes up to 2 metres high, emerges in late spring and bears sweetly and headily fragrant flowers in summer. Flowers are white, flushed yellow at the base.

It has long been cultivated, but is susceptible to virus diseases of lilies, and to Botrytis fungus. One possible way to avoid problems with viruses is to grow plants raised from seed. This is the third year we have these beautiful lilies growing in our garden and they are quite healthy and flowering prolifically.

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

FRIDAY GREENS #103 - MERRY CHRISTMAS

Welcome to this meme active every Friday. The theme is "Friday Greens" and you can post images, art, photos where the predominant colour is GREEN!

GREEN is the colour between blue and yellow in the spectrum; coloured like grass or emeralds.

Cornus is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen.

Several species have small heads of inconspicuous flowers surrounded by an involucre of large, typically white petal-like bracts, while others have more open clusters of petal-bearing flowers. The various species of dogwood are native throughout much of temperate and boreal Eurasia and North America, with China and Japan and the southeastern United States particularly rich in native species.

This post is also part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

If you take part in this meme:
*Please link back to this page from your blog, with the Friday Greens logo or link text;
*In the spirit of community, please visit other participants to see their photos and leave a comment;
*Leave a comment here in the comments box, which I appreciate very much!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

AGAPANTHUS

Agapanthus is the only genus in the subfamily Agapanthoideae of the flowering plant family Amaryllidaceae. The family is in the monocot order Asparagales. The name is derived from scientific Greek: αγάπη (agape) = love, άνθος (anthos) = flower. Some species of Agapanthus are commonly known as lily of the Nile (or African lily in the UK), although they are not lilies and all of the species are native to Southern Africa (South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique) though some have become naturalised in scattered places around the world (Australia, Great Britain, Mexico, Ethiopia, Jamaica, etc.).

Species boundaries are not clear in the genus, and in spite of having been intensively studied, the number of species recognised by different authorities varies from 6 to 10. The type species for the genus is Agapanthus africanus shown here. A great many hybrids and cultivars have been produced and they are cultivated throughout warm areas of the world.

In Melbourne, these are planted widely in gardens, parks but also median strips of roads and nature strips. As they bloom around the time of Christmas, most Melburnians associate this flower with the Festive Season.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.