APPLE BLOSSOM

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

CRABAPPLE

Malus is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous apple trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple (M. pumila). The other species are generally known as crabapples, crab apples, crabs, or wild apples. The genus is native to the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere.

Crabapples are popular as compact ornamental trees, providing blossom in Spring and colourful fruit in Autumn. The fruits often persist throughout Winter. Numerous hybrid cultivars have been selected, of which 'Evereste' and 'Red Sentinel' have gained The Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Crabapples are small and sour tasting, and visually resemble a small apple, particularly some apples known as the "Lady Apple", which is also known as Pomme d'Api, Lady's Finger, Wax Apple and Christmas Apple. The tree shown here is the hybrid Malus × scheideckeri 'Exzellenz Thiel'.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

FRUITING SEASON

It's fruiting time for many decorative plants in the gardens, and as if to compensate for the relatively fewer flowers, this season brings us a wealth of fruits, nuts and seeds. From left to right: Victorian box (Pittosporum undulatum); Broad-leaf Privet (Ligustrum lucidum); Stinking Iris (Iris foetidissima); Indian hawthorn (Rhaphiolepsis indica), and Hawthorn haws (Crataegus monogyna).

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

and also part of the Seasons meme.

BLACK NIGHTSHADE

Solanum nigrum, the European black nightshade or simply black nightshade or blackberry nightshade, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Solanum, native to Eurasia and introduced in the Americas, Australasia, and South Africa. Ripe berries and cooked leaves of edible strains are used as food in some locales, and plant parts are used as a traditional medicine. A tendency exists in literature to incorrectly refer to many of the other "black nightshade" species as "Solanum nigrum".

Solanum nigrum has been recorded from deposits of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic era of ancient Britain and it is suggested by the botanist and ecologist Edward Salisbury that it was part of the native flora there before Neolithic agriculture emerged. The species was mentioned by Pliny the Elder in the first century AD and by the great herbalists, including Dioscorides. In 1753, Carl Linnaeus described six varieties of Solanum nigrum in Species Plantarum.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ORANGES

 The orange is the fruit of the citrus species Citrus × sinensis in the family Rutaceae. It is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related Citrus × aurantium, referred to as bitter orange. The sweet orange reproduces asexually (apomixis through nucellar embryony); varieties of sweet orange arise through mutations.

The orange is a hybrid between pomelo (Citrus maxima) and mandarin (Citrus reticulata). The chloroplast genome, and therefore the maternal line, is that of pomelo. The sweet orange has had its full genome sequenced. Sweet oranges were mentioned in Chinese literature in 314 BC.

As of 1987, orange trees were found to be the most cultivated fruit tree in the world. Orange trees are widely grown in tropical and subtropical climates for their sweet fruit. The fruit of the orange tree can be eaten fresh, or processed for its juice or fragrant peel. As of 2012, sweet oranges accounted for approximately 70% of citrus production. In 2014, 70.9 million tonnes of oranges were grown worldwide, with Brazil producing 24% of the world total followed by China and India.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

CLIVIA FRUIT

As the days shorten, Summer is beginning to decline and fruit is setting in preparation for Autumn.

Clivia nobilis (green-tip forest lily), is a species of flowering plant in the genus Clivia, of the family Amaryllidaceae, native to South Africa. It grows to about 38 cm. It has evergreen strap-shaped leaves, and bears pendant umbels of multiple narrow, trumpet-shaped, red and yellow flowers, tipped with green. At a minimum temperature of 10 °C, in temperate regions it is normally cultivated as a houseplant.

Like its relative C. miniata It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017). Charlotte Percy (née Clive), Duchess of Northumberland (1787–1866), governess of Queen Victoria, was the first to cultivate the plant in the United Kingdom and bring it to flower. The whole genus was subsequently named after the Duchess.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

PARKLANDS

Yellow Pyracantha berries, canola flowers and red haws are always great to take photos of. When you can't get them all in frame as they are too far apart, create a mosaic with fuzzy borders in Photoshop!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

FRUITFUL

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

FRUIT SALAD

Fruit Salad

Ingredients

1 punnet of ripe strawberries

1 orange

1 honey Murcott mandarin

2 kiwi fruit

1 large, ripe pear

Juice of an orange

Juice of a lemon

2 tbsp raw sugar (or honey) – optional, but advisable as the fruit can be quite sour

1 tbsp of orange liqueur (Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Curaçao or Triple Sec)

Method

Hull the strawberries and cut them in quarters. Peel the orange, removing the rind and pith, leaving the exposed flesh. Cut into small pieces removing the core and seeds in the process. Do likewise for the mandarin.

Peel the kiwi fruit and cut into slices and then quarter them. Peel the pear and cut into small pieces. Mix all fruit together in the bowl.

Dissolve the sugar (or honey) in the mixed citrus juices and add the liqueur. Pour over the fruit in the bowl and chill the fruit salad.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

BERRY SKY

Auranticarpa rhombifolia is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. Known as the diamond leaf pittosporum, this tree is planted in many parts of Australia as an ornamental. The white flowers and orange fruit make it a most appealing street or garden tree. Other common names include hollywood, diamond leaf laurel, white myrtle and white holly. 

Australian botanists recently examined the large genus Pittosporum and decided the more northerly examples are significantly different from those in the south. Subsequently, a new genus was created Auranticarpa, which means "gold fruit". The range of natural distribution is on red–brown basaltic soils from Richmond River, New South Wales (28° S) to Forty Mile Scrub National Park (18° S) in tropical Queensland.

The tree grows well in Melbourne and its masses of small golden orange fruit make for a cheerful sight in Winter.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

AT PRESTON MARKET

Preston Market is the second largest market in Melbourne selling fresh produce, clothing and homewares with a variety of restaurants and food stalls; it attracts over 80,000 visitors per week. Construction on the Preston Market began in October 1969 when Preston Mayor W. K. Larkins drove home the first stake in the site of the former Broadhurst Tannery. The original investment in the site was $2 million.

The market opened in 1970 and by 1976 the market had grown to include 46 green grocers, 15 delicatessens, 4 fish shops, 4 poultry shops, 19 butchers and a variety of small goods shops including toys, clothes, carpets, plants, and sporting goods. In 2019 the market has grown even more and is still going strong despite threats to oust the merchants and redevelop the site into residential apartment buildings.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

MELLOW

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

MARKET, ROME

Rome's oldest market is held on Campo Dei Fiori ("Field of Flowers"). Here you will find the best fish in the city, fresh vegetables and attractively-piled fruit, spices, as well as kitchen utensils, tablecloths and toys. The open air market in Campo de’ Fiori is undeniably one of Rome’s most famous. Much of this has to do with its location. It is pretty much the only open air market left in the centre of Rome (except for the one in Trastevere).

All of Rome’s rioni, or neighbourhoods used to have an open air market. Sadly, things change. Due to transformed shopping habits, rising real estate prices and shifting family customs most of these markets have died a slow death over the last two decades...

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.

KUMQUAT

Kumquats (Citrus japonica) are a group of small fruit-bearing trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae. They were previously classified as forming the now historical genus Fortunella, or placed within Citrus sensu lato. The edible fruit closely resembles the orange (Citrus sinensis), but it is much smaller, being approximately the size and shape of a large olive. Kumquat is a fairly cold-hardy citrus.

They are slow-growing evergreen shrubs or short trees, from 2.5 to 4.5 meters tall, with dense branches, sometimes bearing small thorns. The leaves are dark glossy green, and the flowers are white, similar to other citrus flowers, borne singly or clustered in the leaf-axils. Depending on size, the kumquat tree can produce hundreds or even thousands of fruits each year.

The round kumquat also called Marumi kumquat or Morgani kumquat, is an evergreen tree, producing edible golden-yellow fruit. The round Hawaiian varietal, the "Meiwa kumquat", is eaten raw. The fruit is small and usually round but can be oval shaped. The peel has a sweet flavor but the fruit has a sour centre. The fruit can be eaten cooked but is mainly used to make marmalades and jellies. It is grown as an ornamental plant and can be used in bonsai. The plant symbolises good luck in China and other Asian countries, where it is kept as a houseplant and given as a gift during the Lunar New Year. Round kumquats are more commonly cultivated than other species due to their cold tolerance.

This post is part of the Floral Friday meme.

FEIJOAS

Acca sellowiana, a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, is native to the highlands of southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, Uruguay, 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 Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, western Georgia and southern Russia. Common names include feijoa, pineapple guava and guavasteen, although it is not a true guava.

It is an evergreen, perennial shrub or small tree, 1–7 metres in height, widely cultivated as an ornamental tree and for its fruit. The German botanist Otto Karl Berg named feijoa after João da Silva Feijó, a Portuguese botanist born in the colony of Brazil. The fruit, maturing in autumn, is green, ellipsoid, and about the size of a chicken egg. It has a sweet, aromatic flavour, which tastes like pineapple, apple and mint. 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. Feijoa fruit has a distinctive, potent smell that resembles that of a perfume. The aroma is due to the ester methyl benzoate and related compounds that exist in the fruit. Personally, it reminds me of oil of wintergreen (often used in sprain ointments or even some toothpastes), a smell I do not like, hence it ruins the fruit for me...

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 Floral Friday Fotos meme.

LOQUAT

The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae, native to south-central China. It is a large evergreen shrub or small tree, grown commercially for its yellow fruit, and also cultivated as an ornamental plant. Eriobotrya japonica was formerly thought to be closely related to the genus Mespilus, and is still sometimes known as the Japanese medlar. It is also known as Japanese plum and Chinese plum.

Loquats are unusual among fruit trees in that the flowers appear in the autumn or early winter, and the fruits are ripe in late winter or early spring. The flowers are 2 cm in diameter, white, with five petals, and produced in stiff panicles of three to ten flowers. The flowers have a sweet, heady aroma that can be smelled from a distance. These trees are currently in bloom in Melbourne.

Loquat fruits (second photo [out of season] included for information), growing in clusters, are oval, rounded or pear-shaped, 3–5 cm long, with a smooth or downy, yellow or orange, sometimes red-blushed skin. The succulent, tangy flesh is white, yellow or orange and sweet to subacid or acid, depending on the cultivar. Each fruit contains 2-3 large brown seeds. The skin, though thin, can be peeled off manually if the fruit is ripe. The fruits are the sweetest when soft and orange. The flavour is a mix of peach, citrus and mild mango.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

HELLO BLACKBIRDS

Blackbirds (Turdus merula) always love to nest in our yard as there are no predatory pets, plenty of water in ponds and birdbaths, shady spots, lots to eat, as well as many places to build a nest. Every Summer we have several fledglings hopping about and eventually flying off. As a reward we get to hear their songs and see their families grow.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons 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.

FRUITING TIME

Many of the trees around Melbourne have fruit on them - not necessarily all edible, but all are quite beautiful.

Clockwise from upper left: Green olives; persimmons; lilly pilly; black olives; pittosporum; haws.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

PERSIMMON TREE

The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros. Diospyros is in the family Ebenaceae, and other members of the genus are grown for ebony timber. The most widely cultivated species is the Oriental or Japanese persimmon, Diospyros kaki.

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