CYMBIDIUM

Cymbidium, or boat orchids, is a genus of 52 evergreen species in the orchid family Orchidaceae. One of its first descriptions come from Olof Swartz in 1799. The name is derived from the Greek word kumbos, meaning 'hole, cavity'. It refers to the form of the base of the lip. The genus is abbreviated Cym in horticultural trade.

This genus is distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia (such as northern India, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Borneo) and northern Australia. The larger flowered species from which the large flowered hybrids are derived, grow at high altitudes. 

Cymbidiums became popular in Europe during the Victorian era. One feature that makes the plant so popular is the fact that it can survive during cold temperatures (as low as 7˚C).

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ORCHID

Cymbidium, or boat orchids, is a genus of 52 evergreen species in the orchid family Orchidaceae. One of its first descriptions come from Olof Swartz in 1799. The name is derived from the Greek word kumbos, meaning 'hole, cavity'. It refers to the form of the base of the lip. The genus is abbreviated Cym in horticultural trade.

This genus is distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia (such as northern India, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Borneo) and northern Australia. The larger flowered species from which the large flowered hybrids are derived, grow at high altitudes. Cymbidiums became popular in Europe during the Victorian era. One feature that makes the plant so popular is the fact that it can survive during cold temperatures (as low as 7˚C).

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

SUNRING

SUNRING

When you walk on grassy field

Ope’ your eyes and keep them peeled,

For Sunring golden may you find.

Angels came from Heaven high

To walk on fields with joy, so spry,

Bringing joy and love, mankind!

O, Sunring gold; O, Sunring round

Mine is good luck, fortune, found!

NJV

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

BUTTERCUPS

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

NEMESIA

Nemesia is a genus of annuals, perennials and sub-shrubs which are native to sandy coasts or disturbed ground in South Africa. Numerous hybrids have been selected, and the annual cultivars are popular with gardeners as bedding plants. In temperate regions the annual cultivars are usually treated as half-hardy bedding plants, sown from seed in heat and planted out after all danger of frost has passed.

The flowers are two-lipped, with the upper lip consisting of four lobes and the lower lip two lobes. The cultivar 'Innocence', a low-growing bushy perennial with white flowers, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The cultivar shown here is 'Sunsatia Banana', which is a popular ornamental hybrid.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

GEUM

Geum commonly called avens, is a genus of about 50 species of rhizomatous perennial herbaceous plants in the Rosaceae family, widespread across Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa, and New Zealand. They are closely related to Potentilla and Fragaria.

From a basal rosette of leaves, they produce flowers on wiry stalks, in shades of white, red, yellow, and orange, in midsummer. Geum species are evergreen except where winter temperatures drop below −18 °C. Geum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the grizzled skipper.

The cultivars 'Lady Stratheden' (shown here), and 'Mrs J. Bradshaw' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

CITY MORNING

COVID-19 is still at large and wreaking havoc with our lives, not least our travel plans. Local travel and tourism is fortunately an option here in Melbourne, with many places in Victoria still offering a wealth of options for local tourists both in the metropolitan area, as well as further afield, daytripping!

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.

SPRING YELLOWS

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

DAFFODILS

Spring bulbs are beginning to flower in our garden and the miniature daffodils shown here are a good addition to the front of the bulb border, in clumps around garden beds or lawns, or grown in pots. Miniature daffodils have been bred to emphasise the special characteristics of the smaller growing species of daffodil (Narcissus).

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DAHLIA

Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native mainly in Mexico, but also Central America, and Colombia. A member of the Asteraceae dicotyledonous plants, related species include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum and zinnia. There are at least 36 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants.

Flower forms are variable, with one head per stem; these can be as small as 5.1 cm diameter or up to 30 cm ("dinner plate"). This great variety results from dahlias being octoploids (that is, they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes), whereas most plants have only two. In addition, dahlias also contain many transposons (genetic pieces that move from place to place upon an allele), which contributes to their manifesting such great diversity.

The stems are leafy, ranging in height from as low as 30 cm to more than 1.8–2.4 m. The majority of species do not produce scented flowers or cultivars. Like most plants that do not attract pollinating insects through scent, they are brightly coloured, displaying most hues, with the exception of blue.The dahlia was declared the national flower of Mexico in 1963. The tubers were grown as a food crop by the Aztecs, but this use largely died out after the Spanish Conquest. Attempts to introduce the tubers as a food crop in Europe were unsuccessful.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ECHINACEA

Echinacea is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called purple coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early to late summer.

The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (echinos), meaning "sea urchin," due to the spiny central disk. Some species are used in herbal medicines and some are cultivated in gardens for their showy flowers. A few species are of conservation concern.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DAISY SKY

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

GOLDEN CELEBRATION ROSE

'Golden Celebration' ™ (Ausgold) bred by David Austin is a delightful variety in their English Rose Collection. It is one of the largest-flowered and most magnificent of the English Roses. Its colour is rich golden yellow and the flowers are in the form of a giant, full-petalled cup. It has excellent shapely growth, forming a nicely rounded, slightly arching shrub with ample foliage.

It is very reliable and easy to grow. It is an ideal rose to mark any celebration or important event. The flowers are initially tea-scented but often develop a wonderful combination of sauterne wine and strawberry. It features repeat flowering and will benefit from summer pruning in most areas. This variety won the best shrub and most fragrant rose awards at the Rose Awards Day 2000.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

CANARY ISLAND DAISY

Asteriscus sericeus (Canary Island Daisy) is a silver-foliaged shrub that grows to about metre tall by about 1.5 metres. It initially forms a dense mound, but with age has a more open structure. Foliage is soft and light greenish-silver with silky fuzzy hairs ('sericeus' means silky in Latin).

It belongs to the family Asteraceae. The yellow flowers are up to 6 cm across and appear in the summer months. It should be planted in full sun in a well-drained soil or on a mound and only watered sparingly . Although it is not a long lived plant (3-5 years), it will renew itself by seed. It is hardy to about -5˚C.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

FRINGED WATER-LILY

Nymphoides peltata (syn. Villarsia nymphaeoides, Fringed Water-lily, Yellow Floating-heart, Water Fringe) is an aquatic plant of the family Menyanthaceae native to Eurasia. It has cordate floating leaves that support a lax inflorescence of yellow flowers with fringed petal margins. The fruit is a capsule bearing many flattened seeds with stiff marginal hairs.The plants are commonly sold for use in ornamental water gardens. Outside their native range, however, they can escape cultivation and become nuisance noxious weeds.

Fringed Water-lily is an aquatic plant that grows well in shallow fresh-water like canals and ponds or slow moving streams. It differs from true water-lilies in that the flowers are smaller and that they are projecting above water level on short 8 cm stalks. Also in that it has five petals which are frayed or fringed around the periphery. The leaves float on water, from which long stems dangle. The leaves are normally oval in appearance with a shiny appearance from above, sometimes with purple spots, and purple below.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MINI ROSE

Parade Roses are miniature, fragrant, potted roses meant to be grown indoors. They are hardy and will also do well out in the garden in temperate climates. Poulsen's Nurseries of Denmark have developed a series of about twelve Miniature Roses with 'Parade' in their names. They have called them 'Rosa Nova' to distinguish them from similar roses from other breeders, just as Meilland's of France have called their Miniatures 'Meillandina' or 'Sunblaze'. The 'Rosa Nova' series are all very small, bushy growers that are suited to pot culture. They are all excellent pot plants with good continuity of bloom.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

CALLA LILY

Zantedeschia is a genus of 8 species of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi. The genus has been introduced on all continents except Antarctica. Common names include arum lily for Z. aethiopica and calla and calla lily for Z. elliottiana and Z. rehmannii, although members of the genus are neither true lilies of Liliaceae, true Arums, or true Callas (related genera in Araceae). They are also often confused with Anthurium. The colourful flowers and leaves of both species and cultivars are greatly valued and commonly grown as ornamental plants.

Zantedeschia elliottiana, golden arum or calla lily, is a herbaceous ornamental plant growing from a bulb. It is said to occur in the province of Mpumalanga in South Africa, although other sources say that it is not found in the wild but appears to be a hybrid of garden origin.

Z elliottiana is a herbaceous plant up to 60 cm, with large deep green leaves spotted with white. It is summer-flowering plant with a yellow spathe marked with purple at the base The spathe surrounds a yellow spadix which occasionally produces a spike of bright yellow berries that are attractive to birds.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

GOLDEN WATTLE

Acacia pycnantha, Golden Wattle, is a shrub or small tree about 4 to 8 metres tall. The specific name pycnantha from the Greek 'pyknos', meaning 'dense', and 'anthos', meaning 'a flower', refers to the dense clusters of flowers. In late winter/early spring large fluffy golden-yellow flower-heads with up to eighty minute sweetly scented flowers provide a vivid contrast with the foliage.

Golden Wattle occurs in the understorey of open forest or woodland and in open scrub formations in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in temperate regions with mean annual rainfall of 350 mm to 1000 mm. It regenerates freely after fires, which usually kill the parent plants but stimulate the germination of seeds stored in the soil if rain follows soon after.

The brilliant yellow, fragrant flowers of Golden Wattle make it a popular garden plant. It is moderately frost tolerant and grows well in a wide range of soils provided drainage is effective, but tends to be short-lived in cultivation. It is easily propagated from seed soaked in hot water to break the hard seed coat, and the seedlings can be transplanted to pots of soil mix for growing on before planting out in a lightly shaded or open position.

The adoption of the Golden Wattle as the Australian national flower tends to be confirmed by its introduction into the design of the Australian armorial bearings on the recommendation of the Rt Hon. Andrew Fisher, Prime Minister of Australia, when the Commonwealth Armorial Ensigns and Supporters were granted by Royal Warrant on 19 September 1912. Acacia pycnantha enjoyed popular acceptance as Australia's national flower for much of this century but it was not proclaimed as the national floral emblem until 1988, the year of Australia's bicentenary.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

WINTER JASMINE

Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is a slender, deciduous shrub native to China. It grows to 3 m tall and wide, with arching green shoots and opposite, pinnate, dark green leaves. Each leaf is divided into three oval-oblong leaflets which are about 3 cm long.As its name suggests, in the Northern Hemisphere winter jasmine flowers from November to March. The solitary flowers, often appearing on the bare stems (hence the Latin nudiflorum, literally "naked flower") have six petals and are bright yellow, or white, about 1 cm across, appearing in the leaf axils.

It likes full sun or partial shade and is hardy. J. nudiflorum is valued by gardeners as one of the few plants that are in flower during the winter months. It is frequently trained against a wall to provide extra warmth and shelter, but also lends itself to ground cover. It tolerates hard pruning and should be pruned in spring immediately after flowering; regular pruning will help to prevent bare patches. It can also be grown as a bonsai and is very tolerant of the wiring methods. It can be propagated using the layering technique. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

WATER GUM

Tristaniopsis laurina, the Water Gum or Kanooka is a tree native to Australia, where it usually grows near the eastern coastline and along the banks of streams, where the trunks and branches tend to be shaped in the direction of the current and give an indication of the flood height.

Tristaniopsis laurina has a slow rate of growth, and usually reaches a height of 4–9m. The tree is multi-branched, and may be pruned to maintain a compact shape. It can grow to be 39 m tall in native habitats. The flowers are bright yellow and have a distinctive (and to some, an unpleasant odour). They attract honeybees as well as small native species of bee. They usually come out in the late spring or early summer.

The Water Gum is cultivated as an ornamental tree by plant nurseries, for use in gardens and civic landscaping. It is popular, being easy to grow and forming a good shade tree. Many are planted as street trees, especially in Sydney and Melbourne.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.