"In the beginning"

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Wildflowers and flowering trees


A carpet of wildflowers in the Gawler Ranges SA.
Please click on all photos to enbiggen

What better way to begin a post about Australia's beautiful wildflowers and flowering trees
than with this image of two of the ladies of my life surrounded by daisies.
(the ladies are my ex wife Julie and my Grand daughter Stacey, now a 25 year old)


The photos on the left are all of Banksia flowers,
there are more than 60 varieties of Banksia in Australia, they were named after Sir Joseph Banks who was a botanist who accompanied Sir James Cook on his voyage of discovery in 1770




Pictured on the right is the Sturt Desert Pea is the State floral emblem of SA, it thrives in the harsh semi arid zones that produce this beautiful flower in great numbers after a cold winter followed by good spring rains.












Pictured on the right is the much rarer white Sturt Desert Pea








Pictured on the right is the Kangaroo Paw one of the many wildflowers found only in the sandy soils of WA.




















Pictured on the right is another rarer variety, this time the Black Kangaroo Paw










Pictured on the right is the seedpod
(gum-nut) of a Eucalyptus (gum tree)
this giant seed pod measures 4.5
inches across and opens to display a
brilliant red flower.









As you can see the flowers of the Banksia can be quite spectacular, this has been only a sample of their beauty.




On the right;
The brilliant red flowers of a flowering gum, unlike the giant flower above this one shows the flowers of a cluster of gum nuts numbering perhaps 25 or 30 each of which has burst into bloom to release its fertilized seeds





Just a sample of the thousands of spectacular blooms that colour our world in springtime
perhaps surprisingly the harsh climate and sandy soils of WA produce the most prolific
examples, the east coast and tropics also have a lot to offer though.

14 comments:

Dave said...

Wow... beautiful flora Peter!

Forgive me, but SA is South Australia right? (as WA is Western...)?

Thanks for posting this... I really learn more and more about OZ every single day.

Merle said...

Hi Peter ~~ This is a nice post. Hope all is well. I have another great grand daughter. Rachael gave birth on 1st October t 8lb Chloe.
Take care, Love, Merle.

kenju said...

I used to use kangaroo paws in arrangements often, Peter. And banksia, too.

My mom was related to Captain Cook.

Judy Palesh said...

Hello Peter in Australia...wow...you have some odd and incredibly beautiful wildflowers. Nothing like those in Canada. You can check out my wildflower blog at
http://
wildfloweringinontario.blogspot.com/
thank you for sharing your photos, eh.
Judy-Canada

Christina said...

I had no idea Australia had so many unique and beautiful flowers. Very interesting!

Jeanette said...

Gday Peter, Lovely post on some of the wildflowers in this vast country.We saw a lot of Sturt Desert Pea in Alice Springs last time we were there , But never saw a white one.
Take care Jan

Cliff said...

Ahhh, that's great. A pretty set of photos. Thanks for the tour of parts down under.

Puss-in-Boots said...

I love the banksias and they're spectacular just at the moment. They bring the birds around too. Mum really really wants that black kangaroo paw but, living in NZ, it's too cold for it to grow. I sent her some commercially packed seeds a few years ago which were a dismal failure.

Walker said...

Nice plants and flowers. To bad I'm to stuffed up to smell them

Jack K. said...

Great photos, Peter. Thanks for enlightening me.

Gigi Ann said...

G'day Peter,

That was quite educational, and the beauty of wildflowers are wonderful. I've never seen flowers like these before. Thanks for sharing.

Ann

karisma said...

Beautiful! Spring is in the air! Im loving it. However its a bit on the cold and rainy side today!

A favour if you don't mind....I posted a picture of a bird at my place and can't for the life of me remember what it is called. I was hoping no-one would notice but of course theres always that one person who asks....I thought perhaps you might know???? If you get a chance to drop by its in the Archaeological dig post!

Thanks in advance!
Karisma (Hanging her head in shame)

JunieRose2005 said...

Wow!!


What beautiful flowers your country has, Peter!!

I wanna come for a visit! :)



Junie

Anonymous said...

I just come to visit to admire that masthead...and then you wowza us with these beautiful photos.