TO LOOK and TO SEE

Reaching for the sky...



Melealeuca, Paperbark, When this tree is in flower it swarms with insects and a tiny native bee, crazy for its nectar and pollen. The flowers look like bottlebrushes each bud bursts into a myriad of stamens.

The pleated leaf of a native, small palm. It produces also tiny yellow flowers at the base. The rain collects in the folds and emphasizes the rich green colour.

New tender leaves and still tightly wrapped Rosebud displaying their vulnerability.. Rose Seduction.

Pond mirrors sky and palms...

Tillandsia, Epiphytes, 0r air plants.

They harvest all their nutrients from the air through their leaves. The roots are only for ankering. They don't need soil.

The second one I "planted" recently between the fork of this Clarence River Baeckia an Australian native plant. To protect its roots until it is established I wrapped the smallest Tillandsia, spanish moss around it.

The grey tillandsia lives since many years on this tree and all I do is seperate one of the babies and replant it.

They are the most undemanding plants. They also reward you for doing nothing with the most beautiful and unusual flowers.

The contemporary structure of a succulent. Beautifully formed and coloured a powdery, antique blue

The salad plant Rocket has finely textured, purple veined flowers...I let it set seed for my next crop.

Rue, a beautiful Herb, I use its colourings and lacy habit in the ornamental garden. It sends out yellow flowers in spring/summer. The colour doesn't fit the blue grey leaves. I am generally generous in accepting natures hues she has intended for plants, not with this one, the flowers are snipped off...

A closer look at the flower of Banksia ericifolia. I have nothing else then admiration for this plant and flower. The seed pods are just as attractive. They need to be set on fire before they open to release their seed.

The flora of Australia is a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 20,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, and below the family level has a highly endemic angiosperm flora whose diversity was shaped by the effects of continental drift and climate change since the Cretaceous. Prominent features of the Australian flora are adaptations to aridity and fire which include scleromorphy and serotiny. These adaptations are common in species from the large and well-known families Proteaceae (Banksia), Myrtaceae (Eucalyptus - gum trees), and Fabaceae (Acacia - wattle).
The settlement of Australia by Indigenous Australians more than 40,000 years ago, and by Europeans from 1788, has had a significant impact on the flora. The use of fire-stick farming by the Aborigines led to significant changes in the distribution of plant species over time, and the large-scale modification or destruction of vegetation for agriculture and urban development since 1788 has altered the composition of most terrestrial ecosystems, leading to the extinction of 61 plant species and endangering over 1000 more. Wikipedia

Euphorbia milii are among my favourites. Why? Because they don't give me any headaches they are so easy to look after. See, how the flowers have collected raindrops in their little cups. Once the flower has fully opened it lays flat. They also change colour if you look closely you see different hues...

Euphorbia - Euphorbus was the Greek physician of King Juba II (about 50 BC to 19 AD) of Numidia (present day Algeria). King Juba II was the first person to find a succulent-type Euphorbia, and he named it after his physician. Milii - named for Baron Milius, once governor of the island of Bourbon, who introduced the species into cultivation in France in 1821.

Gazanias start to flower into winter. This one has already provided a meal, I think for a grasshopper, I saw a big one loitering...and waiting...

Golden fern is indigenous to Queensland. The new fronds have subtle gold colouring, while the underside looks powdery golden. It is a wonderful fern that establishes itself in the understory in the shade garden, it is not invasive, like fishbone ferns which establish quickly. They are very attractive too but just to fast and one has to be vigilant to catch them before they have taken over the garden!

This silvery pink has become one of my colours in the garden. I bought this Camellia as a sasanqua but it has turned out to be a japonica. It is very free flowering, one of the first to flower and keeps on doing so for ages. It has never had a disease, doesn't get a special treatment or fertilizers. I think it is one of the plants that thrive on neglect or it has unintentionally received the best seat in the garden...

Aloe "Spotty" (psst...it is not its name, don't tell it,) a succulent that never lets me down. It doesn't need to be watered, nor to be pruned. The only work, to cut its spend flowerstalks.

Look and see luscious green with randomly placed white spots and small decorative teeth isn't beautiful?

The teeny weeny flowers of Bougainvillea are said to be insignificant. I don't think so. When one looks closely one sees very intricate tiny blooms and they enhance the showy bracts especially here with "Pedro".

Varigated Bromeliad. Designer "stuff" the small spider is impressed...

Silvery pink "Dreamtime" cross Azalea/Rhododendron. This shrub is nearly 20 years old. It flowers heavily and heavenly twice a year. It is a massive plant and I have made many cuttings to give away. I have also planted many in the garden.

Believe it or not: Every cloud has a silver lining.

I mulch my garden.

There are many benefits of mulching:
reduced weed growth
reduced drying out and surface crusting of soil
reduced water loss and erosion
improve soil conditions and healthier plants
encouragement for earth worms and other beneficial organisms.

All photos are taken in my garden.

Blog Copyright T.S. Yesterdaytodayandtomorrow in my garden.