:: angelica ::

My parents are on a wonderful holiday at the moment in Iceland and keep coming across this beautiful white flowered plant all over the place...and thought it was perhaps a kind of Icelandic 'Queen Anne's Lace'...

...doing a little research I discovered that these frothy white flowers are in fact angelica...

...there is a celestial appearance with the starburst-like flower umbels on stalk...

...angelica is native to the Northern Hemisphere and does grow as far north as Greenland, Lapland...and Iceland!

...I remember it as a child, being a decorative feature on cakes - the leaves I think were candied, maybe? or sugared, perhaps?

...apparently it is used by many different peoples around the world medicinally and also the fleshy stalks and young shoots and leaves as food... 

...photo credit today to Mum and Dad - thanks :)  !!

:: trachelospermum jasminoides ::

Another kind of jasmine today...this particular one from the tropical holiday we recently had. A complete contrast to the temperature and feel of the day here today.  The house is crawling with purposeful people installing our double-glazing and while it is 10 degrees outside, finally, it is now only 9 degrees INSIDE as nearly all of our windows are propped up OUTSIDE while the process of retro-fitting continues.

Also known as confederate jasmine, confederate jessamine, chinese ivy, trader's compass or chinese star jessamine, star jasmine - as I know it - IS available in garden centres here - it behaves itself in New Zealand!

As well as covering a wall or fence with a mass of beautiful white flowers and lush, glossy green foliage, star jasmine has a truly delicious scent that is distilled into a luscious perfume oil from the flowers and used in some very precious perfumes.
Must see where I could try to grow some here in the garden in Christchurch...

:: heliconia iii ::

and simple for this Sunday, too - just the pic! Hope your weekend has been wonderful :-)

:: plumeria iii ::

something simple for a Saturday afternoon...while I dream of the possibility of...snow...

:: gardenia ii ::

 this is me most mornings in Winter...

...and sometimes this...checking it out...is it ok to actually get up and face the day?...

YESSSS!!!!

:: sagittaria ::

ah, Katniss!

What a sweet triumverate of perfection is this simple edible aquatic plant, spied at the edge of the pond, near the lotus...

...as well as its pure and clean zen-like appearance, I love its names. Sagittaria or arrowhead, duck potato, swan potato, tule potato, wapato or wapatoo, omodaka or katniss(!)...

...having enjoyed reading 'The Hunger Games' and the spirit of the main character, Katniss, (an...archer, hunter and forager, among her many talents) - I now understand the suitability of her name...

...apparently the tubers, which are harvested either early Spring or late Autumn are able to be eaten, once boiled, and can even be made into chips (or crisps) and look strangely like 'Pringles' in shape, colour and texture...hmmm!

:: nelumbo nucifera ::

I couldn't get close enough with my camera to these almost unearthly-beautiful flowers and I really wanted to...plus, it's a crazy action shot when I thought I'd be able to come back for another attempt...ah well, the lotus still looks lovely to me!

:: plumeria ii ::

There wasn't as much frangipani as I had expected to see in Malaysia...there were plenty, but I felt in the lovely warm and humid coastal environment that I'd have seen more.  And certainly they weren't easy to get at with a camera - the plants around our accommodation were really large and the blooms reaching skyward, definitely being kissed by the sun...

...when I began reading about the plumeria or frangipani in relation to different cultures, it does rather make sense.  In a resort setting, which is far more Westernised an environment, yes, planting some frangipani would be ok. But, for the Malay people, folklore has it that the scent of the frangipani is associated with a vampire-like creature!!!

...in neighbouring Philippines and Indonesia, the frangipani is thought to give shelter to ghosts and demons and is also planted in cemetary grounds!

...in Bengali culture frangipani is associated with funerals and death...

...yet in Southern India in the region of Karnataka, the bride and groom exchange plumeria garlands at their wedding (cream, not red, though)...

...and in Eastern Africa, the flower is common in Swahili love poems...

...in the Pacific Islands which ear the flower is placed behind determines for a man whether a woman is available or already in a relationship!...

...and Nicaragua and Laos feel so strongly about the frangipani that it is national flower of these countries...

...personally, I think I would be in flower heaven if I had a garden with even one frangipani tree showering me seasonally with those luscious blooms - for me frangipani radiates happiness and the perfume sends me giddy - and I don't mind that a bit!

:: neomarica longifolia ::

Poolside at the resort there were very many lovely and different kinds of flowers than what we have here at home. This one, though, looked vaguely familiar - like the dietes iris, but yellow.

The curious habit of the stalks with newly-forming plantlets becoming too heavy to remain upright but surrendering to gravity whereupon the plantlet immediately issues new roots into the ground where it grazes has given this very pretty plant the name 'walking iris'.

:: dendrobium ::

While on holiday we saw many examples of beautiful epiphytic orchids, co-habiting with trees, seemingly just hanging out in the air, which I believe is where they primarily get their nutrients. Another name for this type of lifestyle is 'air plant'.

A surprising fact I found out while reading about these very pretty dendrobium orchids is that they are dynamic air cleansers - particularly of chemical solvents like toluene and xylene - 'vigorous' was the word used to describe their ability.

:: zingiberaceae ? ::

It is a brisk and crisply-clear kind of sunshiny Winter's day outside today - so cold is the Southerly that when walking the dog it was completely necessary to keep one's hood on one's head...brrr!

Inside for a spell now I have been sipping a warming concoction including turmeric, white pepper, coconut milk, coconut oil and...GINGER!

I'm thinking this very beautiful ruby flower head is of the ornamental ginger family - I may be completely wrong...it was used lots in the landscaping around the resort we stayed in in Malaysia.

:: phalaenopsis ::

Being an epiphyte, I suppose it is only natural to hang out in trees, but I was still quite surprised when I first noticed the many orchids just hanging about in the trees at the fancy-pants place we stayed in Malaysia, recently.

Here a striking magenta moth orchid protrudes into the pathway, giving anyone passing a delightful double-eyeful!

These lush orchids are quite ingenious underneath their showy exterior...once the flower has been pollinated and begins to die off, the plant in some of the varieties (not all) starts to green the petals to a kind of leaf that then goes on to photosynthesize - the wonder of nature :-) .

:: ixora iii ::

...just because there was yellow ixora as well...and don't you think it's amazing to witness just the one, first bloom open?

:: ixora ii ::

another ixora...red this time

:: ixora ::

I would never get tired of having hedges made of these very lovely ixora. Splashily bright against a dense growth of richly-green leaves, they flower year round in tropical climates, like that of Malaysia.

:: hibiscus ::

 Today has been a settling back in kind of a day, after a fairly epic 'ride home' - from Malaysia for a family holiday with siblings, parents and nieces and nephews(11 of us in total!) - doesn't sound particularly far away, really.  But 26 hours (time zones adjusted) after leaving our fancy resort home of 8 wonderful and warm days, we walked back in the door to home and pets, all fabulously taken care of by kind friends.

Bunga Raya in Malay language, the hibiscus is Malaysia's national flower. The name translated means "celebratory flower", after the words bunga for 'flower' and raya for 'grand' or 'celebratory'. 

As well as being on the coins and notes of the country's currency it is a symbol for much in daily life.

It's bright red colour is meant to symbolise the life, the courage and the rapid growth of the Malaysian and the five petals each represent a principle of the 'Rukun Negara', a declaration of national philosophy or values. These principles were instituted royally, after serious race rioting in the country in May of 1969 as a way to help encourage unity between the different races co-inhabiting the islands of Malaysia.

And, having experienced some of the general 'mix' on our adventures, I can see there are some quite different attitudes, beliefs, religions and values to work with...fascinating!

:: thunbergia laurifolia ::

One of the stunning views I was able to pause and admire several times on a daily basis was this lush and delicate combination of a flurry of generously-proportioned and blousy blue trumpet vine flowers and bright leafy vine, languidly tumbling over the edge of an archway between buildings.

Common to Asian tropical gardens it is also a very useful plant for treating ear ailments, even deafness, by crushing the leaves and using the resulting juice in the ear canal.

:: bougainvillea ::

 The first thing that struck me, flowerwise, on holiday was the COLOUR! WOW!
So many colours and so many bright colours just bursting out of the greenery - so enlivening and such a feast for the eye! And what better colour for a bougainvillea than a lush, bright lipstick pink...mmmm!