:: geranium iv and water droplets ::

a rainy and cold, cold, cold kind of day with just more rain coming...quiet in the house with a sick child propped up on the sofa, the dog curled on her bed...and the flowers covered in raindrops :-)

:: campsis radicans ::

Although my phone camera has depicted this as a rather shocking pink, this red trumpet vine or 'cow itch vine' or 'trumpet creeper' is really much more salmon red.

I spy this one on my morning walks - it is truly incredible - the number of blooms and the huge number still to come - there are just cluster upon cluster of buds in the wings.

The thing I noticed, apart from the noise of the bees busy at every available orifice, was the star shape created by the neatly-folded petals of the buds, ready to fling open at their turn. Exquisite.

Apparently, the radicans part of the name refers to the fact that this plant is so set upon world domination, even the stalks will set roots as soon as they touch the earth.  

Seems it is a plant that needs a firm hand - a bit like the wisteria, perhaps.  On the fenceline that I see this specimen, it is testament to this fact - I could not be sure which is holding up which!

:: rosa ix ::

A sunset rose for a soft Autumn sunset tonight.

:: echinopsis chamaecereus ::

Peanut cactus - courtesy of Miss P

I am really learning how my enthusiasms or curiosities emerge in clusters or phases...at times there are days in a row where the process of finding a flower and writing something about it is easy and it all happens in fast flow.

...and there are other days where the habit of creating a blog entry is rather, um, mechanical... I might just leave it at that, then, tonight ;-)

:: echeveria ::

The shiny, fat perfectly round droplet of water sitting tight in the clutches of the leaves of this echeveria is on its way to the part of the plant that needs it most. 

And is one of the things I find incredible about succulents and cacti - their ability to extract and retain as much water as possible. 

:: cosmos iii ::

Flowers evoke all kinds of memories for me and these cosmos brought a couple of them back just now...

...a very long-time local at Morere sometimes planted out a not-often used paddock, which could be seen from the highway (and from our little patch across the river)in a swathe of beautiful cosmos of all colours...such a wonderful, beautiful act from someone who seemed otherwise to be endlessly busy...

...and the pure joy of finding these particular cosmos growing seemingly wild on the side of the highway between Nuhaka and Wairoa - just before Whakakihi, I think...

...and although it was windy and raining and the highway busy with more than the occasional logging truck, I got A to stop while I gathered some seed heads of these gorgeous bright pink cosmos...that was about 5 years ago and I've still managed to keep the seed each year...

:: antirrhinum ::

Another something that has bounced up out of an area of the garden without any help or nurturing from us...another fun discovery.  These are, of course, snapdragons, taking their name from looking a bit like a dragon's face, sometimes called dragon flowers, too. Do you remember squeezing them and it was like a frilly mouth snapping open?

Interestingly the botanical name, antirrhinum, comes from the Greek words 'anti', meaning 'like', 'rhis', meaning 'nose' and 'inus', meaning 'of',which altogether gives the meaning 'like a nose' - I've been looking at the flower a bit sideways trying to figure that one out...

I've always just thought of them as pretty bedding flowers and nice to cut for inside, but apparently a green dye is extracted from the flowers, in some places the seed is pressed to release an edible oil and in Russia, the leaves and flowers are useful for their anti-inflammatory properties.

:: geranium ii ::

The deep, rich red of this velvety climbing geranium is one of my favourite colours and it feels like the perfect flower today in what is a completely full and rich day of activity.  

The weather has gone ballistic from rain and wind to warm and balmy with sunshine to now a crazy storm of heavy rain, thunder and wind, wind, wind! 

The moon is full today and in the Northern Hemisphere it is Springtime, bringing with it the celebrations of Easter...

...something I definitely can't quite get my head around - a Springtime rite in our Autumn.  While we have pumpkins, corn and a multitude of fruit and vegetables ripening and are busy harvesting, our hens moulting and not producing any eggs, somehow we are supposed to celebrate rebirth and Spring themes with bunnies and ...eggs!

So this weekend as well as remembering the Christian festival of Easter, we will also be harvesting pumpkins and corn, making a pumpkin pie (because I've never made one before!) and some raw chocolate , ahem, Easter bark!

:: aster ii ::

When I took this photo a few weeks ago, the asters were newly bursting into bloom with a fresh radiance that now, is a little lacking.

What strikes me most about this beautiful flower are the layers - of sepals, which are almost petal-like, that make up the calyx, and the gradation of tones of green - very pleasing to my eye :-)

As well, the layers and layers of petals that make the corolla - so many that the aster flower looks almost 'feathery' to me.

:: verbena x hybrida ::

A day of fasting today...and I'm going to make the blog post a fast as well... ;-)

:: sedum ii ::

As the season deepens, so does the colour of the sedum by the front steps. No bees on the flowers  by the time I got there - but the warmth glowing out from each cluster of tiny flowers struck me.

:: cynara scolymus ::

 I think we are now in the tail-end of the golden weather before the cold sets in - an incredible 30 degrees at our place most of today (and yesterday, too).  We are soaking up all that loveliness and watching all the Summery plants finishing up their cycles. 

These beautiful artichokes - the 'purple de jesi' kind have been 'giving' since planting in Spring.

I've put them in as a perennial edible that's beautiful and gives shelter (or will, eventually!) to other plants along the South-western part of our front garden. 

In this, their first year, we've not eaten from them yet - just felt to let them grow through the whole season to seed stage - and what a reward it is to see this truly stunning plant in flower. 

Thank you, artichokes, for your generosity!

:: amaranthus caudatus ::

 I know of this flower as 'love-lies-bleeding', which sounds rather dire and it is also known as pendant amaranth, tassel flower, velvet flower, foxtail amaranth and quilete.

The beautiful red colour of the florets is from a high concentration of betacyanin and amazingly make thousands of seeds, which, along with the leaves are edible, feeding lots of people in places like India and South America.

The botanical name originates from the Medieval Latin caudatus for 'tailed' or 'elongated/lengthened/extended'...and as the photo below shows - the tails certainly are long and end up lying, bleeding on the ground...

 I've been patiently, well, fairly patiently waiting for this very showy plant to get up a head of steam and bush out a bit - although I think I have left my run a bit too late for this climate, as our first frost happened last weekend, which seems really much too early, don't you think?

:: rosa viii ::

another rosie beauty this morning on our walk...

:: rosa vii ::

there hasn't been a rose for awhile...I do admire the lovely soft, buttery nature of this voluptous specimen - in colour and texture - it looks casually thrown-together, just so - it was treasure to behold while walking Miss Olive...

:: rhododendron vireya ii ::

Oooh! I learnt something tonight! I like that!

Richard W and Tracey Y had both suggested getting an app to help identify flowers a wee while back and I'd not had occasion to need one until tonight...I had taken this photo in the weekend and out of context I'd become completely stumped as to what it was.  

Enter 'LikeThat Garden' App and, hey, presto, problem solved - and it made me laugh, because it was just another variety of the vireya rhododendron I'd posted two days ago!!

I'm still not exactly certain of the variety - but I do know for sure it is a rhodo of the vireya kind.

A pretty cool app if knowing what plants are is your thing.  Only hitch seemed to be the app wants a live plant in front of it, but I tested it with viewing this flower as a capture in an e-mail and it matched it from that kind of quality - not bad, huh?

:: hibiscus ::

:: rhododendron ::

At the aged care facility where we visited Nana Joy, the gardens are a visual delight - loads of dark green foliage, shiny and lush with hot, bright tropical colours bursting out at every turn - like these beautiful Vireya Rhododendron. I was amazed at the range of beautiful tropical flora and realised just how different the climate is from where we now live. 

It was lovely to appreciate the difference.

My eyes were drawn heavenwards by a couple of tui twittering melodically high above in the boughs of the half a dozen huge, old pohutukawa trees. Reaching up and beyond the third storey of the largest building they tower over all, creating a shady micro-climate for the earthly delights nestled below. Just beautiful and no grass to be seen ie, no noisy mowing to be done, either :-)

It was great to visit with Nana Joy and even though she wasn't up to much, we shared stories, grapes and chocolate brownie morsels very happily for a lovely spell.

Taking a journey is a wonderful way to look at the world differently for a moment and be reminded all at the same time that, actually, I didn't need to go roaming to see things differently at all - just change my perception of what is in front of me right here at home.  I'm thinking of a quote by Marcel Proust:

"The real voyage of discovery consists not of seeking out new landscapes but in having new eyes"

The revelation in itself was refreshing.

:: centaurea cyanus ii ::

And finally here is a lovely blue version of the cornflower...sigh!

Guess what my 99 year old Nana's favourite colour is?  Yes, the colour of her eyes - not quite an Elizabeth Taylor violet blue, but a very pretty blue, none-the-less.  I always think of Nana when I'm around blue-hued objects - colour is a very strong sense for me. Oh - and smell, too - my olfactory sense can pull me right to a memory of a time where I last smelt whatever it was as if I was right there again...you too? Weird, huh.

Today we are visiting Nana - it is her 100th year - which seems fantastical to me - thinking of all the things that have happened in her lifetime, all the experiences, places she's been, people she's met, lived with, loved, cared for, cooked for. All the changes that have happened in this world around her...1916 was a completely different animal.  It is actually a favourite era of mine when thinking of art and innovation.  It seemed there was a crazy burst of wonderful creativity going on in the years just before WW1 and during.

 Being resourceful and writing this ahead of time, knowing Saturday is a fully-booked day, I will report on our visit on tomorrow evening....

:: satureja hortensis ::

This might be the tiniest flower I've come across so far...the grey green GIANT leaf in the background, which is TOUCHING this spray of Summer Savoury is just an ordinary sage leaf! The little flowers are smaller than thyme flowers as another indication of size.

A gift from another gardening friend, who handed over these three incredibly tiny, yet sturdy wee seedlings in a punnet. I thought "these will never get anywhere in my little jungle". But, of course, they have!

Summer savoury is delicious with all sorts of meatiness(apparently)...and also BEANS - that's more like it for me! And, apparently, it helps to alleviate the gas from the legume family - so I will definitely be drying it to try for that purpose!!

 One amusing side is that Summer Savoury is a main ingredient in an American seasoning called 'herbes de Provence', which I have seen in quite a few recipes and been ignorant of exactly what this was...just made me giggle, for some reason...too lazy to google it, but hey, the universe eventually brings the answer to me...LOL! (or not!)