:: cosmos v ::

Still musing on the harmonious and impeccably-ordered world of the Greek ideal...another colour variety today...

:: cosmos iv ::

A wander about the garden in the glorious, crisp Autumn sunshine today and these delicate cosmos flowers came to my attention.  

It feels as though I have been waiting ALL SUMMER LONG and now HALF OF AUTUMN for these to bloom.  This is just what kind of warm season it has been - so up and down and cool then blasting heat that I think plants have been terribly confused, perhaps and have the gesture of 'halting' in my mind.

Now that they are finally blooming - in the middle of Autumn, mind - I am enchanted by the striking patterning that has been birthed. For these two lovely plants have popped up all of their own accord...and the flowers seem different to others I have previously planted...a very pretty mystery!

:: tagetes erecta ::

 We had the immense pleasure of attending not one, but two art openings in two days two weeks ago - how lucky were we?! On the way we wandered past all these glorious marigolds literally sparkling alongside the path - so bright and wondrous in their intensity.

 These ones have many uses, particularly interesting to me that they are used extensively in Mexico for decorations on the day of the dead, November 2nd.

Another really interesting use is for enhancing the colour of egg yolks, from the yellow lutein that is extracted and added to chook feed. Who would have thought?

:: dahlia vii ::

Today I've been thinking about a wonderful neighbour from Possum Bend, who passed last week.  My days have been whizzing by in a blur for the past several weeks and today I got time to pause and reflect for awhile. Pete would never have realised how much he gave to our little family, when we had moved ourselves so far away from our extended families eight years ago.  He was a dependable ear when we needed it, saw such beauty in the world, hunted and foraged in op shops to rival my own habit, was generous to a fault and enjoyed many 'eats' with us with the gusto of one fully appreciating food and company alike.

I haven't been able to locate the name of this dahlia variety and so I think from now on, I'll just call it 'Pete'. XXX

:: rosa xi ::

Big, crazy pink!

:: echeveria ii ::

a no words night...need a super-relaxing Saturday night...blog again tomorrow :-), promise X

:: nerine ::

These resilient flowers came across to Europe from South America back in the day, cousins of the Amaryllis flower, in boxes on a ship...

...that shipwrecked off the coast of Guernsey before its destination of the Netherlands...

...the boxes washed ashore and the bulbs took root about the coastline, establishing there...

...pretty good story and in that vein, instead of being named Imhofia( who the heck thought that one up???!!), they became 'nerines', after the mythological sea-nymphs, the 'nereids' of Greek Mythology...there now, much better :-)

what a relief!