Ubobo Flowers

A Promise

2011-08-15T09:35:00.003+10:00

My first two Star Jasmine blooms have opened today.

What a show is promised.

This time next week I'll be intoxicated with the perfume. They are a beautiful creepeer to grow. What a pity their flowering season is so short - still... I love the anticipation at this time every year.

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Peach Blossoms

2011-08-07T13:39:00.000+10:00

Spring seems to be arriving early with trees bursting with new shoots and birds beginning nest building.

The peach trees are a delight to see.

Enjoy!

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Acacia Macradenia

2011-08-01T12:51:00.002+10:00

The showy Acacia Macradenia is commonly known as the zig zag wattle because of the way each segment of the stem angles away from the previous segment.

It is a native of Central Queensland being found growing on sandy or rocky soils between Chinchilla in Southern Queensland and the Blackdown Tableland in Central Queensland.

The tree grows about 3 to 5m in height with a similar width of spread. It flowers from late winter to early spring.

This tree is growing in the gardens at the Boyne Valley Community Discovery Centre and it's just burst into bloom during the past week.

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West Australian Coastal Dune Delights

2011-07-24T10:30:00.002+10:00

I took a twelve hour journey from home to Perth, Western Australia, to enjoy my granddaughter's participation in the National Championships - Women's Gymnastics. As a Queenslander I was very proud of our Queensland teams who won all four levels contested - Levels 7 to 10.

Another highlight of the trip was my afternoon strolls along the dunes bordering the Indian Ocean. Just beautiful!

Being winter I had to seek out the flowers - yellow edging the walkway...

delicate mauve raising its head above the shrubs behind the protective fencing...

bees drawing my eye to the tiny yellow blossoms on succulents holding the shifting sands and glistening with salt crystals...

the sculptured heads of the dune grasses...

and this trees which at first glance tricked me. I thought it was laden in bloom but on closer inspection found the lovely fawny tones to be miniture seed cups.

Against the backdrop of the sun dropping into the Indian Ocean and lulled by the soft pounding of waves against the shore, all combined to make the afternoon stroll a pure delight.

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Purple Mystery

2011-07-03T21:21:00.003+10:00

Thank you for all the responses last week helping to identify my mystery plant. So I'm going to ask your help again to identify this one. I thought it might be a nightshade. It's a pretty creeper but with small children around I want to be sure it is not dangerous. Although these flowers appear blue they are more of a lilac colour in reality.

See how each little flower pokes out a tiny "tongue" from the yellow centre piece.

This little single blossom fell from the bunch above and came to rest on the irregular leaf below. Its no bigger than my thumb nail but so delicate and pretty.

Is it friend or foe?

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????

2011-06-26T21:18:00.001+10:00

Growing in the rill by the roadside just along from our house are these unusual flowering plants with their big broad green leaves and bright orange flowers.

Their tall stems rise up towards the sky reaching almost two metres in height. On each are several evenly spaced green pompoms.

From each pompom explodes a series of little orange flowers which turn the green bud ball into a fiery orange one.

As each individual orange blossom drops, a sculptured green ball is left behind with little hollow tubes like mouths agape, where the blossoms had once been.

I found a variety of insects including assasin bugs, ants and lady beetles all crawling in and out among the blooms. I have no idea what the plant is. Is it an escaped garden flower or a weed? And where have the seeds come from to produce this bed of beauty?

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Grevillea

2011-06-19T09:53:00.001+10:00

The spidery blooms of Grevillea

These flowers are encouraging honey eaters to the garden and one pair has built a nest at the bottom of the steps into our house.

Honey eater in grevillea

Cream blossoms

I never tire of their beauty. Have a lovely Sunday.

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White Beauty

2011-06-12T17:58:00.002+10:00

Flowers whisper "Beauty!" to the world, even as they fade, wilt, fall. ~Dr. SunWolf

Winter came quickly this week with a drop of 9 degrees below average for this time of the year. It has been wet, windy and very chilly for the past three days.

I was beginning to despair of a photo for today when the sun struggled through the clouds around midday.

These tiny, delicate little blossoms were in the gardens of the Discovery Centre. They've all suffered a dusting as roadworks threw a blanket of dust over the centre earlier in the week, then 25mm of rain, wind and cold weather to end the week but still they whisper "beauty" to the world.

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Zygocactus

2011-06-05T12:03:00.001+10:00

My Zygocactus grow in hanging baskets under a persimmon tree.

When the leaves drop from the tree the zygote come into bloom.

These two are very special to me as they were my father's. He was very proud of his collection. He had his courtyard draped with zygotes. With our extended years of drought since his passing at this time back in 2000, I have only been able to save these two colours from his original collection.

For My Dad. May he Rest in Peace.

Thank you to all who commented on my flowers last week. It was a pleasure to be guest presenter.

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Lovely Golden Wattle

2011-05-29T07:49:00.001+10:00

The wattle is the Floral Emblem of Australia.

There are over 900 recorded species of wattle in Australia. Here are three growing by the roadside. The plant in the foreground has the little pompom flower of many species while in the background, the bigger tree has the long cylinder type flowers of other species. To the left is the silver wattle native to this area.

Because in southern states, wattle blossoms herald spring, September 1 is National Wattle Day...

...but here in Central Queensland the roadside is a blaze with colour to welcome winter. With over 900 identified species across Australia it is said there is always a wattle in bloom somewhere across the country.

Wattle blossoms have a strong perfume; are loved by bees, especially our tiny native bee and form dense clusters of bright yellow or orange flowers.

The lovely green and gold of the tree has become the colour of the uniforms of our national sportsmen and women in all sports. Hoorah for the Green and Gold!

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A Living Gift

2011-05-15T15:18:00.001+10:00

Last Sunday my daughter gave me a pot of tulips for Mother’s Day.

I’ve never seen real tulips before and I’ve been able to enjoy them everyday since.

What a lovely gift!

I find it amazing to have a spring flowering bulb blooming so beautifully during autumn in Central Queensland, Australia.

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They close each night and with each morning comes the promise of a new surprise by lunchtime when they are fully open again.

Milkweed, Praying Mantis and Aphids

2011-05-08T22:45:00.003+10:00

Milkweed, Praying Mantis and Aphids.

Four generations of my family celebrated Mother's Day together today. My grandaughters cooked their Mum and me a late breakfast then we went down to the creek so the little ones could play in the clean, fresh sand left by the floods. It was too cold to swim but they enjoyed the sand and plopping rocks. The bigger ones skipped their stones across the water and had fun taking photographs with grandma's camera. While they played I discovered this miniture "city" on a milkweed growing by the water's edge.

Milkweed also known as Mexican Butterfly Weed

These wildflowers are the food plant for the caterpillar of the Monarch Butterfly but today there were no butterflies only millions of the bright yellow Oleander Aphids.

The aphids produse their babies live and all these little fellows were gathered along the main stem. Those with wings were out on the leaves.

Yellow wingless aphids onthe stems
Winged aphids under the leaves

I have always loved these beautiful little flowers. They look like dancers in yellow headdress with swirling red skirts. The buds are like miniture balloons and reveal nothing of the yellow centre hidden beneath their red cloak.

Miniture ballerinas

Ladybirds or ladybugs like to feast on the aphids but they too were absent today but a little wasp and a praying mantis were visiting. I wonder if they feast on these tiny little yellow creatures. I know the ants like to suck the honey dew they excrete and that the honey dew also encourages a black mould on plants. The milk weed seems to be handling the infestation of aphids better than my garden plants would.

The poser

Once this praying mantis realized the big eye of my camera was on him he would move and pose, move and pose. I loved this shot of him staring straight down the camera lens and the little buds...you can almost see through them. Don't forget to visit Today's Flowers and enjoy other flowers from around the world.

Today's Flower - Bromeliad

2011-04-24T16:41:00.000+10:00

Last Sunday night as I walked in from the yard at dusk I was surprised to see a pink flower head hidden amongst the greenery beside the path. Closer investigation proved it to be an abandoned bromeliad I'd rescued when tenants moved out of our cottage, repaying my repotting efforts with the promise of a bloom.

As it was the first Brom I'd grown I watched the flowers development throughout the week. First, little purple buds appeared within the many furry cones within the flower cup.

The next morning the first of these little buds had opened around the edge of the cup.

On Wednesday, as it continued to slowly unfurl a little frog moved in and became a tenant for the day. See him hidden amongst the petals on the bottom righthand side.

Now today it's journey is almost complete. Just one last tiny purple bud is left to open. At it's base I can see the brown spent flowers that bloomed so cheerily earlier in the week...

...but above is this glorious display radiant in the late autumn-afternoon sunlight.

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Today's Flowers - Dutchman's Pipe

2011-04-17T20:56:00.000+10:00

This vine grows over our old dairy and is in flower now. It is Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia elegans) - a declared class 3 weed in Queensland. We are always trying to remove it but the good wet season we have had this summer has brought back the vine as strong as ever.

It is a declared weed because it mimics two of Australia's native plants that are food sources for butterflies. The Dutchman's Pipe encourages butterflies to lay their eggs on its leaves but these same leaves are toxic to the butterfly larvae and kills them when they begin feeding. Our rare Richmond Birdwing Butterfly, a beautiful butterfly with green and black wings, is severly threatened by this plant.

It is a vigorous grower, with spectacular flowers. It's easy to see why it was once a popular garden flower but the threat it poses to our butterflies means we should no longer encourage its growth. It earns it's name from the unusual shape of the flower - just like a dutchman's pipe.

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Today's Flowers - Brazilian Cherry

2011-04-03T14:19:00.000+10:00

The first flowers I saw today were the delicate white flowers of my Brazilian Cherry - Eugenia Uniflora.

The tree, a native of tropical South America, is a very pretty tree with its dark green mature foliage and bronze new leaves.

The little red fruit, shaped like tiny pumpkins, follow quickly after the flowers. They are very rich in vitamin C and only take about three weeks to reach maturity. I love them fresh off the tree and graze on them as I pass by on my way out my back gate to the barnyard but jellies and juices can also be made from the fruit.

The birds love the fruit as well so I hope I'm not breeding a future weed problem.

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Rosella

2011-03-29T13:14:00.000+10:00

Rosellas belong to the Malvaceae family and have the botanical name Hibiscus.sabdariffa. I make jam and cordial from the fruit but the young tender leaves of the plant can be used like spinach and the petals of the flowers can be added to salads.

This is my first entry for Today's Flowers.