A Living Gift

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

 



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

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.

Visit Today's Flowers for more flowers from around the world.

Today's Flowers - Dutchman's Pipe

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.

Visit Today's Flowers for more flowers from around the world.

Today's Flowers - Brazilian Cherry

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.

 This is my second publication on Today's Flowers.  Be sure to visit other contributors to this site.

   

Rosella



 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.