Chrysanthemum Blooms

There are many Chrysanthemums blooming around the university at the moment. Great pots of them. Some are reaching their "use-by" date, and many are still in bud so there is more to come.

They are at the entrances to the college, all along the main driveway, around the library, canteens and little pots are along the walkways of the administration building too. Many yellows, and some a rust and yellow colour. They do look spectacular.

Occasionally I feel tempted to remove the dead heads - but I resist.

Orchid display

Sell photos on photrade By Elly




These are just some of the orchids on display in Hangzhou's Hyatt Hotel on the edge of the famed West Lake. Sadly we didn't get to stay there, but we did visit and we did enjoy expensive coffee and cake in the lounge bar there. Simple white bowls with many white orchids and brown sticks as a background. Simply stunning.



It is a pretty busy hotel, with many foreign tourists and business people using this hotel as their base here in China. It is so well placed, right on the edge of the West Lake, with rows of upmarket boutiques and shops in the vicinity.



I think it would be wonderful to wake up in the morning, and see right over the lake. It is a very romantic lake with many tourist spots, as well as hotels and restaurants around the edge of the famous lake.

Display of Chrystanthemums

Sell photos on photrade By Elly

Last week this pot of chrystanthemums appeared near the foreign teacher's accomodation - adjacent to the administration building. Many exotic floral displays end up near this building and we know when there is a big event approaching as the floral display will be much bigger or more exotic than usual.

We have no idea what the special event is this week - but there are Chinese banners all around so we think there is something big on the agenda. It is hard to tell how many plants are in this pot - at least six and maybe more. One of the risks with this sort of floral display is that they need quite a lot of water, and last week the plants were looking very much worse for wear, but we have had heavy rain for a few days so that would have refreshed them, but it is possible that the gardeners also added water to the pot.

Beautiful flower

I suspect that this is a weed - there were quite a few that seemed to be growing at random and not in flower beds. They have a strong stem and long scraggy leaves, but the flower head is almost like a purple/deep read cauliflower. Pretty. I have no idea what it is.

Shaoxing Hotel

The hotel is called New Century Grand Hotel, in Shaoxing and these spectacular arrangements were in the foyer of this hotel. When I went to take a photo of the flowers, one of the hotel staff appeared and insisted on using my camera to take a photo of Sue and I with the flowers.

This hotel is great for a buffet - all you can eat fabulous food at a reasonable price.

Crocus garden

I have never seen so many Crocus flowers. The college gardens are always a surprise because flowers/plants appear at different seasons, and for me are quite unexpected.

These flowers appeared along the perimeter of the volleyball field. Beautiful white delicate flowers in copious quantities.

Beautiful flowers

I'm not sure what these plants are - there is a row of the parallel to the school fence. Some have spent flower stalks in them - others have new buds emerging from the beautiful leaves.

One has already been in flower and is starting to wither.

They make a spectacular sight along the fence.

Anyone know the name of these plants?

Maiden Hair Fern

Another fern which does well in the damp tropical areas is the maiden hair fern. There are quite a vew varieties of this fern, and it is common in gardens and pots in Queensland. It is used by florists but it does die off quickly, so has limited use.

Crows nest fern

This poor fern has survived despite its sad life. It was in our front garden, but did not thrive. Eventually I moved it and it is now growing well, although a little lopsided, in the fern house. It has taken on a new lease of life. Wonderful.

It is a rain forest plant and does not do well without water. In Brisbane, because of the drought we have been unable to water the garden, and with little rain......................

More Heliconias

Throughout the magnificent Singapore Botanical Gardens there are great stands of Heliconia - and any Heliconia lover like me will enjoy seeing the different species on display.

I have one of these in my garden but it has never looked as spectaular as this specimen. They are great in flower arrangements and do last a long time in the vase.

Heliconia and Ginger Flowers

I have long been a lover of Heliconia and Ginger flowers - and as we live in a subtropical area, they grow quite well, although this last season they did not do very well as we have had so little rain. They love rain - heat and high humidity, and barely flower without the optimum conditions.

Singapore is great for these flowers as well as Orchids and while we were there we say many of them.

We went for a long walk around the Singapore Botanical Gardens which are spectacular -

this one is one of the wonderful single ginger flower.

Croton Leaves

I like taking photos of flowers - but have tried some close up of leaves. These are the leaves of crotons - a tropical plant that has wonderful red, yellow and green combinations in the leaves. It is a hardy plant - and is used in tropical gardens and is popular with floral artists as it is a bright strong leaf for arrangements.

Hotel foyer

The flowers in the hotel were amazing too. These two views are of the same arrangement. One side looked quite different to the other. We found it hard to determine initially what flowers were plastic and what were real. The orchids were plastic, the leaves and some of the lillies were real. We knew this because of the exquisite fragrance and the feel of the petals.

Tabletop roses

We had lunch at a wonderful hotel in Shangyu, in Zhejiang province in southern China. On the table were some wonderful fresh roses. They looked spectacular on the round table. They glistened too, as they had been sprayed with a fine mist of water. Enjoy.

The Lotus Flowers

In the ponds near the entrance to the college were many plastic pots with small sticks in them. That's what they looked like when we arrived at the college just as winter was almost over. In the spring there was some activity in the pots and the sticks seemed to come to life - and green foliage slowly emerged. The gardeners put the pots further into the centre of the pond, and soon the foliage was flourishing. Goldfish swim in the pond and now had something to play hide and seek around. Just a couple of weeks ago I noticed the flowers. Beautiful strong flowers on a tall straight stem. There are pale pink, darker pink and white blooms and they are exquisite. When the flower fully opens up the seed pod is revealed and it grows larger as the petals fall into the water.

Gardenia

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The hedge of Gardenias sits along a very smelly walk in the college. Perhaps the sewerage pipes are around here. In any case at times there is an odd smell emanating from something near here.

We have watched as the Gardenia hedge sprung forth with Spring growth, and watched as the buds formed. And then it happened. One Monday morning as I was passing on my way to class I saw the first buds. There were two that had opened up.

Within days there was a mass of blooms and the delicate aroma, the sweet delicate fragrance of the Gardenia filled our nostrils as we passed by. Late in the afternoon and early evening is best as the air is filled with this fragrance.

The flowers attract many students who pick the flowers - they don't live long, but I am sure the fragrance in the dormitories is most appreciated.

The Rose Garden

The miniature roses.

The rose garden (April and May)

When we came to Shaoxing at the end of February, the area had experienced a cold winter, and it had snowed here. One of the gardens near the apartment building that houses many of the foreign teachers, there was a garden that seemed to have a large number of dried sticks about 5 inches high in it. On closer inspection you could see it was a bed of roses.

I don't think in Australia we would have pruned them back so much - but things are different here.

The top photo was taken on April 17 th, as foliage was beginning to sprout on the plants. The second photo was taken just last week.

What a difference a few weeks makes in such a garden. Also on the school campus is an area near one of the other buildings where there is a bed of what I now discover is miniature roses and they too are in full bloom right now.

Iris

On our visit to a park at Tonglu (Southern China) the gardens impressed us, especially the display of irises. Actually there were only a few blooming - but many many more plants ready to burst forth in flower. These were growing at the edge of a pool in which many colourful and large fish were swimming making it a very wonderful scene.

Tea Plantations

I had never seen Tea Plantations close up before and the first time was at Houshan when we climbed the mountain to the Temple.

We walked through the rows of tea growing and noticed folk picking leaves possibly for their own use.

Since then I have seen many tea plantations between Shaoxing and Hangzhou in particular. They are on many hills around these areas, as no doubt they are in many areas of China.

Sweet Magnolia

Spring is certainly the best time to visit China - as all the trees and plants that have been in hibernation for winter come to life. The blossoms of all the flowering trees make such a change to what was a very bland landscape and it is no wonder the Chinese people cherish their gardens so much.

In the streets and in parks the Magnolias burst into bloom - there were white ones, and pink ones and small flowers and large flowers.

I had never seen so many Magnolias in flower all at once.

Flowers in China

The Chinese people so love gardens - most of course don't have much in the way of gardens around their homes, unless they live in a newer modern complex where the gardens are likely to be a feature, or if they live in the country their "garden" is full of vegetables.

When we arrived in China it was just after the very cold winter of 2007/8 and the plants were all brown and bare, but as spring approached it all changed.

These photos are from a park in Ningbo, South China.

What is this?

I don't know what this is - but found it in the garden near the house of my housesit.

It is a very attractive flower but does not last long - and the flower very quickly falls to the ground.

Frangipanni

How I love the fragrance of frangipanni! In the evening the scent is at it's best! There are many colours of these flowers, and probably the most common is the lemon/pale yellow variety. This pink one is in the park at the back of my current housesit.

I picked this bract of flowers and had it in a bowl as centre piece for my very small New Year's Eve event - and even today nearly a week later it is still looking good. I'd love to find a red one!