Unknown tree

I've seen this tree on many occasions but I have no idea what it is. There are many of them in flower at the moment. I have no idea whether they are some imported species, but somehow think that they may be a native species.

The mass of bell like flowers fall from brilliant greent leaves and make a spectacular sight.

I just don't know what they are. Shall have to try and find out.

(This photo was taken at Fort Lytton, Queensland)

Day Lilies

Once upon a time I was not familiar with day lilies but I found one in a shop with the same name as my mother, and for a while had a whole row of them growing and blooming them at the side of the house.

They tend to die off, then come back with many flower spikes with buds, that open to a beautiful flower.

Sadly they are not useful as cut flowers, but make a magnificent show in the garden.

These blooms are in my daughter's garden, and flower well late in spring, or early summer despite her neglect. I love the different colours.

Yesterday as I was taking the photos grand daughter number two was impressed that I was interested in taking photos of her mother's flowers, and promised to phone me if more flower. We did not confirm the details, but I hope she means that if more of the plants inthe garden burst forth in bloom she will tell me.

There are many buds on the plants that are already in bloom, and another 6 or so plants still to show their colours.

My Orchid

I don't know the name of this little orchid. I bought it at a market years ago and until recently it was on a tree in the garden, but the tree split and was chopped down, and at the same time we had a small fern house erected in the back yard. Now I have about five of the orchid plants attached (with computer cable ties) to the wall of the fern house, and in the last few weeks one has flowered. Only one.

Above is a photo of one of the flowers.

Neglected Roses

My daughter does not like the roses in her garden - they have survived abject neglect for many years but still throw up some amazing blooms from time to time.

On the bud in the bottom picture you can see the infestation of bugs.

Sometimes plants don't mind neglect.

Hippeastrums

The Hippeastrums in my own garden have not flowered yet, and so far there are only two buds so I don't expect much this season.

Some in my garden have clearly died (we are not allowed to water our gardens because of the drought). The ones in the pots have survived.

These blooms are in my daughter's garden. She does nothing to them - how they have survived is a mystery.

More and more flowers in Spring

This fabulous show of larkspurs were in the Roma St Parklands, Brisbane. Fabulous show of colour.

More Blooms at Roma St

I will have to do some research to find the names of some of these flowers. They were all blooming in Roma St Parklands, in Brisbane, Queensland.

More Irises

In a walk through the Roma St Parklands (Brisbane Australia) I found some more irises. Slightly different to the ones I photographed earlier, but still fabulous around the lakes.

New camera - new photos!

I have a new camera - a Canon SLR and I'm having a wonderful time trying out using it. How wonderful that it is a digital camera and I can delete my "errors".

Iris

I've taken quite a few photos of Irises - because I have "found" them in the most amazing places.

There seemed to be quite a few flowering in China in spring, and also in South Korea, where I saw masses of them in flower making a magic scene.

Sadly I've not seen them in such numbers here in Australia, though I am sure that in New South Wales, or Victoria there are huge fields of them - I just haven't seen them.

I purchased a bunch (5 stems) today, some of them were partly opened like this one, but others were still in bud and surely will open over the next few days.

As I have a new Canon SLR Camera, I've been taking lots of photos - and thought this one was good. Enjoy.

Daisies

Simple, pretty daisies make a great picture in a garden. When I visit Adelaide, there are often gardens with many varieties and colours of daisies. I found these in a garden in one of my walks around Oalklands when I was there in July 2009. The roses, camellias and daisies made a great picture in the gardens in and around the city and suburbs.

Irises

I love to see irises, and they are in the flower shops at the moment. That' not the reason for posting this, but I've been going through and transferring my photos to my new program Memory Manager, and came across this photo.

I don't recall that I have posted it here before, and quite lazily I haven't checked either.

It was at a pond at the entrance to an amazing mountain in China at a place called Tonglu.


Along with a group of students we climbed up the inside of a mountain - there were stone steps and we kept going up in this amazing wonderland of stone, water (a huge waterfall was at the top of the mountain) so it was wet, slippery, and cold.

When we reached the part where the steps were surrounded by a cage and the steps went up vertically, my friend and I baulked. We were both over 60 years of age, and that surely would have punished our backs, and legs.

We were escorted back down another route. Luckily.

My sister's garden

My family have always loved gardens, plants, flowers etc, and my sister who lives in a small apartment has made good use of the small amount of space between the house and the footpath.

She has a wonderful array of plants under some large palm trees, with a fish pond (complete with fish) and a variety of plants in pots.

Despite the drought and lack of water in South Australia, she manages to keep them alive, though some like the magnificent tree fern has succumbed and while currently still with a little life, it is finding it hard going and I suspect it will not survive.

The fish find life difficult from time to time, and though they don't have a long life span, the heat of summer or the cold of winter can create havoc and new fish need to be purchased from time to time.

Above there are two triangular sails that do something to protect from the hot sun in summer, and the outdoor eating area is a delight and we have had many family events there.

It certainly is a haven - a delightful fresh, green oasis.

Freesias,

These are delightful flowers, but not seen as often as they should be. This bunch of freesias was given to my sister, and she put them in a glass vase and allowed them to "spill" in a very delicate way.

These are native to Africa, but have been popular in Australian gardens for years.

To read all about these flowers on Wikipedia here.

Camelias

Right near the front door of my parents little unit in Adelaide is a camelia plant that seems to bloom non-stop.

These pink "double" blooms just flower and flower and always make a great picture. Often my mother will pick some and carefully arrange them in a bowl.

It is often hard to get camelia's sitting pretty in a vase as they often are on the side of the stem.

Flowers in the Hanok Village

I went to Jeonju's Hanok Village which is a huge tourist complex in the old part of the city, where the old buildings are being restored and there are major places of interest to visit. You can read more about that here.

The spring annuals that I saw planted a few weeks ago are blooming and it is quite a picture. There is also a paper sculture display among the flowers.

Liliums?

This photograph was taken near the river/stream near the Jeonju Nature Ecological Museum that I visited yesterday. The flowers were just starting to bloom in the flower bed near the museum building.

Roses and Creepers

These photos I took yesterday. Walking along the streets of Jeonju South Korea, I saw this wonderful creeper on a wall. Later I walked past the roses. They seem to have appeared out of nowhere and there are many blooming around the place.

I had thought of creeping out at night with a pair of scissors to "claim" one for me, but the students gave me some flowers.

Roses in Korea

My flowers given to me for Teacher's Day, Jeonju, Korea, May 2009.

At Mt Mai Tap-Sa

A glorious display of Azalea and Wisteria

Azaleas surround the lake.

What flower is this?

I should know I think, but I just cannot seem to remember the name of this stunning flower. It is in full bloom in South Korea right now.

Flower Shop in Korea

This delightful display was in front of a flower shop in Jeonju, Korea. The shops seem to be a cross between a garden shop as I would know it in Australia (pots of seedlings etc) and flowers. The baskets and other items to display the flowers many of which are flowering seedlings are spectacular.

Azaleas and Spring

It is Spring here in Korea - and the azaleas are in bloom. The two bottom photos were taken behind the Jeonju Core Riviera Hotel .

The top photo I took - sight unseen. I had thought the garden behind the high wall would be wonderful, and it was. I had put my arm up high with the camera in my hand and clicked.

The top photo is of a view in one of the modernised streets of Jeonju Hanok Village.

Blossoms in Korea

The blossom season is short lived - though spectacular, the petals soon fall to the ground. These were at a Buddhist temple just out of Jeonju - and the road to the temple was lined on both sides by wonderful blossoms too, but I was unable to take a good photo from the moving car.

Spectacular!

Magnolia at the temple

One of the great joys in spring in China and Korea are the blooming of the Magnolia trees. There are different varieties - some all white, some with rose colour on the back of the petals, and others with smaller flowers.

These were blooming at the temple just out of Jeonju.

Daffodils and Tulips in Korea

While walking around Jeon Ju, Korea, I found this wonderful garden in a Gold Driving Range. Daffodils, and there are many in gardens here, as well as these tulips making an impressive display.

Tibouchina

This year the Tibouchina is blooming beautifully. Around the suburbs this brilliant splash of purple. The bushes are around 8 - 10 feet tall, and the purple blooms flourish with the sort of weather we have been having lately. It had been dry, and then the rains came, which somehow stimulated the prolific flowers.

Sadly the flowers do not last long, and do not do well in a vase, but when the spent blooms drop there seems to be many more coming along so the 'season' can be quite long and they often have two or more blooming seasons.

The photos above are of my plant which is beside the side fence.

This variety is most likely Tibouchina Alstonville.