Crocus in Flower

It was a surprise to me to see my pot of Crocus in flower the other day.

And then at the Caboolture Historical Village I found many in flower near the old Council Chambers.

They are supposed to flower in Spring, so much of the material I read reports so I hope they do flower again in about 4 months time.

Gardens at Australia Zoo, Queensland

Fabulous staghorn

Heliconia

It was a pretty wet day and I did not take my Canon SLR into the park so I used my little point and shoot Samsung camera. (I have bought an annual pass so that I can go with camera on a fine day!)

The gardens are fabulous and I look forward to going back one day to see more!  Read my post about our visit here.

The Little Orchid

This is the little orchid that grew out of what I thought was a dead orchid plant.   I had hoped that it was a Cooktown Orchid - but it does not have the deep purple of that variety of Dendrobium.

The Cooktown Orchid is the state flower of Queensland.

Frangipani

I love the scent of frangipani - generally the pale yellow ones appeal to me, but I found this wonderful display in a Narangba garden a couple of weeks ago.

Sturt's Desert Pea

As a South Australian by birth, I am familiar with the flower which is the floral emblem of that state - Sturt's Desert Pea.  

It is reported that the first specimen was actaally discovered by William Dampier in 1699.  There is more information about the flower and its history in Wikipedia.

Further you can read the story about the South Australian emblem here.

This specimen was in the gardens of Kings Park, Perth.

More from the Lotus pond

An Orchid Revives

I have always loved flowers - perhaps because my mother and grandmother also loved and grew flowers.  My mother took classes on floral art including Ikebana and entered Floral Art Competitions when I was in my early teens, and I learned from her, and also entered some competitions and won awards. All these years later I still have some of my certificates.

Then for a number of years flowers took a back step in my life, and around 1972 we rented a house in Sydney.  The lady of the house was reticent about leaving her wonderful orchid plants and  she instructed me on their care.  We were there for around 6 months, and when the family returned she called me and asked me to visit.  She presented me with 6 huge pots of cymbidium orchids as she was so thrilled that her orchids had flourished under my care. Some time later we returned to Queensland and the orchids came with us.

Over the years they continued to flourish and I repotted some eventually having quite a collection.  

However in the early 2000's I had trouble - I needed an "orchid house" as they needed to be protected from the raging Queensland sun in summer, and I lost a few.  When I worked overseas in 2008 - 2010, and then left home leaving them at my daughter's place, they suffered again.

Earlier this year when I moved to Beachmere I brought some of them with me, and later my "orchid house" came to be with me.  I am working to help them recover.

Some of the cattleya orchids were also damaged by the sun while I was away late last year.

There was also a "dead" orchid - still in a pot, with a hint of green it its stem that I refused to throw away.  I was thrilled to see new growth and indeed two buds on one of the orchids - I am not sure if it is a Cooktown orchid. Only time will tell, but it looks like it is flourishing.

  The two buds....

One of the cattleya is also showing great signs of life, with what looks like two buds protruding from a leaf.

I am hoping all is well.