DESKTOP 577 - PETUNIAS

This post is part of the Pink Saturday meme,
and also part of the I Heart Macros meme.

DESKTOP 576 - FERN FROND

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme.

DESKTOP 575 - MORNING FLOWERS

Morning glories (Ipomoea purpurea) against a pink crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) makes for a happy morning.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 574 - GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA

Gold Coast is a coastal city in southeastern Queensland on the east coast of Australia. The city is 94 kilometres south of the state capital Brisbane. It is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and the most populous non-capital city in Australia.
 
Gold Coast has the largest cross-state metropolitan area population in Australia, due to the inclusion of Tweed Heads, New South Wales in its metropolitan area. Gold Coast's metropolitan area converges with that of Greater Brisbane, forming part of an urban conurbation of over 3 million people.
 
The first settlement in what is now South East Queensland was as a penal colony at Redcliffe. The Gold Coast region remained largely uninhabited by Europeans until 1823 when explorer John Oxley landed at Mermaid Beach. The hinterland's red cedar supply attracted people to the area in the mid-19th century. Later in 1875, Southport was surveyed and established and grew a reputation as a secluded holiday destination for upper class Brisbane residents.
 
The Gold Coast region grew significantly after the establishment of the Surfers Paradise hotel in the late 1920s. The area boomed in the 1980s as a leading tourist destination and in 1994, the Gold Coast City local government area was expanded to encompass the majority of Gold Coast's metropolitan area, becoming the second most populous local government area in Australia after the City of Brisbane.
 
Gold Coast is today a major tourist destination with its sunny subtropical climate, surfing beaches, canal and waterway systems, its high-rise dominated skyline, theme parks, nightlife, and rainforest hinterland, making tourism one of its most significant industries. Gold Coast will host the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

DESKTOP 573 - WATERMELON

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 572 - CAMPANULA

This post is part of the I Heart Macros meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

DESKTOP 571 - JEWELLED

This post is part of the I Heart Macros meme.

DESKTOP 570 - CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

DESKTOP 569 - GRASSY

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme.

DESKTOP 568 - WATERLILIES

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 567 - FISH

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 566 - ZINNIA

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 565 - LOBELIAS

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme.

DESKTOP 564 - ALOE

This post is part of the I Heart Macros meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

DESKTOP 563 - ZAKYNTHOS, GREECE

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

DESKTOP 562 - SUNRISE

Sunrise on the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 561 - CHICORY IN FLOWER

Common chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Many varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons (blanched buds), or for roots (var. sativum), which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive. It is also grown as a forage crop for livestock.
 
It lives as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and now common in North America and Australia where it has become widely naturalized. "Chicory" is also the common name in the United States for curly endive (Cichorium endivia); these two closely related species are often confused.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 560 - EPHESUS, TURKEY

The library of Celsus is an ancient Roman building in Ephesus, Anatolia, now part of Selçuk, Turkey. It was built in honour of the Roman Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus (completed in 135 AD) by Celsus' son, Gaius Julius Aquila (consul, 110 AD). Celsus had been consul in 92 AD, governor of Asia in 115 AD, and a wealthy and popular local citizen. He was a native of nearby Sardis and amongst the earliest men of purely Greek origin to become a consul in the Roman Empire and is honoured both as a Greek and a Roman on the library itself.
 
Celsus paid for the construction of the library with his own personal wealth. The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and to serve as a monumental tomb for Celsus. Celsus is buried in a sarcophagus beneath the library, in the main entrance, which is both a crypt containing his sarcophagus and a sepulchral monument to him. It was unusual to be buried within a library or even within city limits, so this was a special honour for Celsus.
 
This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 559 - HIBISCUS 'WILD CHERRY'

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 558 - PINE CONES

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

DESKTOP 557 - NEA EPIDAVROS, GREECE

This post is part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,
and also part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.

DESKTOP 556 - PONDSIDE

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the I Heart Macros meme.

DESKTOP 555 - PRINCES BRIDGE, MELBOURNE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

DESKTOP 554 - CACTUS FLOWER

Cleistocactus winteri is a succulent of the Cactaceae family, originating from South America (Argentina-Uruguay). Its common name is the golden rat tail. It is one of three species named rat tail cactus. This plant forms huge tangled mounds of fairly rapid growth. It has many short bristly golden spines that literally cover the surface of the stems. The flowers are pinkish-red and about 5 cm in diameter. Mature plants bloom repetitively. The flowers are followed by green fruit, 1 cm long.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 553 - LILY POND

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 552 - POMEGRANATE

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 551 - ZUCCHINI FLOWER

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the I Heart Macros meme.

DESKTOP 550 - LAZY AFTERNOON

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme,

and also part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme.