Thursday 30 July 2015

DESKTOP 730 - OSTEOSPERMUM

Osteospermum (African daisies) are popular flowers in cultivation, where they are frequently used in summer bedding schemes in parks and gardens. Numerous hybrids and cultivars have been grown with a wide range of tropical colours (white, pink, magenta, purple, orange, red, bicoloured, yellow, single and double). Yellow cultivars tend to have a yellow centre (sometimes off-white).

Plants prefer a warm and sunny position and rich soil, although they tolerate poor soil, salt or drought well. Modern cultivars flower continuously when watered and fertilised well, and dead-heading is not necessary, because they do not set seed easily. If planted in a container, soil should be prevented from drying out completely. If they do, the plants will go into "sleep mode" and survive the period of drought, but they will abort their flower buds and not easily come back into flower. Moreover, roots are relatively susceptible to rotting if watered too profusely after the dry period.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

Tuesday 28 July 2015

DESKTOP 728 - AFRICAN DAISY

Osteospermum (African daisies) are popular flowers in cultivation, where they are frequently used in summer bedding schemes in parks and gardens. Numerous hybrids and cultivars have been grown with a wide range of tropical colours (white, pink, magenta, purple, orange, red, bicoloured, yellow, single and double). Yellow cultivars tend to have a yellow centre (sometimes off-white).
 

Plants prefer a warm and sunny position and rich soil, although they tolerate poor soil, salt or drought well. Modern cultivars flower continuously when watered and fertilised well, and dead-heading is not necessary, because they do not set seed easily. If planted in a container, soil should be prevented from drying out completely. If they do, the plants will go into "sleep mode" and survive the period of drought, but they will abort their flower buds and not easily come back into flower. Moreover, roots are relatively susceptible to rotting if watered too profusely after the dry period.

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,
and also part of the Nature Footstep Digital Art Meme.

Friday 24 July 2015

DESKTOP 724 - MILKWEED BUGS

The milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, is a medium–sized hemipteran (true bug) of the family Lygaeidae. It feeds mainly on grains, particularly those of the milkweed. Like all hemiptera, it feeds through a long mouthpart known as a rostrum. O. fasciatus is commonly used in science due to ease of rearing and ease of dissection.

The adult bugs do not harm flowers, fruits and vegetables, however, they tend to ring alarm bells for the gardener who sees large numbers of them on plants.

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme.

Wednesday 22 July 2015

DESKTOP 722 - BUDDHA

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." - Buddha

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,
and also part of the Nature Footstep Digital Art Meme.

Thursday 16 July 2015

DESKTOP 716 - RED HOT POKER

Kniphofia uvaria is also known as Tritoma, Torch Lily, or Red Hot Poker due to the shape and colour of its inflorescence. The leaves are reminiscent of a lily, and the flowerhead can reach up to 1.52 m in height. There are many varieties of torch lily, and they bloom at different times during the growing season. The flowers are red, orange, and yellow.

Kniphofia uvaria originates from the Cape Province of South Africa, and has been introduced into many parts of the world, such as North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe as a garden plant. It is hardy in zones 5-10. In parts of south-eastern Australia, such as the Central and Southern Tablelands of New South Wales and southern Victoria, it has escaped cultivation and become naturalised.

It is now regarded as an environmental weed in these locations, spreading from former habitations into natural areas, where it can grow in thick clumps and threaten sensitive ecosystems. Elsewhere in southern Australia it is regarded as a potential environmental weed, and it may have also naturalised in parts of South Australia and California.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

Wednesday 15 July 2015

DESKTOP 715 - AEGEAN SEA

The Aegean Sea (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος [eˈʝeo ˈpelaɣos]; Turkish: Ege Denizi or Adalar Denizi) is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the Greek and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus.
 
The Aegean Sea covers about 214,000 square kilometres in area, and measures about 610 kilometres longitudinally and 300 kilometres latitudinally. The sea's maximum depth is 3,543 metres, east of Crete. The Aegean Islands are found within its waters, with the following islands delimiting the sea on the south (generally from west to east): Kythera, Antikythera, Crete, Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
and also 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.

Tuesday 14 July 2015

DESKTOP 714 - BUSH

A typical Southern Australian landscape with gum trees (Eucalyptus spp), wattles (Acacia spp), grasses and some introduced weeds...

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Tuesday Afternoon meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Trees & Bushes meme.

Saturday 11 July 2015

DESKTOP 711 - WOOF!

"Don't leave me locked up in a car please! Woof!"

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

Monday 6 July 2015

DESKTOP 706 - YELLOW & BLUE

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme.

[In case you're wondering, these are the heads of pins stuck on plastic disks and stacked on top of one another]

Saturday 4 July 2015

Thursday 2 July 2015

DESKTOP 703 - FABRIC

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme.

DESKTOP 702 - BRACHYSCOME

Brachyscome 'Pacific Cloud' is a hybrid native Australian daisy in the Asteraceae family. It features a dense, compact habit with masses of medium-sized, white flowers, set against mid-green foliage. It has surprisingly good heat tolerance and a long flowering period. Brachyscome are used primarily as a colourful ground cover or as a container plant. They are one of Australia’s favourite native daisies due to their versatility and beauty.

Brachyscome favour free-draining soil but are fairly tolerant of various soil types as they’re not particularly deep-rooted. They love full sun but can tolerate some shade, however, they won’t enjoy prolonged high humidity, such as in the tropics. Brachyscome are normally planted in multiples, so check the plant label to work out planting intervals. If planting in a pot or tub, use a quality potting mix.
 

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

Wednesday 1 July 2015

DESKTOP 701 - YARROW

Achillea millefolium, known commonly as yarrow or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Asia, Europe, and North America. In New Mexico and southern Colorado, it is called plumajillo (Spanish for 'little feather') from its leaf shape and texture. In antiquity, yarrow was known as herba militaris, for its use in stanching the flow of blood from wounds. Other common names for this species include gordaldo, nosebleed plant, old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, thousand-leaf, and thousand-seal.

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.