A place where I post a photo each day, which you can download and use as a desktop image. These are all my original photos and you are welcome to use them for your personal purposes. If you wish to use them commercially, please contact me.
Remy, the black cat, survived Halloween and enjoyed Thanksgiving!
This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.
Today was a fine, hot day in Melbourne, the mercury climbing to 34˚C; it was the hottest day since last January. Looks like our Summer has arrived!
This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.
Convolvulus Blue (Convolvulus sabatius) is a super vigorous, non invasive, easy to grow ground cover that covers those difficult to maintain places. The violet blue flowers appear in early spring and continue until early autumn.
It is native to the Mediterranean region and suitable for a full sun to part shade position in well drained soil, requiring little water once established. Suitable as a spillover plant ground cover plant hanging baskets and coastal gardens.
This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.
The Altona Important Bird Area (IBA) comprises several wetland sites on, or close to, the north-western coast of Port Phillip in Victoria, south-eastern Australia. Collectively they total 1223 hectares in area and lie within, or adjacent to, the western suburbs of the city of Melbourne. They were classified as an IBA because they support more than 1% of the world populations of Red-necked Stint, Chestnut Teal and Pacific Gull.
This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.
While we are enjoying Summer weather here in Melbourne, I am sparing a thought for people living in the Northern Hemisphere. Keep warm and safe, take every precaution against the Virus and let's all hope the vaccines being tested will soon be available to fight this pandemic!
This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.
We've had a couple of days of quite warm weather in Melbourne and there are more forecast in the week ahead. Looks like Summer is fast approaching...
This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.
Showy Everlasting Daisy, Schoenia filifolia ssp. subulifolia, (synonym Helichrysum subulifolium) is a native Western Australian daisy now threatened with extinction in the wild. Fortunately, this species responds well to cultivation and is being planted widely in parks, gardens and forested areas throughout Australia. It has many fine, bright green leaves and many upright stems to between 30 and 40 cm high. Each stem carries a large golden-yellow flower that is 2 to 4 cm across. The flowers are good for drying, to use in dried flower arrangements.
This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.
This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.
London is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. It was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km2) medieval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which today largely makes up Greater London, governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site comprising the Palace of Westminster (image below), Westminster Abbey, and St Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement of Greenwich (in which the Royal Observatory, Greenwich marks the Prime Meridian, 0° longitude, and GMT). Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. London is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sporting events, and other cultural institutions, including the British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, British Library, and West End theatres. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world.
This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.
This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.
Alstroemeria, commonly called the Peruvian lily or lily of the Incas, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Alstroemeriaceae. They are all native to South America although some have become naturalised in the United States, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Madeira and the Canary Islands. Almost all of the species are restricted to one of two distinct centres of diversity, one in central Chile, the other in eastern Brazil.
Species of Alstroemeria from Chile are winter-growing plants while those of Brazil are summer-growing. All are long-lived perennials except A. graminea, a diminutive annual from the Atacama Desert of Chile. The genus was named after the Swedish baron Clas Alströmer (1736 – 1794) by his close friend Carolus Linnaeus.
Many hybrids and at least 190 cultivars have been developed, featuring many different markings and colours, including white, yellow, orange, apricot, pink, red, purple, and lavender. The most popular and showy hybrids commonly grown today result from crosses between species from Chile (winter-growing) with species from Brazil (summer-growing). This strategy has overcome the florists' problem of seasonal dormancy and resulted in plants that are evergreen, or nearly so, and flower for most of the year. This breeding work derives mainly from trials that began in the United States in the 1980s.
The flower, which resembles a miniature lily, is very popular for bouquets and flower arrangements in the commercial cut flower trade. Most cultivars available for the home garden will bloom in the late spring and early summer. The roots are hardy to a temperature of −5 °C. The plant requires at least six hours of morning sunlight, regular water, and well-drained soil.
This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.
With Summer approaching, many of the grasses in the Parklands are flowering and setting seed. The cycle of the year is nearing completion and the great dry will spread the new generation far and wide; wind, animals and humans helping to disseminate the tiny packets of genetic information to new sites. Seeds to lie in wait for the Autumn rains, so as to sprout and start the cycle all over again.
This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.
ABC Bullion is the official manufacturer of the Melbourne Cup. Since ABC Bullion commenced production, the Melbourne Cup has been produced using gold that has been mined, refined, and crafted wholly in Australia for the first time in its 150-year history. Valued at over $200,000, the trophy contains 44 pieces that are hand spun over a 250-hour production process.
This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.
Detail of a mosaic in the foyer of the "Mosaic Republic" in Melbourne.
This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.
