DESKTOP 3332 - NEW GROWTH

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DESKTOP 3328 - FEATHER MOSS

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DESKTOP 3314 - GREENHOUSE

The tropical plant greenhouse in the Melbourne Botanical Gardens.

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DESKTOP 3308 - COTYLEDON

Cotyledon is one of some 35 genera of succulent plants in the family Crassulaceae. Mostly from Southern Africa, they also occur throughout the drier parts of Africa as far north as the Arabian Peninsula. Ten of its species are mostly confined to South Africa, where unlike Tylecodon, they occur commonly in both the winter and summer rainfall regions. They may be found on coastal flats and rocky hillsides, or as cremnophytes on cliff faces. Their decussate, evergreen leaves are very variable in shape, even within some species, but the flowers are, apart from colour, very similar.

They are popular garden plants, drought-tolerant, highly decorative and can bloom prolifically. In some regions they are garden escapees and may be considered a weed.

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DESKTOP 3307 - LICHEN

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DESKTOP 3300 - MOSS

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DESKTOP 3289 - FISH TANK

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DESKTOP 3280 - GOLDEN WATTLE

Acacia pycnantha, Golden Wattle, is a shrub or small tree about 4 to 8 metres tall. The specific name pycnantha from the Greek 'pyknos', meaning 'dense', and 'anthos', meaning 'a flower', refers to the dense clusters of flowers. In late winter/early spring large fluffy golden-yellow flower-heads with up to eighty tiny sweetly scented flowers provide a vivid contrast with the foliage.

 

Golden Wattle occurs in the understorey of open forest or woodland and in open scrub formations in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in temperate regions with mean annual rainfall of 350 mm to 1000 mm. It regenerates freely after fires, which usually kill the parent plants but stimulate the germination of seeds stored in the soil if rain follows soon after.

 

The brilliant yellow, fragrant flowers of Golden Wattle make it a popular garden plant. It is moderately frost tolerant and grows well in a wide range of soils provided drainage is effective, but tends to be short-lived in cultivation. It is easily propagated from seed soaked in hot water to break the hard seed coat, and the seedlings can be transplanted to pots of soil mix for growing on before planting out in a lightly shaded or open position.

 

The adoption of the Golden Wattle as the Australian national flower tends to be confirmed by its introduction into the design of the Australian armorial bearings on the recommendation of the Rt Hon. Andrew Fisher, Prime Minister of Australia, when the Commonwealth Armorial Ensigns and Supporters were granted by Royal Warrant on 19 September 1912. Acacia pycnantha enjoyed popular acceptance as Australia's national flower for much of this century but it was not proclaimed as the national floral emblem until 1988, the year of Australia's bicentenary.

 

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DESKTOP 3279 - GOATSBEARD

Tragopogon, also known as goatsbeard or salsify, is a genus of flowering plants in the Asteraceae (sunflower) family. It includes the vegetable known as salsify, as well as a number of common wild flowers, some of which are usually regarded as weeds. Salsifies are forbs growing as biennial or perennial plants. They have a strong taproot and milky sap. They generally have few branches, and those there are tend to be upright. Their leaves are somewhat grass-like.

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DESKTOP 3258 - FROSTY

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DESKTOP 3251 - DUCKS

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DESKTOP 3247 - LION'S TAIL

Leonotis leonurus, also known as lion's tail and wild dagga, is a plant species in the mint family, Lamiaceae. The plant is a broadleaf evergreen large shrub native to South Africa and southern Africa, where it is very common.

It is known for its medicinal properties. The main psychoactive component of Leonotis leonurus is claimed to be leonurine, even though leonurine has never been found in the plant using chemical analysis. Like other plants in the mint family, it also contains marrubiin.

The name 'wild dagga' links it closely to cannabis as 'dagga' derived from the Khoikhoi 'dachab' is an indigenous South African name for cannabis species. This name may be a misnomer, as no part of the plant is used as a hallucinogen.

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DESKTOP 3239 - PYRACANTHA

Pyracantha (from Greek pyr "fire" and akanthos "thorn", hence firethorn) is a genus of large, thorny evergreen shrubs in the family Rosaceae, with common names firethorn or pyracantha. They are native to an area extending from Southwest Europe east to Southeast Asia. They resemble and are related to Cotoneaster, but have serrated leaf margins and numerous thorns (Cotoneaster is thornless). 

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DESKTOP 3236 - OXALIS

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DESKTOP 3223 - AUTUMN FRUIT

On a walk in the parklands I found some wild fruit growing on trees and bushes. The most unfamiliar to Northern Hemisphere dwellers perhaps may be the lilly-pilly, Syzygium smithii, (formerly Acmena smithii). This is a summer-flowering, winter-fruiting evergreen tree, belonging to the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It shares the common name "lilly-pilly" with several other plants, however in New Zealand, it is commonly known as 'monkey apple'.

It is planted as shrubs or hedgerows, and features: rough, woody bark; cream and green smooth, waxy leaves; flushes of pink new growth; and white to maroon edible, slightly tart berries that may be made into jam. Unpruned, it will grow about 3–5 m tall in the garden.

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DESKTOP 3222 - SPIRAL ALOE

Aloe polyphylla (spiral aloe, kroonaalwyn, lekhala kharetsa) is a species in the genus Aloe and family Xanthorrhoeaceae that is endemic to the Kingdom of Lesotho in the Drakensberg mountains. It is well known for its strikingly symmetrical, five-pointed spiral growth habit.

Aloe polyphylla is a stemless aloe and grows its leaves in a very distinctive spiral shape. The plants do not seem to sucker or produce off-shoots, but from the germination of their seeds they can form small, dense clumps. The fat, wide, serrated, gray-green leaves have sharp, dark leaf-tips. This aloe flowers at the beginning of summer, producing red-to-pink flowers at the head of robust, branched inflorescences.

The species is highly sought after as an ornamental but is difficult to cultivate and usually soon dies if removed from its natural habitat. In South Africa, buying or collecting the plant is a criminal offence.

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DESKTOP 3204 - ON THE GROUND

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DESKTOP 3201 - SPARROW IN SALVIAS

Sparrow sitting pretty in amongst red salvias. Salvia splendens, the scarlet sage or tropical sage, is a tender herbaceous perennial native to Brazil, growing at 2,000 to 3,000 m (6,600 to 9,800 ft) elevation where it is warm year-round and with high humidity. The wild form, rarely seen in cultivation, reaches 1.3 m (4.3 ft) tall. Smaller cultivars are very popular as bedding plants, seen in shopping malls and public gardens all over the world.

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DESKTOP 3180 - ZEN

A corner of our garden where a meditating Buddha encourages us to be calm and relaxed, taking city life in our stride. Zen (also Zen Buddhism) noun [mass noun] is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasising the value of meditation and intuition rather than ritual worship or study of scriptures.

 

Zen Buddhism was introduced to Japan from China in the 12th century, and has had a profound cultural influence. The aim of Zen is to achieve sudden enlightenment (satori) through meditation in a seated posture (zazen), usually under the guidance of a teacher and often using paradoxical statements (koans) to transcend rational thought.

 

ORIGIN Japanese, literally ‘meditation’, from Chinese chán ‘quietude’, from Sanskrit dhyāna ‘meditation’.

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DESKTOP 3169 - GREENHOUSE

As the weather turns cooler and plants in the garden begin to decline into their autumnal slumbers, a greenhouse is the perfect place to seek solace...

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