In rain soaked (tap to enlarge),
Southern California.
The Carlsbad Ranuculus Fields,
are a blooming,
glory.
Spring is dancing,
blooms are bursting,
plants are happy,
and birds are singing!
Sending California’s blooming beauties to you,
with Cheers and Hopes for Happy Spring ~
Prickly Pears,
with pretty petals.
Beautiful blooms,
on bristly barbs.
Cacti,
charm,
with catty claws.
Cheers to you from The Holler’s captivating cacti~
These gorgeous huge poppies are bloomin’ up The Holler!
Also known as the Matilija Poppy, these are the largest flowers in the poppy family,
and they are the largest native California flower.
The blooms are 8 inches in diameter,
and the bushes grow to about 10 feet in height,
They are a challenge to grow, but so worth the effort!
Cheers to you & Happy Mother’s Day from The Holler’s Romneya~
We all need images of peaceful natural beauty these violent and cruel days.
Native California White Iris grow along The Rhododendron Trail in Redwood National Park in Northern California.
Douglas Iris bloom in profusion here as well.
The trail is named for the wild rhododendron that are everywhere.
Asiatic Lilies thrive in abundance.
Since these are wild flowers growing in the forest, there are lots of bugs. These are the eggs of spittlebugs, which seem quite accurately named!
Icelandic poppies are not native,
but were planted by our Innkeeper, north of Klamath California.
Do you see the face on the ancient redwood tree, of the old man in the forest, telling us peace is the only way?
“Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.” John Lennon
Cheers to you from the wise and peaceful forest~
For info on the Rhododendron Trail See: http://www.redwoodhikes.com/PrairieCreek/Foothill.html
Can brighten,
our day.
But seven,
makes things,
positively sunny!
Cheers to you,
from the happy flowers~
Why doth thou,
stink so much?
This is the flower bud of a corpse plant, named for the rancid corpse like smell the flower emits when it blooms. The smell attracts carrion beetles who pollinate the flower. The flower itself is the tallest in the world and can grow up to twelve feet in the wild. You can get a sense of how huge the bud is by comparing it to the exit door in the first photo, and the child in the second. It grows only on the island of Sumatra and is extremely endangered with about 1000 of the plants left in the wild. The flower bud grows six inches a day, and when it blooms, the flower only lasts for 48 hours. There are two of these flowers at The San Diego Botanic Garden. Watch the first one bloom in a time lapse video below filmed by Botanic Garden staff, appropriately enough, on Halloween:
This plant reminds me of the Saturday Sci Fi movies I used to watch as a kid! The plant takes about ten years to bloom, and will only bloom every four-ten years thereafter. It’s corm can weigh 339 pounds! As the flower begins to bloom, the temperature of parts of the flower rise by up to 10 degrees Celsius in a process called thermogenesis. The second bud at the San Diego Botanic Garden is due to bloom around Thanksgiving. The garden stays open until midnight during the bloom and 5000 people queued to see the first flower! People drive from out of state to see it.
Notice the detail of the bud petals. It looks a bit like a giant Bok choy!
This is the base of the first flower that bloomed. The female flowers are the red ones on the bottom, and the males are the brown ones above. It is the male flowers that rise in temperature during the bloom.
Cheers to you from the soon to bloom, very tall, and very stinky corpse flower~
Where there are blooms,
there are bees.
Where there are lots of blooms,
there are lots of bees!
“The earth laughs in flowers,”
and lives because of bees.
Cheers to you from the bees and the blooms~
Signs of spring.
A jolt of joy!
Blossoms cheer,
weary hearts.
Ode to Joy,
hope and faith.
Cheers to you and Happy Spring~
The Holler spring bloom is on, and I am home to photograph it for a change, so I am going to post a series on Holler spring flowers, starting with these beauties. The Cup of Gold flowering vine grows prolifically, and the blooms are humongous, about eight inches in diameter.
Hong Kong Orchid Trees have stunning blossoms that blanket the trees in spring.
Matilija Poppies are one of my favorite flowers and are Southern California natives, with huge fried-egg blossoms, about eight inches in diameter.
Reliable African Iris propagate beautifully at The Holler.
Wild Stinging Lupine cover bare areas, are beautiful to look at, but not nice to touch.
The Californian Fuchsia is native to Southern California but I didn’t know what it was. I thought it was in the fuchsia family but was stumped with identification. So my talented blogging friend Eliza Waters, who has a degree in horticulture and is a Master Gardener, helped me out. If you don’t know Eliza, and you like things that bloom and grow, you may want to check out her blog: https://elizawaters.com/about/
Bougainvillea are touch and go at The Holler due to frost. This one is definitely a go!
Cheers to you from the Blooming Holler~
These are just three of the many reasons I love Oz. Most of the creatures are very friendly!
Tasmanian countryside.
Old church, in the former penal colony,
Port Arthur, Tasmania.
Tasmanian,
flora is unique and stunning.
Old Government House, Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney.
Flower Arrangement in the Government House. We met and chatted with the Governor of New South Wales while touring Government House where she lives (I told you, Oz is a friendly place!)
Royal botanical garden Sydney.
Cheers to you from just a few of the reasons I love Oz~
