Category: Flowers

Sweet Bud~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Tech Marvels, Wild Life243 Comments

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~

Blooming Holler ~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS219 Comments

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~

Feathers, Fortresses & Flora~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS192 Comments

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~

Hunca Munca & Brothers~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life191 Comments

I was watering The Holler flowers,

daydreaming, not paying attention,

when out of the corner of my eye, I spied,

baby Hunca Munca and her three little brothers,

desperately climbing and clinging to the fountain grass.

I had inadvertently flooded their nest!

Needless to say, I gave watering a rest.

Cheers to you from all the living creatures at The Holler~

Note: For more about Hunca Munca see, “The Classic Tale of Two Bad Mice,” by Beatrix Potter.

Dancing Duet~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS, Wild Life231 Comments

The Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney Australia are an urban bird paradise.

I found this pair of magpie larks singing and dancing happily in the park.

The name magpie lark is a misnomer as these handsome birds are neither magpies nor larks, but are members of the giant monarch flycatcher family.

Magpie larks are musical prodigies who sing co-ordinated duets together, timed by the metronomic movements of their synchronized dancing. See: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160803-the-strange-reason-magpie-larks-dance-when-nobody-is-looking

Cheers to you from the magical birdies of Oz~

Herbert at The Holler~

On By cindy knokeIn Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES278 Comments

Herbert the cat,

is quite content in quarantine.

He watches the Holler burst in bloom! Rock Roses show off.

Bearded Iris,

and Matijila Poppies,

reach for the sky.

Cactus flowers are everywhere,

while Mexican Evening Primrose blanket the slopes.

Southern California Wild Grape vines are producing bumper crops.

Cheers to you from The Blooming Holler~