Photo/s of the day.

[moonvoice]

It has always really awed me, the colour stories in the bushland per month and season (and now, in my garden, which is compromise mostly of local native plants too). For example, September to November is the month of yellow, more than any other colour; it's Acacias and Hibbertias and Conostylis. Red creeps in to say hi in the Anigozanthus (kangaroo paws) and in the grevilleas. But it is yellow's time to reign. A time of bees and jewel beetles and insects. Leave the red plants to the birds in the Winter and Autumn months; now it's butterflies and pollinating moths and ornamental wasps.

Anyway; here's my garden as it grows.

Verticordia chrysantha - (a ridiculously vivid featherflower that requires no - indeed dies in the presence of - fertiliser, makes a ridiculously long-lasting cut flower, is all sorts of pollinator friendly.)






It's so yellow that you can only really see the 'feather flower' details by taking a shot in the shade. Here you can see the teeny petals and their feathery accoutrements, from which the name 'feather flower' comes from.





The bush in total. So bright it's practically glowing. Feather flowers tend to have a waxy sheen to them, which picks up and multiples the light. When you imagine all those tiny filamentous 'feathers' in the flower picking up sunlight, you get 'halo!flowers.'





This is another Verticordia, but I always forget the name of it. 'Verticordia something red.' Unlike the chrysantha, this one is a different colour (grey-red foliage), and the flowers drop down underneath the branches like little red bells. These are the buds. They don't flower properly until November/December, though it looks like it's gonna start earlier this year.





Acacia ashbyeae in full flower. It's ridiculous. Lol. If bees could wet themselves in paroxysms of delight when they see these shrubs, that's exactly what they do.





The Christmas beetle, or a member of the Anoplognathus family. As I stood in the garden, the first two of the season, it looked like, flew jewel-like into my garden and landed nearby to take advantage of the blooming Acacia. Hopefully we get more and more and more and more and more.





They look like living versions of ammolite.









The groundcover that I ALWAYS forget the name of, in full flower. This is actually recommended as a native grass substitute, but it is extremely slow growing. That said, it's hardy, robust, water-efficient (though not completely drought-proof, it needs watering on the hottest days of the year; but water-efficient enough that I haven't manually watered them for 6/7 months now and they don't care).





In December, it's orange's time to stake out its Emergency-Services vibrancy out in the bushland. In the extraordinary vividity of the world's largest species of mistletoe - the free-standing tree Nuytsia floribunda; known among settlers and 'white people' as the 'Christmas Tree.' Known among local Nyungah as the kanya, a spirit and soul sucking beast of a tree that speaks to its origins as the most far reaching parasitic plant in the world. In swathes, well North of the River, you get Verticordia nitens, the Morrison's feather flower, with an orange so incredible it's brain breaky. Landscapers in the Malvern Springs section of Ellenbrook have taken advantage of their natural predilection to grow here, by planting them everywhere. They look straggly for two months before they flower, and then boom, in full flower, nothing is quite like a Morrison's featherflower for sheer audacity of orange.

Hopefully when I go bushwalking more often, I'll have more photos to share. :) It's kind of going into snake season right now, so I've gotta be careful where I walk. Big dugites sliding around in Koondoola right now!

Comments

[skyfiery]

The pictures (and flowers and beetle) are really pretty!

[moonvoice]

Thanks! :)

[donnalotus]

Gorgeous photos! I love this time of year because the wattle is out in bloom and that's one of my favourites :D It's also time for the magnolias to bloom as well, another favourite!

That last flower is really interesting, are they only a "half flower" when you hold it up? It just reminded me of one of the native Hawaiian plants in Halawa Valley, the story goes (in brief) princess meets commoner boy, princess and boy fall in love, king forbids the romance, princess and boy break up and he moves to the mountains; both heartbroken, the same plant is born in the valley and on the mountain (found nowhere else) and the flower is only a half flower if you look at it, but if you pick one from the mountain, and one from the valley and put it together it makes a whole flower. I was like *sniffles* "that's such a sad story"......

[moonvoice]

I love that story (I love things like that though, old lore based around plants and animals and stuff).

It is a half flower, sort of, they're quite awesome looking!

[amethystfirefly]

I kiiiinda wanna grab those beetles and rub their bellies. XD

[moonvoice]

They have the cutest bellies!

[darakat]

Your garden rocks, though you don't have a Willow decimating it.

[moonvoice]

True! It's gotten more verdant now that we don't have the cats decimating it either!

[paleo]

I wonder if there is a biological reason for certain colors being more out there at different times? Here we have a white time, a pink time, and a red time it seems.

Known among local Nyungah as the kanya, a spirit and soul sucking beast of a tree that speaks to its origins as the most far reaching parasitic plant in the world.

Is it weird that your description of this plant almost endears it to me?

[moonvoice]

wonder if there is a biological reason for certain colors being more out there at different times?

There sure is! It's largely based on attracting certain pollinators at certain times of year, based on their breeding cycles. A lot of butterflies and beetles are hatching out of cocoons right now, so colours that specifically attract them are flowering. In Winter and Autumn it's less insect pollinators and more birds and sometimes even mammals, so the colours (and scents) change accordingly.

The colour attractions tend to evolve mutually over time, so bees in one area might be particularly attracted to yellow, but native bees in another might be really attracted to a particular shade of purple.

Is it weird that your description of this plant almost endears it to me?

Honestly, I love them. I've done concerted spiritual work with this side of them in the past (I've written about it two or three times now, though not for the past two years), and kanya spirits have been part of my 'energy exchanges' in the bushland.

[paleo]

There sure is! It's largely based on attracting certain pollinators at certain times of year, based on their breeding cycles.

Oh thank you! I'm going to have to keep my eyes open next Spring to see what connections I can make. I already know white time is bee time and hummingbirds love the red. Pink is favored by a small yellow butterfly that I've sadly neglected to identify despite seeing them every year. I'm sure I can figure out more! *nature nerd squee*

[goddess_incarnate]

I love how exotic your flora and fauna are!! :]

[moonvoice]

Hee, I love them too and I live here. :)

[burningbright]

The featherflower is awesome. :D FURRY BRIGHTNESS.

Also, I love the shots of the Christmas beetle. You can see all its little fuzzy hairs!

[moonvoice]

Featherflowers are amazing, and I wish they were used more as cut flowers, because of their hardiness and longevity. They just haven't really caught on in the floral world yet, and aren't grown commercially as a result (which is probably a good thing).

[drgnhlr]

That's not the "Cousin It" ground cover is it? I thought that Moet had laid on them all, possibly doing serious damage.

Gorgeous flowers! I don't think I have ever seen anything so vibrant (except for last year's pics!).

[moonvoice]

That's not the "Cousin It" ground cover is it?

Nah, they're still going okay, though recovering from Moet mauling them (two died!), the ground covers are really compact compared to them, and would be fine with being lied on top on! Heh.

[drgnhlr]

I'm glad they are doing well.

[feralkiss]

I love your pictures, the plants are beautiful! Love love love the colours and shapes. It's all kinds of yummy for the eyes. Thanks for sharing!

[moonvoice]

Aw thank you! I sometimes worry people are going to get really bored of the same subject matter; because I love it the same every time I see it! Hee. I'm glad others do too.

[feralkiss]

I like it, it doesn't matter if it sounds "mundane" or if it's the same subject. ^^ Same goes for self or cat pictures, it's always nice.

[redsixwing]

Wow! I love your garden photos.

That beetle is astonishingly beautiful. They do look like ammolite. Do they have the iridescence, too?

That flowering ground cover is so pretty. It reminds me of the tiny daisies that bloom here for a few weeks in spring.

[moonvoice]

Yes! They're iridescent. Almost all Anoplognathus jewel beetles are. I loooooove them. :)

[zuki_san]

Haven't said it in a while, but I've always loved these photos+fun botany facts.

Noone else in my circle that I see or check-in-on actively does this kinda thing, so it's learning and seeing something new.

Hehehe, I remember when you did a totem sketch of a Christmas Beetle. I didn't know they were local to you. I can see why you like them so much.

[moonvoice]

I haven't really met anyone else as actively into local wildflower identification; I suspect the majority of those people are seniors and not blogging about it, anyway. :)

[freyakitten]

Yeah, what I know of wildflower identification is what I've picked up from my parents' obsession. I believe they have more photos of flora than they do of anything else. They DEFINITELY have more printed photos in albums from before digital cameras of flora than of anything else :P

[shimmerhawk]

The Christmas beetle photos are just amazing!

[moonvoice]

Thank you! I hope to get more, as we should start seeing them for their short breeding season over the next two weeks (and then they'll disappear again for a year or two).

[silverjackal]

The beetle is spectacular, and I'm also very taken with the red Verticordia. :)