Photo/s of the day.

[moonvoice]

Come on a walk around the suburb with me and Glen...






Every one of those homes is a display home. So no one lives in them.





Elmridge Parkway, the main street through Malvern Springs.





Natural bushland on the left, landscaped natives on the right, as well as a play area, and houses still being built.





Walking up through the landscaped park (that you can see above) towards a new boutique zone of Malvern Springs known as 'Naturaliste.'





The roads have only newly been put in. On the left you can see the outermost border of Ellenbrook; bushland.





Nuytsia floribunda or the Western Australian Christmas Tree. One of the world's largest species of mistletoe - so large, that it is a free-standing tree that parasitises from hundreds of other trees (and underground electric cables). Yes, it really is that orange. Settlers called them 'Christmas trees' because they flowered this brightly around November/December.





Nuytsia floribunda again, just starting to flower.





There are two Australian magpies in this flowering swamp paperbark.





Land zoned for housing.





Snellosaurus, the last living dinosaur; and the sky. On the left, white sand to be landscaped into parkland.





A better view of the area zoned for parkland. The white sand (yes, that is the natural colour of the sand out here; we're basically just ancient sand dunes a thirty five minute drive inland) will be landscaped with grass and native plants, as well as pathways, play equipment and a gazebo. A small section of natural bushland (that you can see in the distance) will be kept as a focal point.





That's all folks! :)

Comments

[bunny_m]

and a gazebo.

Ahh! A gazebo!

*shoots an arrow at it then flees in terror*

[moonvoice]

Is that a...Monty Python reference?

[freyakitten]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_and_the_Gazebo

[white_rabbit]

The Gazebo eats you.

[lupagreenwolf]

<3!

[silverjackal]

Your photos are very interesting! The architecture style there is completely different from here (which is not surprising given the difference in climate, but it's still interesting). My favorite photo is the one with the magpies -- that could be a Chinese silk painting, almost, with how the tree flows. I also really like the photo of the mistletoe very much. Shocking colour aside, it's so intricate that it bears prolonged study. It's like a small, spreading flame made solid. :)

[moonvoice]

(which is not surprising given the difference in climate, but it's still interesting)

Double-brick is fire retardant, but it's not a very smart choice otherwise here (even though it's ridiculously common) since it's built in inflexible ways that cause warping and cracking of the plasters in the house (at best). But we're used to it, and it's pretty soundproof! Heh.

I love paperbarks. They seem to model themselves after Chinese paintings without even trying. Some model themselves after gnarled gnomes, but they're all beautiful.

[hrafn]

ZOMG, the mistletoe! That's really awesome.

I envy your skies, they look so vast and amazing.

[moonvoice]

The mistletoe is coooool. :D

[bunny_m]

It's part of the horticultural calendar hereabouts.

First the jacarandas bloom, then drop all their petals, then the WA Xmas tree shows up, Summer's here...

[moonvoice]

Except things are really out of sync now - a lot of Jacarandas haven't completed their flowering (many have barely started), and the Christmas Tree will be well and truly finished before Christmas. :(

The past few years have been shitty for flowering times syncing up. Stupid bastard global warming.

[bunny_m]

Maybe in Ellenbrook.

Down here in Rivervale/Subi/Belmont the Jacarandas are all just about finished already. I haven't seen any Xmas trees yet this year, but then I didn't see any last year, either.

[moonvoice]

Ah cool. Up here things have been out of sync for a while; all the Christmas trees are in full flower and will be winding down in two weeks. About five years ago, they wouldn't have started for another couple of weeks.

[freyakitten]

Over here in Adelaide, the jacarandas are in the middle of flowering. I'd forgotten just how much the SMELL of flowering jacaranda signals summer/Christmas to me :D

[goddess_incarnate]

Every time I see land being developed, I feel a bit sad. My dad lives in a neighborhood similar to yours in the sense that a lot of the homes are new and no one lives in them yet and that there's wilderness like RIGHT THERE. But, the houses are like twice the size of the ones you have depicted. But I think that might be an American thing versus anything else.

Your orange Australian Christmas trees are really orange!! :P Super bright.

[moonvoice]

Most of our houses are two or three times the size of these ones; we're in a very low socio-economic area, targetting people with very little money. We're at the bottom of the home ownership pyramid.

[spider_fox]

Heh, the magpie pics are a like "Where's Waldo?" XD

[moonvoice]

Yeah, they camouflage really well against the charred / burnt bark of the paperbark.

[travelyggdrasil]

Wow... the mistletoe is amazing. Is that a native?

It looks native. lol

[darakat]

It is native. There is also a native cherry which also parasites in a similar manner and has a exodermic nut.

[moonvoice]

Yeah, tis a native. :D

[gemfyre]

Australia has a surprising amount of native mistletoes. If you get your eye in, you'll notice that the masses of dead looking yellowish leaves on some gun trees are actually huge mistletoes. The ones that grow on acacias are a bit more obvious.

And they are fed on by the Mistletoebird - which looks like a Christmas decoration itself!

[moonvoice]

If you get your eye in, you'll notice that the masses of dead looking yellowish leaves on some gun trees are actually huge mistletoes.

I remember the first time I realised that myself (only a couple of years ago, actually, mostly through looking up wildflowers). It's actually amazing how many of the flora books don't cover native mistletoes/parasitic plants with any sense of comprehension; and kind of a shame, too.

Mistletoebird = awesomesauce!

[travelyggdrasil]

I never knew that. I'll have to keep an eye out and see if I have any growing in the parklands in my area.

*boucnes off the google what a Mistletoebird looks like*

[darakat]

Chirtsmass trees, gazebos, dinosaurs oh my!

[moonvoice]

All awesome things!

[xmetanoiax]

Every time you post Ellenbrook-related photos I feel like I'm looking into an alternate dimension.

[moonvoice]

I sometimes feel the same way living here, since we're so much on the fringe of the suburbs too.

[drgnhlr]

Your very alien looking flora has prompted me to 'co-opt' them for my world building - they will not be the same when I am done with them...don't know when I'll get to that research, but that's the plan.

The grevillea (did i spell that right?) looks like a hook type carnivorous plant :)
And I think you posted a pic of a small blue star shaped flower with a yellow center, that will find a new life as an arctic plant...

at least I still get inspired!

[moonvoice]

Heh, Australian flora is awesome for world-building. I think the only other author I know personally who has done it is Cecilia Dart-Thornton, and in a more distant way.

[starstrider]

This was really neat! Thanks for sharing it. Being an architect's daughter, I tend to think about the layouts of suburbs and so forth. =)

[tsukikokoro]

It is cloud cover and sunlight like in your POTD that make me wonder if rainbow dragons don't secretly live/grow in the sky. ;)