Wattles, also called acacias, are amazing Australian native plants. More than 850 species of wattle (Acacia spp; family Fabaceae) grow in Australia, ranging from ground covers and charming shrubs to giant trees that provide fine timber and screening. With this number of species and many cultivars there is a wattle for just about any garden in Australia.
Most wattles are quick growing, short-lived plants that will usually last for about seven to 12 years. Some species, however, are longer lived. If planted in a thicket, they will self-sow, which will mean that short lived plants are quickly replaced. Wattles are tolerant of a broad range of conditions.
While there are wattle species which flower throughout the year, the winter-flowering species are particularly attractive in the landscape, where their bright yellow or cream flowers bring colour to the garden at a time when many of the more traditionally grown plants are bare or not flowering. Currently, in the late Winter/early Spring of Melbourne, the gold of the wattle flowering is beautiful in the green landscape. Especially so, when the days are fine and the sky is blue, the wattles reign supreme...
This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme,
and also part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players each on a field at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard-long pitch. The game is played by 120 million players in many countries, making it the world's second most popular sport. Cricket was first played in southern England in or before the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, it had developed to be the national sport of England. The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being played overseas and by the mid-19th century the first international match was held. ICC, the game's governing body, has 10 full members. The game is most popular in Australasia, England, the Indian subcontinent, the West Indies and Southern Africa.
This post is part of the Friday Greens meme,
and also part of the Skywatch Friday meme.
The peach (Prunus persica) is a deciduous tree, native to Northwest China, in the region between the Tarim Basin and the north slopes of the Kunlun Shan mountains, where it was first domesticated and cultivated. It bears an edible juicy fruit also called a peach or a nectarine.
The specific epithet persica refers to its widespread cultivation in Persia, whence it was transplanted to Europe. It belongs to the genus Prunus which includes the cherry, apricot, almond and plum, in the rose family. The peach is classified with the almond in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated seed shell.
Peach and nectarines are the same species, even though they are regarded commercially as different fruits. In contrast to peaches, whose fruits present the characteristic fuzz on the skin, nectarines are characterised by the absence of fruit-skin trichomes (fuzz-less fruit); genetic studies suggest nectarines are produced due to a recessive allele, whereas peaches are produced from a dominant allele for fuzzy skin. China is the world's largest producer of peaches.
These past couple of weeks we are seeing a mass of Spring blossom on street and garden trees: Almond, plum, peach apricot, pear... The last couple of days have been quite cool and rainy, as you can see by the water droplets on the flowers.
This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.
One of Melbourne's favourite tourist attractions, the Conservatory opened on the 13th of March 1930, over 80 years of providing spectacular floral displays. The Building copies the Spanish mission architectural style, measuring 30 x 15 metres and originally costing 4,000 pounds. The Conservatory is a vital part of the City's commitment to excellence in horticulture. There are five separate displays each year. It is visited by tourists, schools, families and anyone who wants to capture a moment of floral beauty.
This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.
Located only 20 minutes from Melbourne’s CBD, Rippon Lea Estate is one of the last of Australia’s grand suburban estates. It is a grand property that is National Heritage listed and a visit there is like peeking through a window that allows you to travel back in time and offers a unique glimpse into the lifestyles of the wealthiest Australians of the Victorian era.
Rippon Lea Estate consists of a lavish urban mansion, a large garden, orchard and associated outbuildings (including the stable complex, the lodge, the conservatory and glasshouses, the fernery, the porte-cochere, the 1930s swimming pool, and the 1930s ballroom). The property has integrity as an uncommonly large and intact suburban estate, which survived subdivision and encroachment by suburbia.
In 1868, Marian and Frederick Sargood bought 11.3 hectares (23 acres) of scrub land at Elsternwick, naming it after Frederick’s mother Emma Rippon (Lea is an old English word for meadow). Frederick had arrived in the colony as a 15 year old, first working for the Public Works Department and then joining his father’s expanding clothing and drapery importing firm which supplied soft goods to the diggers. Like many of the merchants active during the gold rush, Sargood made his fortune and Rippon Lea was the result of his newfound prosperity.
This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Trees & Bushes meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.
A kayak is a small, narrow boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic Inuktitut language, where it is the word 'qajaq'. The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler. The cockpit is sometimes covered by a spray deck that prevents the entry of water from waves or spray and makes it possible for suitably skilled kayakers to roll the kayak: that is, to capsize and right it without it filling with water or ejecting the paddler. The kayak was first used by the indigenous Aleut, Inuit, Yupik and possibly Ainu hunters in subarctic regions of the world.
Kayaking on the Yarra River in Melbourne is a very popular pastime and there are many clubs catering to this sport. Most of the Yarra is navigable, but this area close to Dights Falls in Collingwood provides a barrier between the upper and lower reaches of the River. The man in the blue kayak had a little mishap here, but the experienced instructor in the red kayak had him right soon again. The trees in yellow bloom are wattles (= mimosas/acacias).
This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.
All Saints' Anglican Church at 14-16 High Street, Northcote is a beautiful heritage church built in bluestone. In 1857, a committee was formed to discuss the construction of an Anglican church in Northcote. They held their meetings at the Peacock Hotel. The meetings were productive and the foundation stones of All Saints' Church of England (Northcote) - situated at the corner of High and Walker Streets - were laid in January 1859 by the Governor Sir Henry Barkly. The church held services from August 1860.
When services started in August 1860 the Colony of Victoria had existed as a separate colony for only 10 years. The event of separation gives its name to ‘Separation Street’. It was only 7 years after the first permanent domestic house had been built in Westgarth. There was no gas street lighting in High Street. It would be 15 years before the bridge was built across the Merri, to bring the gas across the creek. It would be 20 years before the coming of a cable tram. The gradient of Rucker’s Hill had to be completely rebuilt before a tram line would be possible.
The church building (excluding the vestries and re-built bluestone chancel) is registered by the National Trust with a ‘local’ classification, meaning that it has cultural and historical significance in the context of the region. The church is in the Early English Gothic style and distinguished by the use of Bacchus Marsh freestone dressings on a body of squared snecked bluestone rubble. It is one of only two churches in Northcote to be registered.
This post is part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,
and also part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.
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| The Church in 1889 |
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| The Church in 2015 |
The Darebin Parklands straddle Alphington and Ivanhoe, approximately 10 kilometres northeast of the City of Melbourne, and they are a district park covering an area of 33 hectares. Darebin Creek flows through the Parklands, to join the Yarra River, at Alphington.
This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme.
