RED CHRYSANTHEMUM

This is the Chrysanthemum hybrid:  Mammoth™ ‘Red Daisy’ (formerly My Favorite™ ‘Autumn Red’.): Semi-double red with a yellow centre. 

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

SEED TIME

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

TWILIGHT ON THE YARRA

We are experiencing Autumn these days and as the weather cools and the days shorten, twilight lingers providing ample opportunities for shots like this. Good to see overseas tourists arriving in our City!

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

PEACE

A collage of two images: An ancient Greek bas relief from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, “The girl and the doves” and a contemporary image of a little girl in an almost identical pose, proving that two points in distant time across the centuries can be bridged quite spontaneously because of the unchanging humanity of thought and experience. If you live in peace, be grateful and appreciative of it, for there are many who are steeped in conflict and warfare at the moment...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

UKRAINE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS APPEAL DONATIONS

FIG

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

DRIVER DOG

"What do you mean, you don't like the way I drive?"

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

AUTUMNAL SKY

Sunset in the Darebin Parklands as Autumn advances.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

JAPANESE ANEMONES

Anemone hupehensis, Anemone hupehensis var. japonica, and Anemone × hybrida (commonly known as the Chinese anemone or Japanese anemone, thimbleweed, or windflower) are species of flowering herbaceous perennials in the Ranunculaceae family. A. hupehensis is native to central China, though it has been naturalised in Japan for hundreds of years.

The species was first named and described in Flora Japonica (1784), by Carl Thunberg. Thunberg had collected dried specimens while working as a doctor for the Dutch East Indies Company. In 1844, Robert Fortune brought the plant to England from China, where he found it often planted about graves. Height is 1–1.5 m and the leaves have three leaflets. Flowers are 40–60 mm across, with 5-6 (or up to 20 in double forms) sculpted pink or white petals and prominent yellow stamens, blooming from midsummer to autumn.

These plants thrive best in shady areas and under protection of larger plants. They are especially sensitive to drought or overwatering. They can be invasive or weedy in some areas, throwing out suckers from the fibrous rootstock, to rapidly colonise an area. Once established they can be extremely difficult to eradicate. On the other hand, they can take some time to become established.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

LEAF RUST

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

YARRA BRIDGE

Sunrise on the Yarra River, Melbourne, with the Southbank Pedestrian Bridge reflected in the quiet waters.

This post is part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

CITY NIGHT

Life seems to be near normal now that most COVID restrictions have been relaxed...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

SUN SNACK

A coot seemingly lunging to gobble up a reflection of the sun!

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme.

END OF SUMMER

As March progresses, it's time to say goodbye to Summer and hello to Autumn. Our weather is at best changeable, at worst calamitously unpredictable - as is the case with sudden storms and downpours.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

PINK HYACINTH ORCHID

Dipodium roseum, commonly known as pink hyacinth orchid, in the family Orchidaceae is a leafless mycoheterotrophic orchid found in east and south-eastern Australia. The species was formally described in 1991. The type specimen was collected in Montrose in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges. The species was previously included in a wider circumscription of Dipodium punctatum.

For most of the year, plants are dormant and have no above-ground presence. Below the ground lie fleshy roots. Flower spikes ranging from 30 to 90 cm in height appear between December and April. These racemose inflorescences have 15 to 40 pink flowers with small darker spots. The sepals and petals are strongly recurved and the three-lobed labellum is pink with dark lines and a band of mauve hairs. A rare white-flowering form also exists.

Pollination of this species, as for all species in the genus, is by native bees and wasps. No leafless species of Dipodium has been sustained in cultivation due to the inability to replicate its association with mycorrhizal fungi in a horticultural context. I.e. it needs the wild underground fungi to nourish it as it has no leaves and cannot photosynthesise.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

EARLY AUTUMN

At the Darebin Parklands in inner suburban Melbourne.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

ON THE YARRA

Black swan and coots on the Yarra River in the City, with the Princes Bridge in the background.

This post is part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CLOTHES...

 ...MAKETH THE MAN

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

COFFEE BREAK

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,

and also part of the My Sunday Best meme

MASKED LAPWING

 The Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles), also known as the masked plover and often called the spur-winged plover or just plover in its native range, is a large, common and conspicuous bird native to Australia, particularly the northern and eastern parts of the continent, New Zealand and .New Guinea.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

WINDMILL

 A very Australian scene at sunrise!

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

PELARGONIUM 'SPLENDIDE'

Pelargonium violareum, Geranium violareum or Pelargonium 'Splendide' are all synonyms for this unusual hybrid identifed as Pelargonium x violareum in the Geraniaceae family. It is an upright, shrubby perennial with soft smooth stems bearing grey-green leaves with serrated edges and pansy-like flowers with bold carmine upper petals and paler pink lower petals in summer.

The plants will reach a height of 0.5 m and a spread of 0.5m after 1-2 years. They do well in City, Coastal, Cottage/Informal, Drought Tolerant, Beds and Borders, and in Containers. They grow well in compost mixed with sharp sand in a sunny position. They should deadheaded frequently to encourage further flowering.

Pelargoniums will not survive a severe Winter outdoors, so will need to be overwintered indoors or be replaced with new plants. In cases where the Winter is milder, the plant survives but may lose its leaves. Pruning will encourage new growth in Spring. Use a high potash fertiliser in Summer.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

AUTUMNAL

Autumn is coming to the Southern Hemisphere!

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DAY TRIP

A day trip by train to the country today, with the weather being suitably autumnal and the fields filled with hay bales and hints that Summer is gone.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

MY ART

A mosaic of some of my art work in various media on a variety of surfaces. If you would like to see more of my art, feel free to visit my Instagram account: @jammysevenk ( https://www.instagram.com/jammysevenk/ ), where I post more of my art every day.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

PRICKLY PEARS

 ...Are in season at the moment in Melbourne. Singe the prickles off with a little kitchen blowtorch, wear gloves (just in case) to peel them and then enjoy cold!

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

POSING CAT

One of our neighbours has a very friendly cat who loves to pose...

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

AT NIGHT

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

HYDRANGEA 'FOREVER'

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Forever' (Youme) has lovely double lacecap flowers in colours of either delicate pale pink or blue (depending on soil). Grows very well in a pot or tub – this enables you to control the ph of the soil and maintain the beautiful colours.

This compact hydrangea has a strong rooting system and sturdy stems. Because of this, the abundantly blooming flower heads stand up straight.It is a Winter hardy hydrangea down to -22° Celsius. Plant in moist, well-drained soil in (full) sun or partial shade. Prune in spring and you’ll see its wonderful flowers appear once again.

The plants grow to 120 cm high and 80 cm wide. A perfect size for planting in a container on your terrace or balcony. This hydrangea is also very suitable for shrub borders, mass planting or combined with other plants.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

SERENITY

At the Studley Park Boathouse in Kew, one may rent a rowboat and enjoy a leisurely boat ride on the quiet waters of the Yarra River. A serene spot of scenic beauty in suburban Melbourne, with nature reserves on either bank. Feeling grateful for living in a country where I can enjoy such activities, rather than being forced to become a refugee by an invading foreign army that wants to take over our lands...

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme,

CITY VIEW

A park in Carlton, an inner suburb of Melbourne, with part of the City Skyline.

This post is part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.