CANNA

Canna or canna lily is the only genus of flowering plants in the family Cannaceae, consisting of 10 species. All of the genus's species are native to the American tropics and naturalised in Europe, India and Africa in the 1860s.  Although they grow native to the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world, as long as they receive at least 6–8 hours average sunlight during the summer, and are moved to a warm location for the winter.

Cannas are not true lilies, but have been assigned by the APG II system of 2003 to the order Zingiberales in the monocot clade Commelinids, together with their closest relatives, the gingers, spiral gingers, bananas, arrowroots, heliconias, and birds of paradise. The plants have large foliage, so horticulturists have developed selected forms as large-flowered garden plants. Cannas are also used in agriculture as a source of starch for human and animal consumption. C. indica and C. glauca have been grown into many cultivars in India and Africa.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

AFTER THE RAIN

As the final month of Spring nears its end in Australia, in Melbourne we've had several days of rainy, cool and sometimes stormy weather. The garden is suffering a little, but the plants seem to persevere and try to grow despite the adverse weather.

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

MELBOURNE TRAM

On Swanston St, outside the University of Melbourne, looking South. Early on Saturday morning and it's quiet there!

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

NATURAL

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

UP

The stairwell at the new gym in my neighbourhood.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

SEAGULL

The Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) also known simply as "seagull" in Australia, is the most common gull seen in Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly at or near coastal areas. It is smaller than the Pacific gull (Larus pacificus), which also lives in Australia.

The silver gull should not be confused with the herring gull, which is called "silver gull" in many other languages (scientific name Larus argentatus, German Silbermöwe, French Goéland argenté, Dutch zilvermeeuw), but is a much larger, robust gull with no overlap in range.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

GOLDEN AFTERNOON

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

MAGENTA STORKSBILL

Pelargonium rodneyanum, commonly known as magenta storksbill, is a perennial herb species that is endemic to Australia. It grows to 40 cm high and has leaves with 5 to 7 shallow lobes. Dark pink flowers appear between October and February in the species native range.

The species was first formally described in 1838 by English botanist John Lindley in the second volume of Thomas Mitchell's "Three Expeditions into the interior of Eastern Australia." It occurs on rocky slopes in forested areas of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

In cultivation, the species prefers a sunny position with good drainage. It tolerates a variety of soil conditions as well as periods of dryness and frost. It is suited to rockeries and can be grown in containers.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DAREBIN PARKLANDS

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme

IN WILLIAMSTOWN

The St Kilda Ferry about to approach Williamstown pier.  In the background, HMAS Castlemaine (J244/M244/A248), named for the city of Castlemaine, Victoria, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially crewed and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Launched in 1941 and commissioned in 1942, Castlemaine operated during World War II in the waters of Australia, New Guinea, and Timor. She remained in service until 1945, when she was decommissioned into reserve and converted into an immobilised training ship. In 1973, Castlemaine was presented to the Maritime Trust of Australia for conversion to a museum ship. She is one of two surviving examples of the Bathurst class, the other being HMAS Whyalla.

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