FLOWERING TIME

Wild plum flowering in Melbourne currently. Hint of Spring!

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

DAWN ON THE YARRA

Dawn on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne.

For a record seven years, Melbourne has topped the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index — but things have changed. Vienna has dislodged the Victorian capital as the most pleasant city to live in. The two cities have been neck-and-neck in the annual survey of 140 urban centres for years, and are separated by less than a point. Vienna scored 99.1 and Melbourne scored 98.4.

Vienna scored top spot with an improved security situation and a lower crime rate. Melbourne scored well in culture and environment, and maximum points in healthcare, education and infrastructure. The survey tends to favour medium-sized cities in wealthy countries with low population density.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

RAIN

We've had some rain recently, which was a blessing, but we are still below our average for the year. Inland, the drought is plaguing the farms...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

BOATHOUSE

Fairfield Boathouse was established in 1908 by John St Clair as a picnic, camping and refreshment room area. John St Clair was a piano tuner from Smith St, Fitzroy, with a vision. He firstly wrote a letter to the Premier suggesting that he open a refreshment room and boat shed area, with motor boats at Fairfield Park. The Premier had to seek the approval form Yarra Bend Hospital of the Insane because the proposal for the boat shed was actually on the hospital grounds. The Premier gave his permission for the boat shed project to go ahead.

Today the Boathouse has been refurbished and is the site of a café and restaurant, a place where may rent boats, relax in the shade, with a place to launch kayaks if you are that way inclined.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,

and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

CAT ON A ROOF

My bedroom is on the first floor and I can see the neighbour's roof from my window. I saw their cat and it saw me...

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

CHANGE COMING

Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria and second largest city in Australia, has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) and is well known for its changeable weather conditions. This is mainly due to Melbourne's geographical location. This temperature differential is most pronounced in the spring and summer months and can cause strong cold fronts to form. These cold fronts can be responsible for all sorts of severe weather from gales to severe thunderstorms and hail, abrupt temperature drops, and heavy rain. In late Winter and early spring we do get a lot of weather and it's quite dramatic to see the sky darkening with clouds as the change moves in.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,

and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

SIGNS OF SPRING

The almond (Prunus dulcis, syn. Prunus amygdalus) is a species of tree in the Rosaceae family, native to the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and North Africa. "Almond" is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus Prunus, it is classified with the peach in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated shell (endocarp) surrounding the seed.

The fruit of the almond is a drupe, consisting of an outer hull and a hard shell with the seed, which is not a true nut, inside. Shelling almonds refers to removing the shell to reveal the seed. Almonds are sold shelled or unshelled. Blanched almonds are shelled almonds that have been treated with hot water to soften the seedcoat, which is then removed to reveal the white embryo.

The almond is a deciduous tree, growing 4–10 m in height, with a trunk of up to 30 cm in diameter. The young twigs are green at first, becoming purplish where exposed to sunlight, then grey in their second year. The leaves are 5 -10 long, with a serrated margin and a 2.5 cm petiole. The flowers are white to pale pink, 3–5 cm diameter with five petals, produced singly or in pairs and appearing before the leaves in late winter to early spring.

Almond grows best in Mediterranean climates with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The optimal temperature for their growth is between 15 and 30 °C and the tree buds have a chilling requirement of 300 to 600 hours below 7.2 °C to break dormancy. Almonds begin bearing an economic crop in the third year after planting. Trees reach full bearing five to six years after planting. The fruit matures in the autumn, 7–8 months after flowering.

Almond trees are currently blooming in Melbourne giving us a taste of Spring!

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ECHINACEA

Echinacea is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called purple coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas.

They have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early to late summer. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (echinos), meaning "sea urchin," due to the spiny central disk. Some species are used in herbal medicines and some are cultivated in gardens for their showy flowers. A few species are of conservation concern.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme,

and also part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Melbourne's main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb north of the Melbourne central business district, with several other campuses located across Victoria. Melbourne is a sandstone university and a member of the Group of Eight, Universitas 21 and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

Since 1872 various residential colleges have become affiliated with the university. There are 10 colleges located on the main campus and in nearby suburbs offering academic, sporting and cultural programs alongside accommodation for Melbourne students and faculty. Melbourne comprises 11 separate academic units and is associated with numerous institutes and research centres, including the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and the Grattan Institute.

Amongst Melbourne's 15 graduate schools the Melbourne Business School, the Melbourne Law School and the Melbourne Medical School are particularly well regarded. Times Higher Education ranked Melbourne 32nd globally in 2017-2018, while the Academic Ranking of World Universities places Melbourne 39th in the world (first in Australia), and in the QS World University Rankings 2018 Melbourne ranks 41st globally. Four Australian prime ministers and five governors-general have graduated from the University of Melbourne. Nine Nobel laureates have been students or faculty, the most of any Australian university.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

WINDOW

A fanciful window view out onto the Darebin Parklands.

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