IVANHOE, MELBOURNE

Ivanhoe is a suburb of Melbourne, 10 km north-east from Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Banyule. At the 2011 Census, Ivanhoe had a population of 11,085. Upper Heidelberg Road is the suburb's centre, where the former Heidelberg Town Hall, now known as The Centre Ivanhoe, is located. The town hall is a classic 'art-deco' building on top of a hill, with a green neon clockface on a tower.

Upper Heidelberg Road features a newsagent, book store, numerous restaurants and cafés, various banks, real estate agents and two supermarkets. In 2011 the average individual in Ivanhoe earned $728 per week, which was more than the national average of $577 per week. Ivanhoe is renowned for its older style homes, with many dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It has several parks and nature reserves, as well as various sporting facilities.

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.

TULIP TIME IN MELBOURNE

The Dandenong Ranges (commonly just called "the Dandenongs") are a series of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, about 35 km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ranges consist mostly of rolling hills, steeply weathered valleys and gullies covered in thick temperate rainforest, predominantly consisting of tall Mountain Ash trees and dense ferny undergrowth.

The Dandenongs are home to 100,000 residents, but the area is very popular with visitors and tourists. many of which stay for the weekend at the various Bed & Breakfasts through the region. Much of the Dandenongs were protected by parklands as early as 1882 and by 1987 these parklands were amalgamated to form the Dandenong Ranges National Park, which was added to again in 1997. The popular Puffing Billy Railway, a heritage steam railway, runs through the southern parts of the Dandenongs.

There are many small towns and village-like settlements throughout , but there are also farms and orchards, flower gardens and nurseries. The relatively high altitude and cooler temperatures favour the growth of Spring bulbs and one of the larger bulb farms is the Tesselaar Tulip Farm, which is in existence from 1939. The annual Tulip Festival at this farm is well-attended event very popular with visitors and tourists.

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.

PACE OF NATURE

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.

CITY FROM AFAR

One of the pleasures of flying in to Melbourne is when the time and flying approach path are such that one catches glimpses of the City from the plane window. The vast area Melbourne occupies (9,992.5 km2!) becomes apparent and also the high density of the CBD with its skyscrapers.

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.

PIGEONS

Several types of pigeons found in the Darebin Parklands.
1) Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) - Since they were introduced into Australia from Asia in the 1860s, Spotted Doves have been very successful, expanding their range greatly to occur right along the east coast, as well as in parts of South Australia and Western Australia.

2) The native Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) is a bird found widely throughout mainland Australia except for the far northern tropical areas. Only two Australian pigeon species possess an erect crest, the crested pigeon and the spinifex pigeon. The crested pigeon is the larger of the two species.

3) The native Common Bronzewing Pigeon (Phaps chalcoptera) is a large, bulky pigeon with a small head, found in all parts of Australia bar some of the deep desert, Cape York Peninsula, and urban areas. Its advertising call is an extraordinary mournful whooo repeated at metronomic intervals for an interminable length of time. Although rather wary by nature, birds in the urban fringes become quite used to humans.

4) Common Feral pigeons (Columba livia domestica), also called city doves, city pigeons, or street pigeons are pigeons that are derived from the domestic pigeons that have returned to the wild. The domestic pigeon was originally bred from the wild rock dove, which naturally inhabits sea-cliffs and mountains. Rock (i.e., "wild"), domestic, and feral pigeons are all the same species and will readily interbreed.

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

"THE NEST"

This artwork in the Darebin Parklands was quite controversial when it was first installed, but over time it has grown on people and it is quite well accepted now. The birds like it too...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

MELBOURNE WEEDS 14 - ITALIAN ARUM

Arum italicum is a species of flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the family Araceae, also known as Italian arum and Italian lords-and-ladies. It is native to the Mediterranean region (southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East) plus Great Britain, the Netherlands, Crimea, Caucasus, Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores. It is also naturalised in Argentina and in scattered locations in the United States.

It grows 30–46 cm high, with equal spread. It blooms in spring with white flowers that turn to showy red fruit. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant for traditional and woodland shade gardens. Subspecies italicum (the one normally grown in horticulture) has distinctive pale veins on the leaves, whilst subspecies neglectum has faint pale veins, and the leaves may have dark spots. Some gardeners use this arum to underplant with Hosta, as they produce foliage sequentially: When the Hosta withers away, the arum replaces it in early winter, maintaining ground-cover.

Numerous cultivars have been developed for garden use, of which A. italicum subsp. italicum 'Marmoratum' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Arum italicum can be invasive in some areas. Arum italicum may hybridise with Arum maculatum. In 1778, Lamarck noticed that the inflorescence of this plant produces heat.

Leaves, fruits and rhizomes contain compounds that make them poisonous. Notably, leaves are rich in oxalic acid; other active principles are present in other parts. The ingestion of berries, which are showy and red, may result fatal for babies and young children. As a general rule, avoiding consumption is advisable for adults too.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

HOUSE

The "California Bungalow" style houses was particularly popular in Australia from 1913 onwards. This period coincided with the rise of the Hollywood film industry, which popularised American clothes, furniture, cars and houses, and also with the increased importation of U.S. architectural magazines into Australia, a society which previously had been heavily influenced by British domestic styles. Here is one such example in Fairfield, an inner suburb of Melbourne.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

AT PORTARLINGTON

Flowering fields of Canola at Portarlington, a short drive from Melbourne, or if you prefer, a scenic ferry trip away. Either way, it's a wonderful day trip!

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

SPRING

Walking in the Parklands yesterday was a joy as the sun was shining, the sky was blue, birds were singing and the flowers had bloomed. A real taste of Spring, which is round the corner...

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.