SEASIDE DAISY

Erigeron karvinskianus, the Mexican fleabane, is a species of daisy-like flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Mexico and parts of Central America. Other common names include Latin American fleabane, Santa Barbara daisy, Spanish daisy, Karwinsky's fleabane, or bony-tip fleabane.

It is a vigorous, spreading perennial plant growing from woody rhizomes to a maximum height of 15 cm. Its leaves are located along the stem, the basal leaves dying off as the plant bolts. They are sometimes slightly toothed or lobed near the tips. The inflorescences hold one or more flower heads which are each about 1 cm wide. They have golden yellow disc florets in the center surrounded by a fringe of up to 80 white to pinkish ray florets.

Erigeron karvinskianus is native to much of Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela and is naturalised in many other places, including parts of Africa and Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, Chile and the west coast of the United States.

This species is cultivated for its prolific daisy-like blooms, and is often confused with the closely related true daisy Bellis perennis. It is frequently grown in crevices in walls or paving, where it rapidly spreads to provide a carpet of flowers. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It was used to colonise the concrete terraces of the football stadium (Estadio Azteca) built in Mexico City for the 1970 World Cup.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

WEB

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.

BY THE YARRA

In between the rainy days, there are fine, sunny Spring days. Lose no opportunity to go out and enjoy the sun by the Yarra River in the City.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme

CITY LIFE

Becoming more hectic and crowded by the 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

FLOODS!

Thousands of people across Southeastern Australia were directed to evacuate their homes on Friday, including some in a western suburb of Melbourne, after two days of incessant rains triggered flash flooding and fast-moving waters burst river banks. Large parts of the state of Victoria, southern New South Wales and the northern regions of the island state of Tasmania were pounded by an intense weather system with some taking more than a month's worth of rain since late Wednesday.

Fortunately Fairfield, our suburb, was not very hard hit - the first photo being taken outside our house. The waters stayed well away from our house! Darebin Creek, about a 10 minute walk from our home was swollen but adjacent properties were not affected. People in other suburbs, especially Maribyrnong, were not so lucky as you can see in the last two photos!

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

WHITE CAT

A neighbour's cat looking on condescendingly!

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

WET, WET, WET

Melbourne has experienced quite heavy rain with localised flooding in some suburbs, especially those adjacent to overflowing waterways. Victoria has also suffered from extreme weather events and many country towns have been flooded out. It's good to hear from the weather report that we have some respite from the big wet in the next couple of days...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

LEWISIA

Lewisias are small, colourful flowering plants in the Montiaceae family, which are native to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Named after the US explorer Lieutenant Meriwether Lewis, these plants are wonderful for providing colour in rock crevices in a cool climate.

Lewisia cotyledon 'Elise' shown here flowers in the first season without a cold period and can be used as an annual for rockeries, beds and containers. The plant starts flowering 4-5 months after sowing and is sturdy, with attractive fleshy, succulent leaves and flowers all season long in shades of pastel pink, rose, salmon, orange, white and yellow, and bicolour patterns.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

AT THE CREEK

The Darebin Creek winding its way through the Parklands in inner suburban Melbourne. We're expecting a couple of days of heavy, Spring rain so waterways are likely to flood.

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.

VICTORIAN COUNTRYSIDE

Field of blooming canola in Gippsland, about 100 km East of Melbourne.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.