Lisgar Gardens, Hornsby. 30th November.

I would have preferred to have visited this garden during a mid-spring season after first visiting here in autumn but, alas, that visit has been brought forward a little.
Another visit to the doctor, a possible family 'taxi run' and predicted 40+C (104F) temperatures had me looking for somewhere fairly close to home, quick to walk around and shaded from the sun, Lisgar Gardens covered all those requirements.
All the colour I had hoped to see in spring had gone and all that was left were bare beds of soil.




Sweet William  -  Dianthus hybrid.

Bark of the Chinese Elm  -  Ulmus parvifolia
(Lace Bark)

Potato Vine  -  Solanum jasminoides.

Un-furling Bird's Nest Fern fronds.

Colourful Hydrangea.



Colourful Hydrangea.

Colourful Hydrangea.

Colourful Hydrangea.

Water through the greenery.

One day a princess, the next, just litter on the ground.

Tree Fern and Hydrangea.

A small Begonia clings to a mossy rock wall.

Kenilworth Ivy / Colisseum Ivy  -   Cymbalaria muralis.

White Agapanthus ready to burst out.

Blue Agapanthus ready to burst out.

Looking a lot like a sea-side Brittle Star
this fern (Sticherus sp. ?) brightens up the
 gardens shady forest floor.

Acanthus  -  Bear's Breeches.

Camellia, winter flowering running a little late.

Azalea, like a taillight in the understory.



Swirls and twirls.

FEATHERS, FUR and FANG.
      The Wildlife From Today.

Adult wireworm or Click Beetle.

One of the Long Legged Flies (sorry about quality).

Eastern Water Dragon amongs the Monstera.

Eastern Water Dragon.

Wasp ? (sorry about the quality).

Cancelled 23rd November.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, this weeks Flora Friday was a non-event.



Family fun in the forest.

When it Rains.....Call on Plan B. 16th November.

A rainy Friday and a medical appointment meant that I had to think of a Plan B as it wasn't possible today to go to where I had planned to go.

I hadn't looked at my stamp collection for some time, and, as this was one of a few plan B's I had in the back of my mind I thought this would be as good a time as any. Plenty of planes, birds, fish, shells, flags, hunters and the hunted,, Heads of State and horses (which became my thematic topic due to one of the first stamps given to me as a young lad was one of a horse, from Iceland) but stamps with flowers were not as numerous, well at least not in my collection. This little exercise might even have you dragging out your old stamp collection from up on the top shelf or in the back of some not to often opened drawer.

I hope this little postal flora journey has your stamp of approval.

Fritillaria rhodokanakis  (Greece 1978)

Iris Japonica  -  Japanese Iris  (Japan 1970)

Lonicera periclymenum  -  Honeysuckle
 (Great Britain 1964)

Centaurea Spathulata Zerafa  -
 Maltese Rock Centaury
  (Malta 1971)

Punica granatum  -   Pomegranate
  (Romania - circa 1971)

Dendrobium ostrinoglossum  -
 May River Orchid, Sepik Blue Orchid.
 (Papua and New Guinea 1969)

Carnegiea gigantea  -  Saguaro Cactus
  (USA 1961)

Protea aristata  -  Ladismith Sugarbush
 (South Africa 1977)

Sophora microphylla  -  Kowhai
 (New Zealand 1960)

Pinus strobus  -  White Pine 
(Canada 1977)

Vanda 'Miss Joaquim'  - Singapore Orchid
   (Singapore 1962)

Lonicera tragophylla ? -
  Chinese Honeysuckle
 ( Macao 1963)

Spathodea campanulata  -  African Tulip Tree
 (Gabon, Gabonese Republic 1961)

Daisies ?     (Italy  1966)

Cirrhopetalum umbellatum 
Syn. Bulbophyllum longiflorum   -
 Orchid  (Fiji 1971)

Lagunaria patersonii  -  Norfolk Island Hibiscus
 (Norfolk Island 1960).

Protea   (Belgian Congo 1952)

Lactarius deliciosus  -  Saffron Milk Cap  (Poland 1959).

Lilium candidum ? -   Madonna Lily
  (Lebanon 1973)

Cichorium intybus  -  Common Chicory 
(Czechoslovakia 1964)



.......and one from Oz.
Xanthorrhoea  -  Grass Tree
(1978)

FEATHERS, FUR and FANG.       The Wildlife From Today.











THIS WEEK IN THE GARDEN:

Brachycombe sp.  -  Daisy.

Felicia amelloides  - Blue Marguerite .

Campanula poscharskyana  - Serbian Bellflower .



Bracteantha  'Strawburst'.

Lettuce planted.

Salvia.

Melaleuca hypericifolia  -  Hillock Bush.