Summer in my Garden

Hi everyone! Welcome to the first week of December! I don't know about you but I feel like the year has rushed by in a blur. I have been busy yes, but can it be December already? There is so much going on this time of year with school concerts, end of the school year, break-up parties for work places or groups that we belong to, Christmas shopping, Christmas festivities, get togethers with family and friends, perhaps preparing for a summer holiday (summer holidays here in Australia anyways). 

So amongst the rush towards the festive season, I thought I would bring you a few pics from my garden and share some quiet places with you. We need a quiet place to sit to prepare ourselves for the weeks ahead don't you think? 

I only have a relatively small suburban garden, but it always puts on a beautiful show in December, putting on its festive colours - yellows, reds, greens, purples -  though I must say the yellow daisies are flowering a little earlier than I would like. What a love about my front garden is that a lot of the plants here basically look after themselves, except for a little pruning and weeding from time to time. I don't like gardening in the heat of summer, so I am happy they are happy to do their own thing.

Flowering kangaroo paws

On Sunday we visited Kings Park in our capital city, Perth.

Kings Park is a beautiful park of natural bushland, cultivated gardens, walking paths, playgrounds, waterways, wildflower displays and war memorials. It overlooks Perth city and the Swan River.

We have missed the main wildflower display this year, but there were still a number of kangaroo paws flowering. And I would like to share a few with you.

In the image below, the orange one in the LH top corner is called "Kings Park Federation Flame".
Kangaroo paws are found only in the south west of Western Australia, and there are twelve species. Eleven of these are the Anigozanthos genus, but one of them is the genus Macropidia, the Black Kangaroo Paw - seen here in the top RH corner.

Below is the Green Kangaroo Paw. It flowers in my front garden. Every 5 years or so we burn it (as would happen in the bush) and it regenerates afresh. 

Below is the Red Kangaroo Paw. These photos were taken on our recent south coast trip to Hopetoun and the Fitzgerald River National Park. In the lower LF corner you can see the mass flowering.

and another view of the beautiful "King Park Federation Flame" - anigozanthous rufus -
a variety I had never seen before.

and Western Australia's floral emblem - the red and green Mangles Kangaroo Paw - anigozanthos manglesli - it grows in profusion in the bush in spring in my area

You may have seen this one before in my previous post.  Where-wild-orchids-grow

To see more images of Kings Park - please go to my Tour Western Australia blog - click on the link here - Kings Park

I hope you have enjoyed viewing these kangaroo paws - thank you for stopping by. I look forward to hearing from you if you would like to leave a message.

Where the wild orchids grow - Western Australia

We have a small patch of bush near our home that separates the houses from the main road. I have written about it here before - Wildflowers are starting to bloom

Every year the wild orchids and other wildflowers put on their spring display and I go there to photograph them. Sadly every year I see more invasive weeds taking over, but the delicate wild orchids still manage to push up through the weeds.

I love walking in the Australia bush - it is so peaceful and rejuvenating. So it is lovely to have this little pocket of bush near my home. I hope you have somewhere where you can walk in the bush near you. 

In this mosaic, going from left to right across each row, you can see -

White Spider Orchid, Leek Orchid, Purple Tassels, Milk Maids, Purple Mat Rush

Dampiera, Rush Cotton Heads, Running Postman, Cowslip Orchids, Wild Violet

Donkey Orchid, Mangles Kangaroo Paw (Red Kangaroo Paw), Pink Fairy, one of the Pea family, White Spider Orchid.

Here is a closer view of the Leek Orchid "Prasophythum" of which there are over 25 different species in Western Australia.

And the delicate little Donkey Orchid - "Diuris" of which there are 20 species in Western Australia. So I couldn't hope to clearly identify this one.

The White Spider Orchid - "Caladenia longicauda". There are many varieties of White Spider Orchids - so I am no botanist, I can't clearly identify which variety this is.

 And our Western Australian floral emblem, the Red Kangaroo Paw, Mangles Kangaroo Paw - "Anigozanthos manglesii"

A wildflower guide is essential if you enjoy wildflower photography or just exploring a bush path. The two I have used for this post are - 

Guide to Native Orchids of South Western Australia - by Bob Liddlelow - R&R Publications Australia Pty Ltd

Colour Guide to Spring Wildflowers of Western Australia - Part 2 Perth and the South West - by Eddy Wajon - Wajon Publishing Company. (currently a set of 4 books covering two thirds of WA)

I hope you have enjoyed this little walk in my bush block with me.

I cherish your comments, so I look forward to hearing from you. Have a wonderful week.