Saturday 3 November 2012

Saturday Snapshot 3rd November

Saturday Snapshot is a meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books.

The rules are simple:
 
To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Recently my husband and I had a trip to Adelaide.
During our stay we had an afternoon strolling around the Botanic gardens.
Several of the areas seemed to be under reconstruction which was a little disappointing.
Spring flowers also seemed rather light on.
However I did find these beauties below.
 
 
Bartlettina sordida - a native of Mexico that has the potential to be a weed in Australia.
A curious choice to have in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens I thought.
 
 
Melaleuca leucadendra also known as the Weeping Paperbark.
It's an Australian native also known as the Cajeput Tree for the oil
that can be distilled from the leaves.
 
 
The bark is beautiful - soft and papery to touch.
Melaleuca's are cousins to the more well-known Eucalyptus.
 
 
Cotinus coggygria 'Smoke Bush'
Although native to Europe, the smoke bush does well in Australia.
 
I grew one in my country garden because I loved it's deep red/purple leaves
and the amazing white fronds that burst out of these pods
and made the bush look like it was smoking!
 
 
Echium candicans
A native of Madiera hence it's common name Pride of Madiera.
Echium's have the potential to become a pest in Australia, especially the smaller variety commonly known as Patterson's Curse.
But I love their beautiful blue/purple spikes almost as much as the bees do!
 
The contrast of echium against the nearby smoke bush is also eye-catching.
 
 
My final three pics are from the succulent garden.
 
Unfortunately I do not know the names of any of these plants!
 
 
 

16 comments:

  1. I was in Adelaide earlier this year, but didn't make it to the Botanic Gardens. I so love the feel of paperbark. I've never seen that weeping paperbark before- when I first saw the picture I thought somehow maybe there was a limestone cave in the gardens too! There were lots of interesting shapes in the flowers you found.

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  2. What an incredible diversity of foliage.
    Crazy gorgeous pics, Brona.

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  3. Bear With Me...Nice sequence of photos♫♪Happy Saturday♥

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  4. When I scrolled down to the second and third pictures of the bark, I thought for sure it was some sort of geological carving or cliff wall. Until I read your words, of course. Lovely flowers and foliage. Here's Mine

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  5. Gorgeous! Yes, the bees. They're so busy on those flowers.

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  6. I can't stop drooling! They are all so gorgeous....and I couldn't even pick a favorite. (And I keep forgetting that it's spring for you there!).

    I am drawn to the bark....I can almost smell them! Or do they have a scent? When you mentioned they are cousins to Eucalyptus, I could almost inhale the scent of the row of those trees that lined my foothill property.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST

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  7. What incredible photos. That weeping paperbark is amazing! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. I thought the weeping bark tree was a stone formation at first - that's really neat!

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  9. I thought the same as Alyce - that we were looking at a rock wall of some sort. Really fabulous photos.

    Lisa @ Alive on the Shelves

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  10. The photos are beautiful with your informative notes. I got a wonderful glimpse of the Botanical Gardens. My wife and I visited Adelaide 9 years ago. We enjoyed the city,Wine center,Kangaroo Island and wineries and many other things.

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  11. Spring... sounds lovely! We're just heading into fall here in Seattle.. Love your flowery shots!

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  12. Makes me want to reach out and touch that bark. Beautiful!

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  13. I love the bees!! I always enjoy watching them in the garden, working so very hard :)

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  14. I love taking photos at botanical gardens. I took a photo of a plant similar to your last one at the National Botanic Garden at Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland. So, maybe it's an Aeonium. Here's my photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joyweesemoll/7451740800/in/set-72157630306850658/

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    1. Thanks Joy - a quick goggle image search shows that the last photo is indeed an Aeonium. They range from green to purple in colour depending on variety :-)

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  15. What beautiful plants... even the 'weed' is lovely.

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