Showing posts with label Plants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Plants. Show all posts

Monday, February 27, 2012

It's not easy being green


On Sefarina's (http://windleben.blogspot.com/) advice, I bought some little houseplants to sit on the windowsills to absorb some of the summer heat bursting through the glass. Unfortunately, after yesterday's 38 degrees, the poor plants themselves have got a little scorched and I have had to move them temporarily off the windowsills to recuperate! They are still giving a lovely display of cool, soothing green though, as you can see.

I had a good week in Sydney last week. Free of the distractions which come with a home office, I got some good work done on what I hope will become a novel and I also got to visit my favourite bookstore of all time...Kinokuniya. I loaded up on craft books, so hopefully over the next couple of weeks I will have some finished projects from them to show off to you.

We always say that Sydney is warmer than Melbourne; Sydney is closer to the equator, more humid, more tropical and so on. But these last couple of days have turned all that on its head. We had some very welcome rain this morning (and more on the way, judging from the skies) but it is so humid here in Melbourne. I would quite like to be back in Sydney in my air-conditioned room, with the hotel swimming pool just down the hall...Ah well, it's only summer here until Thursday!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Ginger tree, very pretty, and the ginger flower is sweet...

My mother dropped by for lunch today and she brought with her a piece of ginger plant for me. At least, we think it's ginger plant. We don't really know! It looks so tropical and more than a little triffidy. And its aroma! I don't know if I like it exactly but it's very distinctive. Sort of like the scent of a lily. No shrinking violet, this one. This flower makes a statement!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Green tour of Europe: Part 1

One thing that I did take a lot of photos of while we were away is plants. So beautiful in their variety and also good practice for the amateur photographer wielding a macro lens! I couldn't resist one more photo of the German forests...



A delicate rose growing behind one of the large cathedrals in Heidelberg...



And something not quite so cultivated but no less beautiful, spotted while out walking. Is it an elderflower?


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I was so sad to see when we returned home, though, that the people living in the house behind ours had cut down a large and beautiful hawthorn tree in our absence. It was often covered in lovely red berries and attracted a wide assortment of birds, most particularly white cockatoos. Unless a tree is about to smash through your roof, I can never understand why people chop trees down. It seems like the ungrateful return of a wonderful gift.