PIctures from the book: Page 20

Sometimes when I look at the colour original photos I used in the book, I still wish I could have somehow managed to use colour in the book instead of black and white. Here's a classic example of why:

This is a juvenile Crimson Rosella. The chicks start out with green feathers, but then gradually molt those feathers and end up with red and black (and a little blue here and there).

When you see a juvenile, you think at first it's a different species - the look so VERY different from the adults!

More Perth Flowers - Kangaroo Paw

Kangaroo Paw is a very interesting Australian native flowering plant. It has long strappy leaves, like a daylily in some respects - but the flowers are unique:

Here's a closeup of the above plant:

And the ones below I found fascinating: something like "Christmas" colours, bright red and green:

And here's a closeup:

I have a pink one here in Victoria, but it's dormant at the moment. When I saw it in a local plant store I went wild, hadn't seen a pink one, and thought they only came in orange and gold, so I snapped it up with glee. Of course I love it (no photos yet... we'll have to wait for summer) but have to admit I embarrassed myself when I started carrying on to friends about my fabulous "find" - pink Kangaroo Paw isn't really all that rare. I'd just not seen one before.

And Now - Perth

Our wedding anniversary is in September, and this year we decided to celebrate by taking a short trip to Perth, in Western Australia.  Western Australia is known for it's wildflowers, and in the spring the countryside is amazing - or so I'd been told. So off we went.

Well.. early September is too early for the flowers as far south as Perth. Once we arrived we were told we were about 4-5 weeks too soon! The flowers in the north end of the state would be blooming now, but not so much happening in Perth.

No matter. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip, anyway - and on our first day there we went to Kings Park - an immense inner-city botanical garden.

Here's a little of what we saw there:

The flowers are called "Everlastings" - and their soft pink and white blooms make a lovely display in-mass (as below):

Kings Park has a lovely cafe and gift shop along the eastern edge of the hill where the park sits (there's a steep cliff along the eastern edge, which I had my back to as I took the photo below). The white umbrellas in this shot are those of the cafe.

The design of the gardens is fabulous - and the rich mix of colours was simply breathtaking.

In the upper left corner of the photo above is a very interesting orange-flowering plant. Here's a closeup:

And a few more of the yellow flowers with pink everlastings mixed in.

Glorious Wattle Trees

At the end of winter, there's a change in the forest. The gorgeous wattle trees come into bloom. They've been brightening the forest now for a few weeks and are still going strong. There's nothing quite like a wattle tree. Here's a closeup of a flowering twig that the wild parrots chewed off of our tree (I found it next to the garage)

Delicate, bright and buttery in colour. Here's a closeup of the buds:

I've tried and tried to get a decent photo of an entire tree - and am just not managing to get it into focus - but here's a snap of 3 wattles on the hill taken from a distance.

Honestly, the photo doesn't do justice.