Today I was finally able to go out looking for native flowers again. I’ve had a busy few days, and when I was ready to take a break, it was raining. Over the three days, many more Waxlip Orchids have opened. I found these distributed throughout the bushland, with some patches and some solitary plants. … Continue reading Pink Fingers: Australian Native Orchid (Caladenia carnea)
Tag: wildflowers
Gnat Orchid
On the same day I photographed the Waxlip Orchid, I also managed to get some clearer photographs of the Gnat Orchid. This Orchid is so hard to see. It is so tiny, the stems are slimmer than a blade of grass, and brownish purple. i was so lucky to be with people who knew what … Continue reading Gnat Orchid
The First Waxlip Orchid this Spring
Yesterday I spent an enjoyable morning searching for orchids with friends. We found many Greenhoods of varying types, and many more leaves or buds indicating that a number of species were about to burst into flower – Spider Orchid, Sun Orchid and Waxlip Orchid among them. Try as we might, we didn’t find one of … Continue reading The First Waxlip Orchid this Spring
More orchids in flower
It is amazing how much more I can see when I have a knowledgeable guide to point out the tiny Australian Native Orchids in flower. I must have walked past some of the tiny mosquito orchids hundreds of times without noticing they were in flower. My friend B.J., who is an orchid enthusiast visited today, … Continue reading More orchids in flower
Beard-Heath and Sundews: Sizing them up
I’ve been trying to think of a clever way of showing the size of the beard-heath flowers, but in the end I resorted to a ruler. At least it is then a precise measurement rather than an approximation of size. The most tricky part was to position the ruler where it was visible, but not … Continue reading Beard-Heath and Sundews: Sizing them up
Guess who’s been eating the wildflowers!
Often when I’m walking around, I see flowering bushland plants bitten off low to the ground. This is often frustrating when I have been waiting for a flower bud to open. I check daily, and just when the bud is about to burst, I head back the next day full of anticipation of what the … Continue reading Guess who’s been eating the wildflowers!
Common Beard-heath Leucopogon virgatus (Labill.) R. Br.
With tiny flowers, hardly more than 2 mm across when fully open, I was lucky to see the Common Beard-Heath, let alone photograph it clearly without a macro lens. This is my first effort at capturing the fluffy petals (with the assistance of Photoshop to enlarge the flower). Today is a clear sunny day, so … Continue reading Common Beard-heath Leucopogon virgatus (Labill.) R. Br.
October Wild Flowers – Part 3
Thank you to KMS who left a comment on my Cranberry Heath post, including a link to the VicVeg website. What a fantastic breakthrough. This wonderful website allows me to search by flower colour, location within Victoria, and type of plant (herb, tree, shrub etc) meaning, I have finally been able to put names to … Continue reading October Wild Flowers – Part 3
Cranberry Heath
In between documenting the native flowers on the property month by month, I’m pausing to post a flower we have open right now. It is a tiny plant – not much taller than lichen – and it is growing in only one spot on our dam bank, as far as I can tell. I’ve looked … Continue reading Cranberry Heath
October Wildflowers: Part 2
I’m discovering that identifying wildflowers is very time-consuming. Our two field guides cover wildflowers from all over Australia, with multiple variations on most species. Looking at the small illustrations or photographs in the field guides, often nothing looks exactly the same as the wildflowers I have found. However, by looking at locations they are found, … Continue reading October Wildflowers: Part 2
Fifteen Acres 