Shadow Pattern

As I wandered past some native plants at Black Gully Reserve, the shadows caught my eye. The large bright green leaves catching the shadows belong to a Griselinia species. Tapanui, West Otago, New Zealand.

Vege Garden Flowers

Flowers from the vege garden: 1. Leek bloom and a spray of celery flowers 2. Purple sage in flower, celery flowers 3. Silver beet flower heads, they go high! 4. Nigel 6'3" takes a stand by lovage flowers Tapanui, West Otago. New Zealand Leek flower head - a sphere of small mauve and white flowers...

Renewal

Beautiful ferny forest glade that was once an earth dam holding water to be used in the extensive gold mining activity here. Pollands Dam is high on a bush clad hill at Gabriels Gully near Lawrence. Christmas Day, South Otago. New Zealand. From the information board: "An incredible network of water races was constructed, tapping...

Lift Up Your Heads

Today is Christmas Day in New Zealand. We walked a track new to us, Gabriel's Gully near Lawrence, South Otago. Love these new fern fronds that grow upright but also bow their heads, reminding me of a church song: Lift up your heads to the coming king, bow before him and adore him, sing… Detail...

Way To Go

East Roxburgh, Central Otago, New Zealand. Three photos taken while we were wandering along Commissioners Track, and I spotted the windsock as we headed toward Millers Flat. 09 Oct 2022.

Fuzzy Buds, Beautiful Blooms

Robust buds and blooms on this Magnolia tree in Gore Gardens, 18 September 2022. Very messy form, but magnificent magenta blooms - a real stand-out in the early Spring garden. A real bright spark!

Takeover Bid

The first three photos were taken by me at Moa Flat when we pulled over to photograph the kōwhai tree in blossom.. it was looking very fine in the end-of-day sunshine. West Otago, New Zealand. 10 September (spring). And.. the last photo, by Nigel, was taken back in April (autumn), at Wilden, which is a...

White in Autumn, NZ Natives

These photos are all New Zealand native plants that we came across on a very beautiful autumn day, 25 March. Each photo is selected for having a plant feature that's white. We started off in Dunedin Botanic Garden, drove to Ocean View/Brighton Beach and stopped at Milton on our way home. The first photo's by...

Rocks

One feature of Central Otago is a lot of rock in the landscape. I took a couple of rock photos when we walked the Commissioners Track at East Roxburgh on 06 August. My first photo was taken at the end of the track, as I wandered about looking at what was there. It caught my...

Fig at Lambeth

Today the Bishops at the 2022 Lambeth Conference are visiting Lambeth Palace in London where the focus of their work will be on the Environment. We visited Lambeth Palace in 2010 and Nigel photographed a huge sprawling fig tree by the Great Hall.. and I've just found the fig tree was planted in 1556! White Marseilles fig tree.

Old World Charm

"Hollyhocks provide excellent architectural height, contrast and a certain amount of old world charm to cottage gardens and border backgrounds. Also effective when grown against walls or fences." ~Missouri Botanical Garden [website] Photos taken at Clyde in Central Otago, New Zealand .. 07 Dec 2021. Hollyhock (Alcea rosea) Photos 1 and 2: hollyhock flowering by...

Apples and Pears

Early autumn in Central Otago; we drove to Roxburgh yesterday, finding a beautiful apple orchard at Ettrick and a pear orchard at Millers Flat. New Zealand. 19 March.