Religious Observance

"Religious observances—I've often thought that's a wonderful word, observance. What's religious about it is that you're observant, you're keeping your ears, eyes and heart open for the presence of God." --Frederick Buechner The quote is from a 2002 article I read very recently in which the late Frederick Buechner was interviewed by Richard A. Kauffman...

Blue-Green Dragonfly

Today my new (not-new) dragonfly brooch took first flight, coming with me to Invercargill ~a happy find in an Oamaru antique shop, a few months ago. New Zealand.

Odd Bods

Odd-bod plants from Queens Park conservatory in Invercargill, Southland. 1. multi-coloured foliage. 2-3. Anthuriums. 4.Coffea arabica or coffee tree. ~taken 11 May 2022. New Zealand

Magnificent Mahonia

This Mahonia looked glorious when we visited Queens Park in Invercargill, Southland on Wed 11 May. I don't remember noticing before that yellow flowers and blue berries appear in same bunches at the same time. I think individual flower stems must fall downward after pollination and then form berries ~just judging from what appeared to...

Great Looking

Amazon Lily, Eucharis grandiflora. Gorgeous! And fragrant. In the conservatory at Queens Park, Invercargill, Southland. Yesterday, 11 May. New Zealand. The pots were on the wet floor and the flowers droop down so I had to get a knee on the floor to be low enough to take the first photo with a view into...

Unreal and Real

Autumn in Queens Park, Invercargill, Southland. Brightness by the cafe; Some roses still bloom; Magnificent Mahonia; Anthurium in the Conservatory. Taken today, 11 May. New Zealand.

Bright As A Button

What a great name! These two pics were taken at Queens Park in Invercargill in the modern rose garden and my title for this post is the real name of the rose. Southland, New Zealand; 25 February. ~The New Zealand Rose Society has a page about it at their website: December - Bright as a...

Rosa, ‘Erotica’

Rose ‘Erotica’. Bright and beautiful, frilly and flamboyant, cerise pink rose in the modern rose garden at Queens Park. Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand. 25 Feb 2022. ~photo by Nigel

Colourful Pelargoniums

Colourful beds of pelargoniums, and the long path as we walk back to our motel. The solid-pink pelargonium beds in photos 1 and 3 are set in a huge circular lawn with a band rotunda in the centre. Queens Park, Invercargill, Southland on 25 February. New Zealand. Text and photos 1,2,4 by Liz, photo 3...

Agapanthus in Late Sunshine

Agapanthus lit up by sunshine late yesterday in Invercargill, street near our motel. Southland, New Zealand.

Ligularia, lavender and lilies

And a round box hedge, and box blobs and Nigel blobbing. I took these photos yesterday afternoon at Queens Park in Invercargill. All the 'L's are in the long border but the photo with Nigel in was taken on the west side of the winter gardens building. This is a cosy spot when there's a...

Warmth on a Cool Day

We had to go to Invercargill today and although we're now in the height of summer the sky had lots of dark cloud and at one stage absolutely bucketed down with rain. We also drove out to Bluff and discovered 3 or 4 murals we hadn't seen before. On our return to Invercargill we had...