Midnight

I'm referring to a Mexican bush sage named Salvia leucantha 'Midnight'. There's a wonderful bush in a flower bed at Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand. It flowers profusely and beautifully, very showy! I've photographed it many times so there's pics scattered through various folders on my laptop! For more info, Chicago Botanic Garden have done...

Buxus Parterres

Buxus Parterres: mid-summer colour at Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand. 05 Feb 2022. The parterres and colour beds were looking magnificent! Between the parterres and the public pathway are the colour beds - in this first photo you can see (from right - left) the red, yellow and purple/mauve colour beds. Click on any photo...

Smoke Bush, Early Summer

When we visited Clyde in Central Otago on 07 December we were delighted to see smoke bush is making a great show! The purple-leaved variety appears to be particularly popular (not surprising, it's very showy) but I've also included a photo of a green-leaved smoke bush I noticed. New Zealand. Cotinus or Smoke Bush I've...

Indian Bean Tree

This tree is native to the south eastern part of the United States. It's so beautiful! I've heard of the 'Indian Bean Tree' but didn't know enough to recognise it however Nigel correctly suggested 'Catalpa'. I'd wandered down a path to photograph a Smoke Bush and these two trees were nearby. I wandered over, attracted...

Wild Bright Blooms

These photos of beloved Central Otago wildflowers were taken on my birthday trip on 31 October (spring in New Zealand). We'd stopped on the roadside near Cromwell to take a closer look at them. The bridge in the 2nd pic provides access to the town of Cromwell, and the route carries on to the Queenstown...

Wannabe Escapees

In order to contain your irises a good stock fence is necessary. Sheep mesh is the bare minimum and not really adequate in this situation which is by an open driveway entrance and next to a sealed road. The last thing an owner needs is for their errant irises to escape and become a traffic...

Irises

There's an interesting public garden in Alexandra, Central Otago. On my birthday visit of 31 October there were a nice variety of irises to look at. They have a collection of irises that have won an annual award in America and a sign that lists their names for each year and what colour they are....

Floral Highlights

Floral highlights from my birthday today, spent in Central Otago, New Zealand. 31 October, and it's spring in NZ. The day was very bright but generally cloudy. The public garden in Alexandra looked splendid! Lots of bright wildflowers in the Cromwell Gorge including the vivid California poppies. Horse chestnuts are flowering now and lots of...

Purple Tulip

These photos are of a gorgeous purple tulip I found on my walk yesterday. Tapanui, West Otago, New Zealand.

Red Delicious

I spied this gorgeous rose hip in Dunedin Botanic Garden, late autumn. Looking closely at the hip while photo-editing, it reminded me of a 'Red Delicious' apple ~which we're probably all familiar with. The deep, dark red, and a few spots. The whole bush was lovely and colourful. The real name of the rose is...

Purple Berries

Found these beautiful purple berries at Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand on 05 March 2021 but at present we've no idea what the plants are. Just looking at them, we both guessed they might be an Australian species. Photos by Nigel.

On The Verge

Colours of weeds on the road verge alongside the East Roxburgh to Millers Flat road. We stopped twice along the road. At the first stop I also took the Dill Dill Dill photos featured in a recent post. Central Otago, New Zealand. Pics taken 23 January 2021. Click on any photo to enlarge. Text and...