Radiant Gradient

Poplar hedge in afternoon sunshine. Ettrick, Central Otago. This afternoon. New Zealand.

Turning

During a local walk on 12 March I took photos of anything autumn-y that got my attention. Tapanui, West Otago, New Zealand.

Late Summer Colour

Getting close to autumn now and there's a colour shift in the landscape (e.g. some poplar trees are already yellow, other species are still green). Here are some native plants (not the rosehips!) that I enjoyed photographing on Saturday 25 February at Commissioners Track near the Roxburgh dam. Central Otago, New Zealand. Native flax with...

All on a Sunday

When we visited Alexandra public garden on Sunday, I found the smoke tree foliage beautiful as I gazed at the leaves against the summer blue sky. Alexandra is in Central Otago, New Zealand. Today I was delighted to find a wonderful hoar frost photo taken in Germany, also photographed on Sunday! A battered old sunflower...

Spitting Image

When I was at Black Gully Reserve on 28 December, I found a spittle bug on a slender stem of a tree. I hadn't seen one of these so convenient to photograph before and it was fairly well-lit. It turns out they're pretty interesting creatures! Below the photo I'll give you a 'gift-link' to a...

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...

Remnant

Perhaps the remnant held a claim boundary peg back in the day. It was illegal to sluice away a peg. I was intrigued by the horizontal hole at the top through which I could see the blue sky. The two 'remnant' photos were taken by me. The photos of Blue Lake and eroded hillside slopes...

Stark Difference

When the gold miners arrived in Central Otago in the 1860s they didn't bat an eyelid at radically and massively transforming the environment. The initial influx of individuals and small groups gave way to larger operations that harnessed the power of water to obliterate large parts of the landscape. They extracted relatively small amounts of...

Fine and Dandy

Roadside orchard at Earnscleugh, Central Otago, New Zealand ~29 Oct 2022. In the pre-storm light all the dandelion seedheads really shone!

Winters Clingy

Pear blossom at our place in Tapanui, West Otago. First two pics taken Sunday 02 Oct, afternoon and sunset. That was a lovely Spring day. Snowy pic taken this morning, 05 October. We had a pretty heavy snow shower this morning and the street landscape is looking like a christmas card scene. New Zealand. Text...

R. pachysanthum

My early-Spring report in response to questions on a previous blogpost. Rhododendron pachysanthum is one of a trio of special rhododendrons grouped close together in Bannerman Park, in Gore. This one had gorgeous cinnamon-coloured young foliage at the time, back in summer (16th January). I promised fellow bloggers Ann and Ellen I'd try to return...

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!