Look what I found growing in a jungly corner which I have fenced around for the chooks to beat into submission ...
It's an ornamental passionfruit flower. Prettier than the fruiting variety that I posted about previously, but they are both rather funky and splendiferous, aren't they? They look a cross between a sea-anemone and a triffid.
Might I suggest changing the title of your blog to "Flora and Fauna of New Zealand"? All very interesting though. Thanks Katherine.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm having a bit of a flora and fauna run at the moment, aren't I YP? I suppose it's because everything bloomin' (ha) growing so quickly in this perfect weather, I'm out in the garden every day trying to keep up with it!
ReplyDeleteI really must get back to that reflections painting that is still sitting patiently on the easel.
I guess you are still unable to use the roads due to the snow? I loved the pics of your garden.
Yes. Car still snowed in on the top road. When your refelctions picture is done or half done please post a snap of it... Now what about a post on the legendary kiwi itself?
ReplyDeletethey are so extraordinarily elaborate!! more than their fair share of features i should say :-) how amazing
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful! I need to be more creative in my garden this year. You are inspiring me.
ReplyDeleteI love passion flowers. I used to have a large trailing plant and it was always exciting when another bloom appeared. It felt so tropical for this area, like a fantasy.
ReplyDeleteLike all fantasies, it died. Sigh.
YP - ok, to both requests...
ReplyDeleteVal - I always think passion flowers look like something a very imaginative artist might paint if they wanted to do a plant from another planet.
Djea - here this ornamental is rampant. It's a pest and I wage war on it. The climate is too kind...
Violet - It is so tropical-looking, isn't it? I can see why people plant them, however they just get away and seed everywhere, like many plants innocuous or difficult to grow elsewhere.
I have a dear old school-chum who has settled in the hills just north of Wellington (NZ'z capital city in case you didn't know) and she has snow at times on her farm. When she heard I was moving to the Bay of Plenty, she said humorously "I'm so sorry for you, because your garden will be totally uncoordinated, because everything grows up there!"
I find these flowers interesting, but not beautiful. There seems to be too much infrastructure somehow! (I'm even more intrigued by the criteria of beauty...)
ReplyDeleteI like the word infrastructure used here EB!
ReplyDeleteHmm, yes, beauty. Perhaps something to do with symmetry, something to do with colour and health, and a lot to do with association and personal experiences? But then, why not go the whole hog and ask "What is Art?" Even artists can't agree...
You always post good photographs Katherine. Do you use some sort of special setting or lens for the closeup shots? they are always so sharp and in focus.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the Triffids, that thought crossed my mind as well!
Hi Katherine:
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful photograph of the flower. Thank you for sharing it with us. Helen
I found that an interesting flower. I've never seen one. It was a busy little thing...had a lot going on!
ReplyDeletePal - I have a Canon OES 400D. No special lens for this shot. Thank you for you compliment.
ReplyDeleteHelen - Welcome to my 'more interesting' blog!
Debby - A lot going on - that's a good way of putting it!
I was trying to decide what I thought of the flower and decided to read the comments. I love Debby's description!
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