Thursday 27 August 2015

DESKTOP 758 - CANNAS

Canna (or canna lily, although not a true lily) is a genus of 19 species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the Zingiberaceae (gingers), Musaceae (bananas), Marantaceae, Heliconiaceae, Strelitziaceae.

Canna is the only genus in the family Cannaceae. The APG II system of 2003 also recognises the family, and assigns it to the order Zingiberales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots. The genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the New World, from the southern United States (southern South Carolina west to southern Texas) and south to northern Argentina.

The species have large, attractive foliage, and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered and bright garden plant. In addition, it is one of the world's richest starch sources, and is an agricultural plant. Although a plant of the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world as long as they receive at least 6–8 hours average sunlight during the summer, and are moved to a warm location for the winter

The name Canna originates from the Latin word for a cane or reed. The flowers are typically red, orange, or yellow or any combination of those colours, and are aggregated in inflorescences that are spikes or panicles (thyrses). Although gardeners enjoy these odd flowers, nature really intended them to attract pollinators collecting nectar and pollen, such as bees, hummingbirds, sunbirds, and bats. The pollination mechanism is conspicuously specialised.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

DESKTOP 757 - GAZANIAS

Gazania is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Southern Africa. They produce large, daisy-like composite flowers in brilliant shades of yellow and orange, over a long period in summer. They are often planted as drought-tolerant ground-cover.

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footstep Digital Art Meme.

Sunday 23 August 2015

DESKTOP 754 - BEE ON GINGER

Hedychium is a genus of flowering plants in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, native to lightly wooded habitats in Asia. There are approximately 70-80 known species, native to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc.), southern China, the Himalayas and Madagascar. Some species have become widely naturalised in other lands (South Africa, South America, Central America, the West Indies, and many of the islands of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans) and considered invasive in some places.

Members of the genus Hedychium are rhizomatous perennials, commonly growing 120–180 cm tall. Some species are cultivated for their exotic foliage and fragrant spikes of flowers in shades of white, yellow and orange. Numerous cultivars have been developed for garden use, of which 'Tara' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

This post is part of the I Heart Macros meme,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

Wednesday 19 August 2015

DESKTOP 750 - PARKLANDS PONDS

At the Darebin Parklands in the Melbourne suburb of Fairfield.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

Thursday 6 August 2015

DESKTOP 737 - DUTCH IRIS

Iris × hollandica, commonly known as the Dutch iris, is a hybrid iris developed from species native to Spain and North Africa (Iris tingitana × Iris xiphium). Two varieties of Iris xiphium (var. praecox) from Spain and (var. lusitanica) from France, were crossed with Iris tingitana (from North Africa). This was carried out by a Dutch bulb firm 'Van Tubergen' (based in Haarlem) in the 19th century.
 

Because the bulb could be forced in a greenhouse to flower early, it was popular with florists. Since the 1900s it has been crossed with other species to create various cultivars. After the second world war, stocks of bulbs were imported to America. They then increased the colour range mainly the yellows.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

Tuesday 4 August 2015

DESKTOP 735 - POLKA DOT PLANT

Hypoestes phyllostachya, commonly called polka dot plant, is a herbaceous plant native to Madagascar. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant commonly used as a houseplant but can also be grown outside as an annual plant. The most common type has green leaves with pink spots, although it can range from white to any shade of pink to red. It may produce small pink/purple flowers that slightly resemble scented geraniums. Many different cultivars have been created with different foliage colors. This plant will not grow well in temperatures below 60˚F/16˚C. Hypoestes phyllostachya does best in partial sun.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.