Previously I have shown Aussie animals and Birds(50s)
How about some Plants? Waratah
Floral Emblem of New South Wales Very beautiful in a variety of colours - including Red, Pink, Yellow and White Red being the dominant colour because birds are more attracted to red than any other colour. Grows mostly on the East Coast of Australia Mostly without fragrance
Grevillea Also known as the Spider Flower. Gardeners love them because of the long flowering season. Some flower all year round. Fuchsia Grevillea is a 12 month flowering plant.
Great for attracting birds. Grevillea flowers were a traditional favourite among the Aboriginal Peoples for their sweet nectar. This could be shaken onto the hand to enjoy, or into a little water to make a sweet drink. They might be referred to as the original "bush lollies".
Sturt's Desert Pea One of Australia’s most famous desert wildflowers, Sturt’s Desert Pea is found across inland arid regions of Australia. It is the South Australian Floral Emblem. One of the most recognised Australian native plants, Sturt’s Desert Pea thrives in red sandy soil and has vibrant red leaf-shaped flowers with a black centre, known as a ‘boss’.
The Sturt's Desert Pea is a well-known Australian native flower that is the state floral emblem for South Australia. Although much admired these plants are notoriously hard to grow outside of their natural desert environment as they are prone to fungal diseases and root rots. I tried to grow them and have had no success so far.
Pin Cushion Hakea One of the most loved native plants of south-western Australia. Pincushion Hakea flowers are round in shape and measure up to 2" in diameter. Protruding from the red ball are 120-190 spines. The projecting spines - together with the cherry red colour of the flower ball — make up Mother Nature’s version of a pincushion.
Pincushion Hakeas are pollinator magnets. Butterflies, bees, and birds love Hakea plants for their faint, honey-scented blooms. Depending on its environment, the Hakea can be a large shrub or small tree. A mature plant can reach up to 6m. They make for a stunning hedge. I planted one almost 12 months ago, growing well, no pin cushions as yet.
Queen of Sheba Orchid With stunning shades of purple, blue and yellow the Queen of Sheba orchid, is one of the rarest plants on Earth. The Queen of Sheba, which only grows wild in the southern parts of WA, is one of the state's most protected species and can take between seven and 10 years to flower.
The Queen of Sheba belongs to a family of orchids commonly called sun orchids — a family that survives by deception. Most plants are pollinated by insects, and they give a reward to the insect that pollinates it … it's a good thing for the insect to visit the flower. "The sun orchids don't give the insects anything. They trick it. They look like other flowers so the insect's thinking it's going to get a reward, picks up the orchid's pollen on its back and goes away disappointed."
Firewood Banksia Grows only in south west Western Australia. Mostly on the coastal plain (Perth is on the coastal Plain) Plentiful in this area. The plant varies in size, with shrubs growing to around 6 feet and trees getting to as tall as 20 feet in Banksia woodlands. The flowers - called inflorescences, can grow to be as big as 3 1/2" diameter x 5" long. The most common two-tone colour combination is deep red and pink.
The flower stems average 1000 individual flowers. Flowering occurs in autumn and winter. Firewood Banksia has more flower colour variants than any other Banksia species, with flower spikes occurring in a wide range of pinks, as well as chocolate, bronze, yellow and white, and greenish variants.
I have a number of those on my block. No Sturt's Desert Pea although I did grow them with success once. I have half a dozen Pincushion Hakeas. I call them a Rambutan tree because the flower looks like the Rambutan fruit.
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I have several dozen Banksia and Grevillea shrubs mostly from WA.
@Coralmist Queen of Sheba Orchid, stunning and very rare. Takes at least 7 years and up to 10 years to flower. Kevin Thiele is a botanist and taxonomist, and a passionate orchid enthusiast.
The Queen of Sheba belongs to a family of orchids commonly called sun orchids — a family that Mr Thiele says survives by deception.
"All of the sun orchids are deceivers," "Most plants are pollinated by insects, and they give a reward to the insect that pollinates it … it's a good thing for the insect to visit the flower." "The sun orchids don't give the insects anything. They trick it. They look like other flowers so the insect's thinking it's going to get a reward, picks up the orchid's pollen on its back and goes away disappointed." He said this was partly the reason why the patterns and colouring of Queen of Sheba flowers can vary so greatly from each other.
"It's important for them not to look all exactly the same because insects learn," he said.
"If the insects get too disappointed, they're not going to visit and pollinate that flower again, so the orchids are very variable and that makes it hard to figure out what the species are, exactly what they look like, and how to tell them apart."
