Another busy day today - visiting Early Learning Centres, wading through paperwork that I'd let pile up while I was sick, and colouring a beautiful picture for the Trade Aid Adult Colouring Competition. Yay for fun grown-up things!
Anyway, another productive day, so that's good. And after getting a well-deserved long night's sleep, J is healthy once again.
Since we arrived in Whanganui, I have stopped to take pictures of pretty flowers or plants that I've noticed. I thought I would share the pictures with you, as they are quite lovely.
This flower is about as long as my hand, and grows on a tree. The tree was covered with them, and they all grow straight up, which makes it look almost like the tree is on fire. I couldn't get high enough to get a picture from the top, so I don't know what the inside looks like.
I realize that these are normal-ish looking flowers, but they are special, because they seem to be the NZ version of dandelions. They grow everywhere, including all over our lawn, which I love. They are so tiny and delicate, and they make a house seem quaint.
This is a grapefruit tree, growing on the playground of one of the Early Learning Centres. They also have a lemon tree, and the children climb up both of them and knock or shake down fruit, then run and get it. So exciting!
Ferns are very popular in NZ - the All Blacks are "the silver ferns," and there are ferns on a great many NZ tourist items and informational postings. I think that they are beautiful.
This plant is wonderful and confusing. I thought at first that it was two plants growing next to each other, but no! It actually grows as if it's half lamb's quarter and half firework. So cool!
My mother calls the little lawn daisies 'Michaelmas daisies'. They were quite common in upstate NY but I have not seen them elsewhere in the US. They are common in England and May have been brought to NZ, on purpose or by accident. In NY they bloom all year, but are less noticeable when the dandelions are high. Michaelmas is towards the end of September (I just looked that up) so that name would mean they are Fall daisies that bloom when most everything else is over. For you right now they are spring daisies!
ReplyDeleteI am very curious about the pink flower on the tree, that sticks up like a candle. Can you find its name?
Been off blogging for the weekend, but haven't forgotten you. I'm glad you are both healthy now!
Hi Ruth,
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting about those flowers. Many plants and animals here were brought over, so it's entirely possible that they were as well.
As for the pink flowers, I did some research, and I think that they're magnolias. Here is a page of lots of different types of magnolias. (I don't know how to make it a link in a comment, so you'll have to copy and paste.)
http://www.magnoliagrove.co.nz/index.php/magnolia-collection-index
About half way down the page is a picture of a Magnolia Black Beauty, which looks the most like the flowers I saw, although they were lighter in colour. I could be wrong, but that's the closest thing I could find.
Ah, ok. I thought maybe magnolia but also thought you'd recognize one--but the non-deciduous kind don't grow in KS. They are famous in the southern US but all the tree ones I saw in Carolina had very large white flowers. Which smell pretty bad, btw, another magnolia diagnostic. Looks like the trees like NZ but are all imports?
ReplyDeleteSo odd you're going into summer as our leaves turn and it gets cold. Do keep posting photos of spring as you gather them!
I am surprised that I didn't know it was a magnolia, too. I would have said that I knew what they looked like, but apparently that was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think that NZ has the type of climate where pretty much anything can grow, so there are lots of imported plants. However, there are also lots of native plants. This website has a lot of good information about native plants.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-plants/