Wild Flower Watch III

What Happened to Spring?

Well it is meant to be spring down this way.

It seemed like it in the middle of the week with bright sun and warm 27°C (80°F) weather.

But come the weekend it was miserable, yesterday it was sleeting!

I was worried that I wouldn’t manage to get down to Queenstown Cemetery to check the wild flowers.

But this morning the weather relented a little. It was still overcast at 7:00 when I was up so I snuck out between showers leaving Deb to sleep in.

So what was there this week?

 The first thing I saw were these buds. 

I was hoping they are a native, but thinking about it they might be an exotic weed possibly a freesia, perhaps we’ll see next week.

Last week I found one solitary Waxlip Orchid (Glossodia major), and was hoping to catch another of the beauties again.

So I was relieved to find this one. You can see how wet it was from the drops of rain on this flower.

 

The same flower from a different angle.

 

You have to watch where you are treading because hiding among the grasses are all kinds of delights.

 

The little peas that were so vibrant a couple of weeks ago are looking worse for wear.

 

Except another they seem to be budding for another show.

 

There were more Goodenia this week.

 

Just a couple of Blue Flax Lily (Dianella caerulea) flowers were poking out. These hang face down so I had my camera on its back looking up at this.

The piccie is hopelessly overexposed because of the light from the sky, but I thought it was an interesting shot, with the light shining through the petals.

I’ve included this piccie I took last year to give a better idea of what they look like.

 

I needn’t have worried about finding Waxlips, as I climbed the hill further into the cemetery I realised the week has brought literally hundreds of them out

Here is a little clump of them.

 

The wind began to pick up and the rain threatened so I just paused to catch a shot of this Bearded Heath before I left.

 

I can’t wait to see what is on show next week!

Wild Flower Watch II

Well Deb had a bit of work to catch up on , and I was pottering around the house so it was pretty late before we got out and about yesterday. It was sunny and very still so although it was just an hour or so before sunset we headed out so I could see if a week had made much of a difference to the varieties of wildflowers on display at the old Queenstown Cemetery.

At first glance there didn’t seem to be much different from last week. The minute pea flower and the bearded heath.

I decided to have a closer look because many of these wildflower species are very hard to spot among the grasses.

Within a minute of making that resolution I spotted one bright yellow flower hugging the ground.

Not a brilliant piccie but worth sharing 

I think it is a “Trailing Goodenia” (Goodenia lanata). There were a number of Goodenia plants hiding among the grasses. But thus far it was the only solitary bloom.

Then within a step I saw this delicate beauty.

This tiny half opened flower is of a “Tall Sundew” probably (Drosera peltata)

Here some buds that have not opened these tiny buds are less than 6mm (1/4 inch across)

And the sticky carnivorous leaves that give these lovely killers their name.

 

If you look closely

 

I mean really close, this one has caught a passing ant.

 

Then I thought I would catch some more shots of bearded heath, because I love this amazing little thing.

It wasn’t until I looked at this piccie on my camera I even spotted this minute insect.

 

It was tiny, less than an inch long (including antennae). It looks something like a cross between a stick insect and a grass-hopper. 

I couldn’t resist trying a closer shot. Alas I am no more an entomologist than I am a botanist so I will let you speculate what it is

 By the time I finished playing with my insect friend it was the last of the light.

I paused briefly to shoot this sundew flower, 

 

again this flower is just over 6mm so I am really blowing it up.

Then finally as I was about to head for home I saw this solitary orchid.

I had never seen one of these before (although they are not particularly rare) I am almost certain it is a Waxlip Orchid (Glossodia major), 

This flower was much larger than any of the others I have photographed in the cemetery at a bit over 25mm (1 inch).

I think it is exquisite, and spent perhaps 15 minutes trying to get my camera into different positions to capture its beauty.

Alas It was just too dark to do it real justice and I don’t have a macro flash (anyone have a spare $500?)

I was hoping to get back today if the weather was decent, but unfortunately it was blowing a gale, which effectively makes it impossible to get good wild flower shots.

 

SO here’s looking forward to see what has come out next weekend.