plant

Friday Flower – New England Aster

~ laura lecce ~ 14 Comments
New England Aster - Photograph by Laura Lecce
New England Aster – Photograph by Laura Lecce

New England Aster is North American native plant, and is a great way of adding some bright color to your Autumn garden. Another fantastic perk is that these flowers are a great source of nectar for bees and butterflies, which can keep macro photographers busy for hours, and I also discovered that some butterflies have baby blue colored eyes. Not only are these flowers edible for insects, they are also a great way to add some color to your salads. This plant (mostly extract from the roots) has been used by many cultures (including Native Americans and Chinese) as a herbal remedy for fever, inflammation, and gut-related irritations. Planting some New England Aster is not only great for your garden, but can become so much more than just a pretty flower.

Flower Friday – Japanese Toad Lily

~ laura lecce ~ 16 Comments
Japanese Toad Lily - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Japanese Toad Lily – Photograph by Laura Lecce

This is a photo of a Japanese Toad Lily, which in my opinion, is quite an unattractive name given to a beautiful flower. This was the first time I have seen or heard of this flower. It is native to Japan, and flowers late in summer to early fall. One particular piece of information that stuck in my mind above all others, is that this flower is deer resistant. To an Australian who has never, and will never experience a deer visiting my garden, this intrigued me. I further found out that deer resistant means that it is not one of their favorite flowers to munch on. If I had the slightest possibility that a deer might visit me, I would be someone who would plant flowers purely to entice deer into my garden. Though I can also understand the frustration of people who want a flower filled garden, and are constantly losing flowers to hungry deer. If you are experiencing that frustration, then supposedly this flower is a good choice for your garden, as it may last longer than other flowers which deer think are yummy to eat.

Have a great weekend everyone, and for other flowers please click here.

Friday Flower – Pineapple

~ laura lecce ~ 2 Comments
Pineapple - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Pineapple – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Yes it is true that the pineapple is a fruit, but did you know that to make a pineapple, this bromeliad must flower. Actually the flower spike it produces is up to 6 inches (15cms) tall, and will contain up to 200 spirally arranged flowers. The fruits (technically they are berries) develop from the ovaries of the individual flowers, which then join together to become the yummy pineapple that we eat. The fruits are arranged into two interlocking helices, one containing 8, and the other direction containing 13. These numbers are both Fibonacci numbers. I don’t want to bore you with too much mathematics, but the sequence goes as follows, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55…and so on. Each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. Fibonacci numbers often appear in nature (which is governed by mathematics) such as in the branching of trees, arrangement of leaves along a stem and in succulents, petals on a flower, pine cone bracts, the list is huge. So those of you that love nature, and never thought of yourselves as mathematicians, you are actually math admirers.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Flower Friday – Jade Vine

~ laura lecce ~ 17 Comments
Jade Vine - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Jade Vine – Photograph by Laura Lecce

The Jade Vine (not to be confused with the jade plant also known as money tree) is an unusual plant native to the Philippines and is closely related to beans and peas. It grows into a monstrous vine with stems of up to 60 feet (18 meters) and once mature will hang hundreds of cascading flowers, dangling from stems as long as 10 feet (3 meters). These flowers range from a lovely turquoise color to a mint green. The flowers above were photographed from a mighty vine growing inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory (photo below) at the New York Botanical Gardens. It is a temperature controlled glass house that contains many tropical plants, which like myself, are most intolerant of New York winters. Happy weekend everyone!

New York Botanical Gardens - Photograph by Laura Lecce
New York Botanical Gardens – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Flower Friday – Renanthera

~ laura lecce ~ 5 Comments
Renanthera - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Renanthera – Photograph by Laura Lecce

This is an orchid that I photographed while at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. A magnificent tropical garden which stretches as far as you can see. It was a bit of an effort walking around all day, on what was an incredibly hot day with 100% humidity. Though, as much as the people suffered in these stifling weather conditions, it is perfect for these orchids. They belong to a group of plants which are collectively called epiphytes, meaning that they love to grow harmlessly attached to another plant or tree with their roots free to absorb nutrients and moisture from the air and rain. These plants grow as a single, unbranching stem with leaves alternately growing on either side. They produce multiple branching flower stems with many flowers (pinkish-red, fiery red, orange or yellow) dancing on either side. Seeing a group of fully grown plants in flower is like looking at a brilliant firework display of heated colors exploding into the sky. Needless to say, this is one of my very favorite orchids.

For other orchid posts, please click here.

Flower Friday – Aussie Star

~ laura lecce ~ 7 Comments
Aussie Star - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Aussie Star – Photograph by Laura Lecce

This flower is an unknown that I photographed in Tasmania. A little, orange, star-shaped flower on a small shrub in the Tassie grasslands. Even though I spent a very long time trawling through Google images under many search terms, the flower and the name remained elusive. I am surely not the only person to have photographed this little gem, so if anyone can shed some light on this flower, that would be very much appreciated. It is fitting that I introduce a star in a month where the talk of planets has been quite abundant. The five planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn have been visible this month in the night sky, together, shortly after sunset. I hope some of you have been out sky, star and planet gazing this month. Happy Friday everyone!

Flower Friday – A Sweet Scent

~ laura lecce ~ 12 Comments
A Sweet Scent - Photograph by Laura Lecce
A Sweet Scent – Photograph by Laura Lecce

I think I’m starting to see a trend amongst my favorite flowers…. they’re mostly pink (I must be a girly girl after all, who knew?). This beautiful orchid is a phalaenopsis hybrid with a name I can no longer remember. I do however remember vividly the sweet aroma that this gorgeous flower produced every morning when it would see the sun. The fact that I remember the specific scents and not the names of most of my orchids is likely due to the fact that our sense of smell is the sense most closely linked with the memory areas of our brain. We thus associate those smells with specific memories and emotions. The scent of orchids reminds me of watering my plants in the morning sun while enjoying a cup of tea. Happy memories everyone!

For other flower Friday posts click here.

Flower Friday – Pink Perfection

~ laura lecce ~ 9 Comments
Pink Water Lily Perfection - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Pink Water Lily Perfection – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Considering there are about 70 known species of water lily in five different genera, it’s easy to see how there is such a range of colors, shapes and sizes. This image was taken at the Nan Tien Temple, a Buddhist temple in Wollongong (80km south of Sydney). It is a very beautiful and tranquil place to visit, with lovely gardens and many water lilies silently floating in their ponds. Although both pink, this water lily is quite subtle and is very different to seemingly intense one that I have posted previously (click here to see). Have a pretty pink weekend everyone!

Flower Friday – Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’

~ laura lecce ~ 11 Comments
Crocosmia Lucifer - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Crocosmia Lucifer – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Every day on my way to and from work I pass through a beautifully maintained courtyard garden which is always alive with color. Commonly in Manhattan, garden beds get replanted every few months with plants that reflect the current season (unlike Sydney which is temperate enough to keep most plants all year round, or a summer/winter change of annuals). New York summer brings high heat and humidity, and a fitting reflection of that is this fiery red flower belonging to Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’. The flowers catch my eye every day due to the contrast of the intense red against a background of large, deep green leaves. This plant, along with many others, is now bookmarked in my head as a “must have” in my currently imaginary, beautifully tranquil, future garden of my own. Happy weekend everyone!!!

Flower Friday – Frangipani

~ laura lecce ~ 12 Comments
Frangipani - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Frangipani – Photograph by Laura Lecce

The frangipani (Plumeria) is a beautiful plant with gorgeous flowers that come in varieties of whites, yellow, oranges and pinks. Although native to Central and South America, they are a popular plant that can now be found in most tropical places around the world. This plant however, is not without its quirks, being related to Oleander, both produce an irritating sap similar to Euphorbia plants (click here to see my post on Euphorbia). Frangipanis are also fragrant, most heavily at night, to attract the sphinx moth under the false pretense that the flowers contain a sweet smelling nectar. As the moth goes from flower to flower in search of the non-existent nectar, it is in fact being duped into pollinating the flowers. Cheeky frangipanis…. Have a great weekend everyone!