Sea of Yellow Sunday Flower Walk

First, the Sundowners are almost Full Blossom! First to blossom, last to pick!

Yes, still a sea of yellow, mostly Daisies.

Up close!

But that wasn't the only yellow flower! A Pea with needle-like leaves which we haven't been able to track down:

The flower up close:

And the buds:

Last week I mentioned the Lobelias were out, these deep blue ones seem always to be in flower:

Then there's a lighter one:

... and the Lobelia jasionoides:

The Pelargoniums are still in full flower:

More pink from these little pea-types:

Teedias, but they're nearly over:

.... and a lovely Mesemb, just one flower at a time at the moment:

The whole plant, with red edges to the leaves:

Some white, from Helichrysums:

Pseudoselago spuria:

.... and Zantedeschia aethiopica!

A noisy coot on the dam next door, didn't like the dogs wallowing:

The most important part of the Walk was to log the positions, conditions and size of the various Agapanthus walshii plants we know about. In the week, forester Tommy Eckley passed on a mail from Karen Kirkman, MTO's Environmental Specialist. I tried to log the positions with my phone, but it wouldn't work, although I could see where we were on the map. We have anyway started describing where the plants are, in the old fashioned way, on paper! Once all (many of the) the plants are plotted, a plan of action will be formed, either to leave areas unplanted or more sparsely planted, with maybe some from the stronger populations moved, but gradually, into those areas.

On the way home, a Drosera:

.... and a Beetle Lily Baeometra:

:-) Andy

More into Spring Sunday Flower Walk

During the week, while looking for a single yellow Moraea I spotted on a farm last year, I found these other yellow flowers, Orchids? 

Could it be the Cowled Friar Pterygodium catholicum?

Today we tried out a new Trail's End cycle path which has been cut through a forest of aliens. Along the way we have found lilies coming up now that they have sunlight, it will be interesting to see what they are! http://trailsend.bike/ 

It's Wachendorfia time again!

Not sure if this is W. paniculata or not.

A large patch of Geissorhiza?

... and close by, Sparaxis:

Flower detail:

We set off on a different route, between blocks (they are called 'compartments') of recently felled pines, not expecting much, so I snapped this taller Stargrass(?)

Flower detail:

But we were attracted to a splash of pink a short way off the road. A Senecio elegans? :

That wasn't all that was pink there:

A pepper-scented-leaf Pelargonium.

More pink from this low-growing pea-type plant:

Flower detail:

There was also a large area of Trachyandra, absolutely alive with honeybees!

Just at a corner, we had spotted this clump of Agapanthus walshii when the felling was in process. Nice to see it's survived all the vehicle traffic!

But the main colour today was yellow! Huge areas of daisies, making it difficult to find anything else. This Euryops was completely covered in flowers and more buds waiting!

Here is a familiar grass, not sure how to pin it down!

Another shrub we haven't been able to identify yet, growing on the top of a rock, so it probably hasn't been burnt. It has a good crop of berries on it.

I looked down and thought I'd seen a white Pelargonium, but it was a Gladiolus debilis growing up among the leaves.

I remembered around the other side of a rocky outcrop was a Saltera sarcocolla, but didn't remember it was as big as this! This area escaped the fire.

Flower detail:

... and a bud:

We're coming into the Everlasting Helichrysum season, these buds are about to open:

The new year's flowers on what we think is Pseudoselago spuria are out. They get ever longer through the year.

The three long leaves of this Pea-type plant we thought before was Bolusafra bituminosa are not right

There was a suggestion it might be a Rhynchosa, but those leaves don't look right either! Here's the flower. Any ideas?

For some reason the Swallows chose the head of what we call Mammoth Rock to rest on and were making a lot of noise!

The more common Pelargonium in 'our' area are still looking their best. The leaf of this one is hard and dry and makes a paper-type noise when you feel it. Certainly it has no scent!

In a patch which was until recently was thickly infested with Port Jackson, we found this shrub for the first time, and it's in flower:

Could it be Cryptocarya augustifolia of the Stinkwood family? Here's the flower up close:

On the path, (how do they survive?) these Sundews Drosera are pushing up stems and buds already!

At the railway line on the way home we spotted this pink Moraea: