In Flower Now

Orchid

After reorganising my greenhouse a few months ago to fit in more plants, I thought it was time to give my poor Orchids new pots after being neglected for so long, and move them to the other side of the greenhouse. Since the move and new pots I now have flowers on my Orchids. I think they like the new position better than the old one.

No Name

If anybody knows the name of this plant let me know, as it is well liked by the local Honeyeaters.
We have seen Brown, Lewin's, White-throated, Blue-faced and Noisy Miners all feeding on the flowers.This plant was growing in the garden when we arrived and is still flourishing 25 years on.

Rhondaletia

Exotic shrub to 3m high. Its beautiful scented flowers are a great attraction for Honeyeaters, Butterflies, and other Insects. Over the last couple of days I have seen Rainbow Lorikeets feeding on the flowers. This is my second attempt at growing this particular shrub as the first one was run over by a truck. I have made sure this one is in a safe place. As you can see the bees love it too.

Native Rosella; Native Hibiscus (Hibiscus heterophyllus)

Native small tree to 6m high can also be grown in home gardens.
Adult Richmond Birdwing Butterfly (Ornithoptera richmondia) have been seen feeding on the nectar of its flowers.

False Sarsparilla; Native Lilac (Hardenbergia violacea)

Native scrambling vine suitable as a groundcover or to grow over logs or on a small trellis.
It is also the food plant for the larvae of the Common Grass Blue Butterfly
(Zizina labradus labradus)

Hovea (Hovea acutifolia)

After seeing (Hovea acutifolia) flowering in its natural habitat we went to the local Landcare Nursery to see if they had any for sale, which they did. It is a beautiful Native shrub to 4m high. The flowers and foliage make it an attractive plant for the garden.

Mountains, Mangroves and Mistletoe

Took a day trip down to the Sunshine Coast the other day to spend time with family who suggested we climb Mt Coolum, (207m). I did suggest Kayaks and Fishing as the weather forecast was for fine and calm seas. This suggestion was rejected, so climb the Mountain it was.
It seems as though everyone had the same idea, in my case attempt to climb the mountain, and no I did not make it to the top. I made it about 3/4 of the way. It was interesting to watch everyone else climb to the top and note how long they stayed there. Some must of just made it to the top to have a quick look and then come back down again. Kind of a waste that they did not take some time to look at the range of plants that the mountain had to offer, it seems they were more intent on the climb. After we came back down we had lunch and then went to the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary. This was a much easier walk through to the mangroves on a boardwalk and down to the river. After all the people at the mountain there was nobody at the Wetland Sanctuary, maybe they thought the mosquitoes would carry them away. There were no mosquitoes this time because of it being Winter unlike when we tried in Summer one year. That time we got out of the car then straight back in and left. You could see them coming to get you there was that many.
Just to finish up can anyone tell me when Wattle Day is, I thought it was September?

Striated Pardalote

Its that time again when the birds start to raise their young. These Pardalotes managed to find our dirt heap a couple of years ago that we were going to use to fill a garden bed with, and made it theirs for the breeding season.

In the last couple of days I have heard them calling around the place, the dirt heap is still there so hopefully they will try it out again. We feel the birds may as well use it until we get around to using it for ourselves plus it is another reason why we should leave it where it is. We will move it one day, but just not yet. As you will see they like to sit on a branch and check if everything is clear before going in to the nest, a different story when coming out though.