Sunday Selections # 342

Welcome back to Sunday Selections.

Begun way back in the mist of time by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock and now continued by me, with a drastic relaxation of rules.


Originally meant for showcasing old photos lost on your files, never seeing the light of day, the meme has morphed into photos of your choice, new or old, good or not-so-good, anything you please, but nothing rude please.


If you are participating, please leave me a comment so I can buzz along and have a look.
Elephant's Child always participates, and her pictures are always worth seeing.


We're going floral today, with a fiery finish. Many of you northern hemisphere people may not be familiar with our Australian "Wattle" which is often the first sign that spring is on the way, even when days are cold and nights are frosty. Without any actual frost in my area.

this is the first wattle I've seen since last spring, it's hanging over the fence near where I wait for the bus.

this one blooms a few weeks before the lemon scented one near our community centre, where the weekly barbecues are held.

as always, when I'm photographing anything floral, the wind picked up, so this shot is blurry, but how fabulous is that blue sky?

Here's a close up, if you enlarge for a better look, you'll see the blossoms on this variety are more fan shaped than tiny fuzzy balls.

here we have several shades of Aussie green and gold against our blue winter sky.

looking up through the high branches on what I believe is a spruce tree.

a few of the rose bushes are bravely putting forth some blooms,

glorious rich yellow,

with the promise of more to come

pretty in pink 

I thought this white geranium was looking rather lush, then noticed it is actually two bushes,

with the one behind being a salmon pink variety which always looks orange in photos, but the pink can be seen at the edge of the petals in the lowest blossom.

And now for the fiery finish:  a sunrise that greeted my daughter, "no-one" on her way to work a couple of weeks ago. Sent to me via her i-phone.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Comments

  1. A truly splendid collection of photos.

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  2. I still have trouble wrapping my head around the fact that your seasons don't have the same intensity as ours. Lovely, lovely flowers already!

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    Replies
    1. Sharon; our winter doesn't have your intensity, but I'm sure our summers do. We have many winter flowering plants because we don't get the cold snowy temperatures.

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  3. Spring--what a grand thought. The wattle is wonderful.

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    Replies
    1. Joanne; I'm ready for the days to get warmer, if only we could stay in spring and skip summer then have autumn again.
      Some of our wattles have deeper colour, more gold than yellow, but they aren't flowering yet.

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  4. Hello River, I hope your weekend is going well.
    Fabulous collection of photographs here, a joy to look at ...
    Many thanks

    All the best Jan

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    Replies
    1. Lowcarb team member; thank you. Weekend is going as well as always, lots of lazing around and some cooking. Beef potroast today.

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  5. Just as I expected--beautiful!!

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    Replies
    1. fishducky; thank you. I'm pleased to meet your expectations.

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  6. LOVE your wattles - which are a very different colour to ours. Yours appears lemon, while ours (the Cootamundra wattle) are brighter.
    And the sky which no-one sent you is glorious.

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    Replies
    1. Elephant's Child; we have some brighter wattles here, but they don't seem to be in my area. No-one's sky was about 6.30 one morning.

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  7. Stunning sky photo. I agree with EC. Your wattles are different. Ours are bright yellow and when in the bush last weekend, they were blooming everywhere. They would be at their peak this weekend, I think, that is if the blooms haven't blown off them in this terrible wind this Sunday morning. It is also a wattle festival day at a nice almost country town at the end of a suburban train line. Normally steam trains run for the day.

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    Replies
    1. Andrew; wattle blooms don't seem to blow off as easily as other flowers, so all the ones you saw are probably still in colour. I didn't know there was a wattle festival day anywhere. We have almond blossom day here in our southern suburbs, unless they've discontinued it.

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  8. Replies
    1. Author R.Mac Wheeler; no-one says thank you :)

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  9. What'll I do?

    Lovely shots, River...a bright start to the end of the week and the start of a new one.

    Have yourself a good week ahead...many many happy surprises come your way. Cuddles to Lola. :)

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    Replies
    1. Lee; an old story goes that once all the plants in Australia had been named by the newcomers, the wattle began blooming and they stood around scratching their heads (the people) saying 'what'll we call it?" and that's how the wattle got its name.
      Lola is not the cuddly type. I do grab her now and again and hold her a few seconds while I scratch her ears, but a few seconds is all I get.

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    2. She'll move at her own pace, River. One thing can be certain of...she knows she's found a loving home. :)

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  10. I love wattle but always enjoy it from a distance plays up with the nose.
    Wonderful skies.
    Merle............

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    Replies
    1. Merle; a lot of people have trouble with wattles, but not me. I have trouble with the Jasmine that usually starts blooming soon after the wattle. Our skies are so blue in the mornings, then clouded by 10am.

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  11. Very lovely promises of spring, I am not familiar with the Australian Wattle but really like what I see.

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    Replies
    1. Jimmy; they're glorious aren't they? You may know them as Acacia, I think.

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    2. Although they are quite a bit different, they both have grey-green foliage and fuzzy yellow blooms and I should probably google them to see the differences for myself.

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    3. You are right River, according to a quick search it appears the Acacia and Australian Wattle are in fact the same plant. Thank you for the information on this.

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  12. Beautiful photos! I love that rosebud, perhaps even more than a full bloom - there's just something about it that appeals. Thanks for sharing your blooms.

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