Sunday Selections # 305

Welcome back to Sunday Selections.

Began 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 in 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.

I usually have a theme for the week and today we're just wandering around close to my home.

Angel is with us, 

pretending that he isn't watching every step we take.

this is my biggest echeveria, from which all the smaller ones have originated. Notice anything here?

It's flowering! I didn't know they did that.  😁

three stems on this side,

two more over here. Mike and Paddy, the miners, are hiding behind the flowers. I thought about moving them, but the flower stems will be cut eventually, then Mike and Paddy will be more visible again.

this miniature ground cover disappeared the first year I planted it, then popped up unexpectedly the next summer. It's flowering too and spreading...

way over to the pot on the steps!

I have self-seeded dwarf french marigolds about to flower,

two in the one pot. The almost bare stem in the middle there is the white geranium cutting from several weeks ago. It looks like it may not make it, this particular pot dries out much too fast; I'll move the geranium into a partly shaded area soon.
 

the pigface has made some strong growth,

this other succulent leaf is looking very browned off. I'm leaving it there, possibly just when I think it is dead, it may show a new baby leaf at the base. If not, I'll collect another leaf next time I'm out walking that way. And I'll photograph the plant, so maybe someone out there can tell me what it is.

the newest growth on this plant is a mass of tiny pink bubbles, they'll grow to look more like jellybeans, then longer leaves and the colour will change.

one of the pretty pink roses at the end of my front path.

we now have signs at each entrance to the complex warning motorists of the blue-tongue lizards that like to sunbake on the roadway. Many of the newer tenants haven't known about the lizards before, as they've moved into flats during the winter and spring when the lizards are still hibernating.

across the driveway from my garden is this tree with pretty, bright green new leaves

and pretty, feathered flowers.

here's a close-up, so you can see the 'feathering' is actually the stamens with yellow pollen tips. The tree was buzzing with hundreds of bees, but I couldn't catch one on camera, they were just too fast.

they begin as tight little round buds,

here's one beginning to open, you can see the stamens already pushing through.

when the flowers finish, the tree is left covered with tiny gum nuts, the dried base of each flower, which is now hard and woody.
 

they eventually fall to the ground creating a thick mulch which takes years to break down.

this whole area, which has two of these trees, is thickly carpeted with the gum nuts.

Next week, sulphur crested cockatoos.