FFF377 - VALENTINE ROSES

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Roses have traditionally been associated with love and romance. The symbolism varies depending on the colour of the rose and how many roses are given.

• Red roses symbolise love and romance;
• Pink roses symbolise gratitude, grace, admiration, and joy;
• Orange roses symbolise enthusiasm and passion;
• Yellow roses symbolise friendship;
• White roses symbolise innocence and purity;
• Lilac/blue roses symbolise the ideal;
• Deep red/Black roses symbolise passion and lust.

Though in most cases, roses are tied to love, you can send a specific romantic message by the number of roses you send.

• One rose symbolises love at first sight;
• Two roses symbolise shared and deep love;
• Three roses say “I love you”;
• Six roses say “I want to be yours”;
• Seven roses say “I’m infatuated with you”;
• Nine roses symbolise eternal love;
• Ten roses say “You’re perfect”;
• Twelve roses say “You are precious to me”;
• 50 roses say “My love knows no bounds”.

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FFF376 - EURYOPS

Euryops chrysanthemoides (with the common names African bush daisy or bull's-eye) is a small shrub native to Southern Africa that is also grown as a horticultural specimen in tropical to subtropical regions around the world. It occurs in the Eastern Cape, along the coast and inland, to KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Swaziland. It is usually found on forest edges, in riverine bush and in ravines, as well as in coastal scrub, grassland and disturbed areas.

It is a compact, densely branched, leafy, evergreen shrub, 0.5 to 2m in height. The species was moved to Euryops from the genus Gamolepis on the basis of chromosome counts. It is a ruderal weed in New South Wales, although it is not weedy in all places where it is cultivated or has naturalised. This particular variety is Euryops chrysanthemoides 'African Sun'.

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FFF375 - GREVILLEA

Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the protea family Proteaceae, native to rainforest and more open habitats in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Indonesia and Sulawesi. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville.

The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 50 cm tall to trees 35 m tall. Common names include grevillea, spider flower, silky oak, bottle brush and toothbrush plant. Closely related to the genus Hakea, the genus gives its name to the subfamily Grevilleoideae.

The brightly coloured, petal-less flowers consist of a calyx tube that splits into 4 lobes with long styles. They are good bird-attracting plants, honeyeaters in particular are common visitors. They are also used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Dryandra Moth.

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FFF374 - MICHELIA

Michelia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the magnolia family (Magnoliaceae). The genus includes about 50 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, native to tropical and subtropical south and southeast Asia (Indomalaya), including southern China. The Magnoliaceae is an ancient family; fossil plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae date back 95 million years.

A primitive aspect of the Magnolia family is that their large, cup-shaped flowers lack distinct petals or sepals. The large non-specialised flower parts, resembling petals, are called tepals. The leaves, flowers, and form of Michelia resemble Magnolia, but the blossoms of Michelia generally form clusters among the leaves, rather than singly at the branch ends as Magnolia does.

Popular in Melbourne is a relatively new hybrid of Michelia, called 'Fairy Magnolia'. This is designated Michelia x MicJUR01 and was bred in New Zealand by Mark Jury in the late 1990s. It produces masses of beautiful fragrant flowers blushed with lilac-pink in early Spring. These plants are so free flowering that they have a flower bud at each leaf axil and have been known to provide a light flush of flowers during summer too. The plants are bushy with rich evergreen foliage, which makes them ideal in the garden as a flowering hedge or specimen plant.

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FFF373 - SARACA

Saraca thaipingensis is medium sized, evergreen tree with a wide-spreading crown, which grows to a height of 7 m or more. Leaves are simple pinnate, large, with up to 8 pairs of opposite, 20-40 x 6-12 cm leaflets but without a terminal one. Young leaves are cream-coloured, hanging limply in tassels for a few days before they stiffen and turn green.

Flowers are 1-2 cm across, faintly fragrant, in dense bunches that arise from the trunk and main branches, making for an unusual and spectacular display. They are light pinkish yellow turning deep yellow with a dark crimson eye spot which darkens to blood-red. Most of the flowers in a cluster are functionally male, the others bisexual. Pods are large, 30-45 x 6-10 cm, thin, flat and leathery. They turn purple with maturity, splitting into two coiled halves to expose the flat, black seeds.

This is an attractive flowering tree for parks and gardens. When in bloom, the tree attracts masses of nectar feeding sunbirds like Purple-throated (Nectariniua sperata), Crimson (Aethopyga siparaja), Olive-backed (Cinnyris jugularis) and Brown-throated (Anthreptes malacensis) as well as the Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica). The tree is native to Peninsular Malaysia, but is cultivated in a number of tropical countries. The specimen here was photographed in the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

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FFF372 - ROSA 'FRIESIA'

Rosa 'Friesia' (synonyms: 'Sunsprite'; 'KORresia') is a rose variety developed by Reimer Kordes and introduced in 1973. The rose was derived from the cultivars 'Friedrich Wörlein' × 'Spanish Sun', and is one of the most successful floribunda roses. It was named 'Friesia' after the region Frisia (Friesland), the home of the breeder, and was one of the first roses to be given a code name (KORresia for Kordes).

Its sunny yellow blooms are large and flat with 17 to 25 waved petals, reaching an average diameter of 8 cm and have a very strong fragrance. The high-centred flowers appear solitary or in small clusters in a blooming period lasting from June to September. Their bright yellow colour hardly changes with age. The flower is not well suited as a cut flower as it has short stems and only lasts for a short period of time after cutting.

The plant has light-green, glossy leaves, forms upright, bushy shrubs with about 40 to 75 cm height and up to 60 cm width, is very disease resistant and hardy (USDA zone 6b) and can be grown on the ground or in containers. It is used as a parent rose, leading to cultivars such as Rosa 'Sun Flare' (Warriner 1981) and 'Morden Sunrise' (Davidson & Collicutt) 1991.

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FFF371 - ROSA 'BOSCOBEL'

Rosa 'Boscobel' is a vigorous and healthy variety from David Austin English roses, and is an upright shrub with dark green, glossy foliage. It produces perfectly formed rich salmon rosettes. These delightful blooms are upward-facing and carried on strong stems. An exceptional medium size shrub that is quick to establish. Repeat flowering from late spring to autumn.  It has a strong fragrance (complex myrrh) and will prove to be an irresistible addition to your garden once you've seen it and smelt it.

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FFF370 - IVY FLOWERS

Hedera helix (common ivy, English ivy, European ivy, or just ivy) is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, native to most of Europe and western Asia. A rampant, clinging evergreen vine, it is a familiar sight in gardens, waste spaces, on house walls, tree trunks and in wild areas across its native habitat. It is labeled as an invasive species in a number of areas where it has been introduced.

The flowers are produced from late summer until late autumn, individually small, in 3-to-5 cm-diameter umbels, greenish-yellow, and very rich in nectar, an important late autumn food source for bees and other insects. The fruit are purple-black to orange-yellow berries 6–8 mm in diameter, ripening in late winter, and are an important food for many birds, though somewhat poisonous to humans. One to five seeds are in each berry, which are dispersed after being eaten by birds.

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BEST WISHES TO EVERYONE FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON!

MAY THE NEW YEAR 2019 BE FULL OF HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND REPLETE WITH FLOWERS!

FFF369 - LACEBARK TREE

Brachychiton discolor is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia in the family Sterculiaceae. It grows in drier rainforest areas, scattered from Paterson, New South Wales (32° S) to Mackay, Queensland (21° S). There's also an isolated community of these trees at Cape York Peninsula. Common names include Lacebark Tree, Lace Kurrajong, Pink Kurrajong, Scrub Bottle Tree, White Kurrajong, Hat Tree and Sycamore.

An attractive tree up to 30 metres tall featuring pink flowers without petals. The trunk is straight, grey and cylindrical, up to 75 cm in diameter. Not buttressed at the base. Twigs hairy, brown and smooth. Leaves are hairy; lobed in three, five or seven points, 10 to 20 cm in diameter. Whitish underneath, dark green above. Leaf veins visible on both sides.

Flowers form from November to February. The flowers are pink, almost without stalks, 3 to 4 cm in diameter. Separate male and female flowers occur, without petals. The fruit is a hairy boat-shaped follicle maturing from December to July. It is 7 to 20 cm long, containing up to 30 seeds, 9 mm long. Germination from fresh seed occurs without difficulty. It is widely planted as an ornamental tree. Wood used as shields by Indigenous Australians. The roasted seeds are edible by humans.

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I would like to extend to you my best wishes for the Festive Season. If you celebrate Christmas, may you have a peaceful and happy time together with those you love.

FFF368 - ORIENTAL LILIES

Lilium (members of which are true lilies) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the Liliaceae family growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics. Many other plants have "lily" in their common name but are not related to true lilies.

Oriental lilies seen here, are based on hybrids within Lilium section Archelirion, specifically Lilium auratum and Lilium speciosum, together with crossbreeds from several species native to Japan, including Lilium nobilissimum, Lilium rubellum, Lilium alexandrae, and Lilium japonicum. They are fragrant, and the flowers tend to be outward facing. Plants tend to be tall, and the flowers may be quite large. The whole group are sometimes referred to as "stargazers" because many of them appear to look upwards.

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