FFF219 - BABY SUN ROSE

Aptenia cordifolia is a species of succulent plant in the Aizoaceae (iceplant) family known by the common names heartleaf iceplant and baby sun rose. Perhaps the most common plant seen under this name is actually Aptenia 'Red Apple', a hybrid with red flowers and bright green leaves, whose parents are A. cordifolia and A. (Platythyra) haeckeliana. The true species of A. cordifolia has magenta purple flowers and more heart-shaped, mid-green, textured leaves.

Native to southern Africa, this species has become widely known as a hardy ornamental plant. This is a mat-forming perennial herb growing in flat clumps on the ground from a woody base. Stems reach up to about 60 centimeters long. The bright green leaves are generally heart-shaped and up to 3 centimeters long. They are covered in very fine bumps. Bright pink to purplish flowers appear in the leaf axils and are open during the day. The fruit is a capsule just over a centimetre long.

The hybrid, Aptenia 'Red Apple', has, in some areas, escaped cultivation and now grows as an introduced species. Its far more vigorous growth and ability to root from small bits of stem makes it a poor choice for planting adjacent to wild lands as it can prove to be quite invasive and can become weedy.

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FFF219

1.	SUMMER BOUQUET	13.	Flowers from the furniture fair | JULIA	25.	andrea, italy	37.	ladyleemanila
2.	VIRGINIA SPIDERWORT	14.	JULIA | A colorful mix	26.	Maribels Garden	38.	Sara Chapman #3
3.	URN PLANT	15.	Shiju Sugunan	27.	Jeevan	39.	Heidrun
4.	SANDPAPER VINE	16.	Aquariann's Flower Friday	28.	DeniseinVA	40.	EA Photography
5.	Birgitta B	17.	HYACINTHS	29.	hapzydeco	41.	Ranu
6.	blooms+skies	18.	Dekotraum - Austria	30.	Gunilla	42.	Lenas Trädgårdsrum
7.	tom the backroads traveller	19.	Sara Chapman, Seattle USA	31.	la vita	43.	HoodPhoto OR-USA
8.	Abrianna	20.	Sara Chapman #2	32.	Chasing the Blooms	44.	Grønn fryd hos Monique
9.	Flowers in the kitchen	21.	RANUNCULUS	33.	Vilt og vakkert	45.	veredit
10.	Mascha	22.	Frauke {it's me!}	34.	Rose Garden Malevik	46.	naehmeise.blogspot.de
11.	Jesh StG	23.	Vform	35.	Dawn
12.	JULIA | Tulips	24.	Nicole/Frau Frieda	36.	CathyC, Adelaide

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FFF218 - NATIVE BLUE WATERLILY

Nymphaea violacea, also known as blue lily, is a waterlily in the family Nymphaeaceae and is native to Australia. It is found particularly in the Kimberleys and in northern parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory. The waterlily is a bush tucker of the Aborigines in northern Australia. The tuber, stem, flowers and seeds are all edible.

Nymphaea violacea is a floating perennial herb growing from a rhizome in the mud of the pond base. Leaves are broadly egg-shaped to circular with a split at the base to the point of the stalk attachment, 6-29 cm x 7-23 cm, dark green above, purplish or paler green beneath, smooth. The leaf margins are wavy but not toothed. The flowers are violet, blue or white.

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FFF218

1.	LACEBARK TREE	12.	Jutta K. Germany	23.	PAPAVER NAUDICALE	34.	Cloudia Lily
2.	PANSIES	13.	Camellia -Jesh StG	24.	Anne Seltmann	35.	Katarina - Sweden
3.	COSMOS	14.	Angie Rose | Winter Flowers	25.	andrea, italy	36.	Lenas Trädgårdsrum
4.	PASSIONFLOWER	15.	Norrskenets Trädgård in Sweden	26.	Maribels Garden	37.	EA Photography
5.	CARNATIONS	16.	A Guide to Northeastern Gardening	27.	Vilt og vakkert	38.	veredit
6.	Heidrun	17.	Cath@Home - Tasmania	28.	hapzydeco	39.	Rose Garden Malevik
7.	Tom The Backroads Traveller	18.	Aquariann's Flower Friday	29.	Dawn	40.	ladyleemanila
8.	JULIA | Spring Flowers	19.	Liz Needle	30.	DeniseinVA	41.	Ranu
9.	Abrianna	20.	Dekotraum - Austria	31.	amy Johnson	42.	Valentine message in a bouquet
10.	Mascha	21.	naehmeise.blogspot.de	32.	Ingmarie We/Refugium	43.	Zauberpalme
11.	garden snaps	22.	Aletta - nowathome	33.	Nicole/Frau Frieda	44.	maritabw macht's möglich

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FFF217 - SHASTA DAISIES

Leucanthemum × superbum (or Shasta daisy) is a commonly grown flowering herbaceous perennial plant with the classic daisy appearance of white petals (ray florets) around a yellow disc, similar to the oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare Lam. but larger.

Shasta daisies are characterised by a distinct odour which some find unpleasant. It originated as a hybrid produced in 1890 by the American horticulturist Luther Burbank from a number of daisies. First, he crossed Leucanthemum vulgare with Leucanthemum maximum (Ramond) DC.; this double hybrid was itself crossed with Leucanthemum lacustre (Brot.) Samp. The resulting Leucanthemum triple hybrid was crossed with Nipponanthemum nipponicum (Franch. ex Maxim.) Kitam., creating an intergeneric cross of species from three continents.

It was named after Mount Shasta, because its petals were the colour of the snow. Some members of the genus are considered noxious weeds, but the Shasta daisy remains a favourite garden plant and ground-cover. Many cultivars are suitable for cut flowers, such as 'Becky', 'Esther Read', 'Silberprinzesschen' (Silver Princess), 'Snow Lady', 'Tinkerbell', 'Wirral Pride', 'Wirral Supreme'. The cultivar 'T.E. Killin' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The illustrated variety is 'Snowdrift', which we have growing in our garden.

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FFF217

1.	CORYMBIA	12.	Jesh StG	23.	veredit	34.	Lenas Trädgårdsrum
2.	IVY FLOWERS	13.	andrea, italy	24.	bij jen	35.	Rose Garden Malevik
3.	ICEBERG ROSE	14.	Shiju Sugunan	25.	Nicole/Frau Frieda	36.	Cath@Home in Tasmania
4.	Tom The Backroads Traveller	15.	Andrea, POG	26.	Aquariann's Five Spot	37.	Alexa T
5.	FUCHSIA	16.	Romi	27.	hapzydeco	38.	Heidrun
6.	Norrskenets Trädgård in Sweden	17.	Dekotraum - Austria	28.	Fall Flowers of Winter Park	39.	Regina
7.	Abrianna	18.	purple!	29.	Mama Zen	40.	photographing New Zealand
8.	JULIA	19.	naehmeise.blogspot.de	30.	Ulla Laiho	41.	bjorgnina
9.	ladyleemanila	20.	Synnöve	31.	Mascha	42.	Alexa T
10.	Villroses hage	21.	Frauke ... it's me! | Germany	32.	Sara Chapman, Seattle USA	43.	Zauberpalme
11.	Katarina - Sweden	22.	Around the world	33.	Dawn

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FFF216 - SUNFLOWER

Helianthus annuus, the common sunflower, is a large annual forb of the genus Helianthus (family Asteraceae) grown as a crop for its edible oil and edible fruits (sunflower seeds). This sunflower species is also used as bird food, as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), and in some industrial applications.

The plant was first domesticated in the Americas. Wild Helianthus annuus is a widely branched annual plant with many flower heads. The domestic sunflower, however, often possesses only a single large inflorescence (flower head) atop an unbranched stem. The name sunflower may derive from the flower's head's shape, which resembles the sun, or from the false impression that the blooming plant appears to slowly turn its flower towards the sun as the latter moves across the sky on a daily basis. Sunflower seeds were brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, where, along with sunflower oil, they became a widespread cooking ingredient.

The plant has an erect rough-hairy stem, reaching typical heights of 3 metres. The tallest sunflower on record achieved 9.17 metres. Sunflower leaves are broad, coarsely toothed, rough and mostly alternate. What is often called the "flower" of the sunflower is actually a "flower head" or pseudanthium of numerous small individual five-petaled flowers ("florets"). The outer flowers, which resemble petals, are called ray flowers. Each "petal" consists of a ligule composed of fused petals of an asymmetrical ray flower. They are sexually sterile and may be yellow, red, orange, or other colours.

The flowers in the centre of the head are called disk flowers. These mature into fruit (sunflower "seeds"). The disk flowers are arranged spirally. Generally, each floret is oriented toward the next by approximately the golden angle, 137.5°, producing a pattern of interconnecting spirals, where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers. Typically, there are 34 spirals in one direction and 55 in the other; however, in a very large sunflower head there could be 89 in one direction and 144 in the other. This pattern produces the most efficient packing of seeds mathematically possible within the flower head.

The angle 137.5° is related to the golden ratio (55/144 of a circular angle, where 55 and 144 are Fibonacci numbers) and gives a close packing of florets. This model has been used to produce computer graphics representations of sunflowers!

Join me for Floral Friday Fotos by linking your flower photos below, and please leave a comment once you have done so.

If you take part in the meme, please show an active link back to this site on your own blog post!

FFF216

1.	CORYMBIA	12.	Heidrun	23.	naehmeise.blogspot.de	34.	Ingmarie We/Refugium
2.	CHICKWEED	13.	Jesh StG	24.	WHITE BOUQUET	35.	Ulla Laiho
3.	WILD LEEK	14.	Villroses hage	25.	Lea's Menagerie	36.	bjorgnina
4.	FILAREE	15.	Shiju Sugunan	26.	Nicole/Frau Frieda	37.	andrea, italy
5.	Ela	16.	Minoru	27.	Jim, Sydney, Australia	38.	Kamemoir
6.	Tom The Backroads Traveller	17.	Cath@Home in Tasmania	28.	Aletta - nowathome	39.	Sara Chapman, Seattle USA
7.	Abrianna	18.	Pink ladys slipper ExplorationVacation	29.	My favorite weekend flower	40.	Anne-Mari
8.	ladyleemanila	19.	Heidrun	30.	moni (reflexionblog)	41.	Dawn
9.	Regina	20.	Dekotraum - Austria	31.	Aquariann's Flower Friday	42.	veta
10.	Katarina - Sweden	21.	The Tony Files	32.	bij jen	43.	WoollyMuses
11.	Jutta K. Germany	22.	Andrea, POG	33.	Sparkling	44.	ann 2

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