Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Lilly Pilly































Lilly pillies are Australian evergreen rainforest plants. There are many varieties of lilly pilly ranging in size from under one metre high to over five metres tall. Their flowers and berries come in several colours. All the berries are edible but not many are very pleasant to eat.

The photos of the flowers and berries above were taken in our yard from October through to late January (spring-summer). The new foliage on this growing lilly pilly is a delightful blushing pink.

Native Aborigines used lilly pillies for their medicinal properties as well as eating the berries. Today lilly pillies are commonly used for hedges and shrubbery. 



Sharing at Weekend Flowers, Nurture Photography.

58 comments:

Jenni said...

So beautiful pictures!!!! I love these! I hope you frame these to your wall!

Karen Lakis said...

The pink berries are so pretty! I can't think of any plant around here that is anything like that.

Susan said...

Your photography is stunning! The fourth photo is so delicate- like a watercolor! I had forgotten how lovely the lily pily is!

diane b said...

They are one of my favourite trees. We have a few in our yard. I love the red berries at Christmas. Great shots.

Elise Lea said...

Beautiful shots as always, and very interesting plants. I don't believe we have anything like those close to me.

Connie Smiley said...

So gorgeous! It's always like a breath of fresh air coming to this spot. Thank you!

Deer and turkeys won't charge you; they are wary of humans, and will run or fly away when they see you.

May said...

It's my first time seeing Lilly Pilly. They look very succulent. Do you prepare jams or jellies with the fruit?

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Hi May. I've not heard of people making jams from the fruit. The fruit is rather tart and floury in taste. I guess if we didn't have an abundance of other fruits then we may acquire a taste for them. Most varieties aren't nice to eat.

Beth said...

The photos are beautiul!!

geanina said...

fantastic shots! :)

Cinzia said...

Beautiful color, very very beautiful!
Cinzia

Sylvia K said...

Delightful captures and such lovely color! I love the name!! Hope your week is going well!

Anna said...

Such a beautiful plant, Karen and those colors... love it very much!
Warm greetings from Holland,
Anna

flowersandhome said...

You have such wonderful names for things in Australia, like this again also: Lilly Pilly, lovely name. Would that come from adopting words from the Aboriginals into English?
Marian

amanda said...

They're beautiful!
Our daughter's name is Lilly.. I will have to show her these.
I love new bits of information, thanks for introducing this plant to us!

Rosemary said...

They may not taste good but they are candy for the eyes! Your photos are brilliant :)

Gillian Olson said...

I really like the new growth in blushing pink. The berries almost seem to have little faces. Thanks for sharing this I have never heard of this plant before.

Marijke said...

Such a beautiful schrub I love the flowers pink berry's and it's folliage. What a treasure you have in your garden Karen.
Have a wonderful day.

Jana said...

I am in love with the first and last pictures...do you know what exactly were the aborigines using them for?

Barb said...

So delicate. Lovely macros.

Fun60 said...

What a great series of photos. I've never heard of this plant but can see why it would be a popular hedge shrub.

Anonymous said...

Such pretty pics, love the colors!

TheChieftess said...

Ohhhh boy!!! Great shots!!! But my favorite is that fourth one...

FilipBlog said...

Excelllent macro's like the pink balls.

Greetings,
Filip

Dee said...

Oh lovely! Thanks for the plant info too! I love learning something new every day!

Unknown said...

I planted lilly pily's in my previous garden with the idea to make lilly pilly jam but never got around to it!

Rosemary Aubut said...

Oh so very pretty! Well done!

Silvina Soave said...

Fotos excelentes!!!!
Un abrazo grande.

Jennifer {Studio JRU} said...

so, so pretty!! i love pink and green together! :)

Unknown said...

Karen,
I love your blog. I love your photography. I love your Lilly Pilly..and it looks like it would be a sweet tasting berry. I want one! LOL!

Gail Dixon said...

They're so sweet! Almost looks like bits of candy. :) Your photos of them are lucious.

Unknown said...

Absolutely gorgeous pictures Karen!

Carraol said...

Beautiful pieces of Nature, great images!

Evelyn ~ Indigo Beach Art said...

All such very beautiful images ♥

Lisa Gordon said...

Karen, these are gorgeous!

Cathy said...

How poetic to give a plant such a name as lilly pilly...that's even a delight to say. With my southern accent it is really fun. I can imagine with your beautiful Australian accent it would be even better.

At first glimpse, I was thinking the fruit reminded me of unripe blueberries, especially when the berries are only slightly pink.

Anonymous said...

I have never seen new foliage in pink. So surprising and quite pretty. Thanks for sharing.

Pieni Lintu said...

these are so lovely! <3

sweetbriardreams said...

Such a beautiful colour. I had never heard of these. Chel

Tina´s PicStory said...

wonderful macros! thanx for sharing with us :)

Ingmarie We said...

Fantastic photos! Have a nice weekend.

Tony said...

Muy buena serie. Para mí la mejor la primera, ya que se ve todos los detalles...saludos Tony

Nancy said...

What an unusual name and delicious shade of pink.

maryandpatch.blogspot.com said...

The pictures are breathtaking! Congratulations. A discovery, I didn't this fruit!

Unknown said...

The berries are beautiful and your photos are just gorgeous. I've never seen a pink berry.

Rod said...

You can turn those into a Jam or Jelly! I tried to do that a few years ago but I didn't have enough berries. Oh well.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Thanks Rod. I guess some sweetening would make all the difference to their taste too. I wouldn't have had enough berries to try jam making either.

Dorothy said...

Stunning photography. Your photos always blow me away.

Have a wonderful weekend. xx

Unknown said...

Gorgeous shots!

The Editrix said...

Grandma made lilly pilly jam. I can remember picking ice-cream-container-fulls of them with her on holidays at W. And I really like the taste of lilly pillys - or at least, I did then. They look so succulent and pretty, they were irresistable to my 7-year-old self (or however old I was then)!

alicia said...

Those berries are sure unique and make for such a cool photo op! Really love the first one! Thanks so much for sharing and linking to our Nurture Photography Challenge this week!

Cristina Ferreira said...

Não conhecia, que lindo!!!

Vision By Mila said...

that's a funny name, lilly pilly.. hihi

Creating Through LIFE said...

How fun! I wish we had a plant like that here.

thefisherlady said...

Thank you for a wonderful lesson on
lilly pillies! That will definitely stick in my brain right alongside a big smile!

Maarit said...

Lovely pictures! I have to come back to your blog with better time. I would love to travel Australia some day!

Best Regards from Finland!

Kristi Bonney said...

Ahhhhhhhhhh! I squealed my way through your post of gorgeous photos! These are all so lovely. And gorgeous color too!

Thanks so much for sharing these in the Nurture Photography Challenge! I can't wait to see what you come up with for our new theme: Ivory/Dream!

P.S. Sorry for stopping by so late. Unfortunately, there was a death in my family and I just didn't feel up to visiting blogs right away. I hope you'll understand. :)

Liz said...

Beautiful images, Karen!!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...