Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Growing Wild and Free




Blanketing the headland on our recent seaside holiday are these Golden Everlastings (Xerochrysum Bracteatum).
The flower is similar to the multi-coloured ones I grow in our home garden but the structure of the plant is rather different. The headland form has broad glossy leaves and stands only 20cm/8" high with the single flower heads raised slightly higher. Their bright yellow flowers dotted the headland, shining golden in the late afternoon light.




Can you see the single yellow flower facing seaward in the foreground? I can almost feel the fresh sea winds blowing.....





Growing in a slightly more sheltered spot on the headland I found these delightful little flowers - above in early morning light and below at dusk. These are commonly known as Beach Beans or Sword Beans, presumably due to the shape of their large seed pods which you can see developing below. Their scientific name is Canavalia Rosea.










A tiny flower braving the windswept headland, I don't know the name of this one.




In the bright morning light I had one last look around this headland. To my delight I was able to watch a Whistling Kite flying and preening as I snapped away. "Wild and Free" definitely applies to these large birds.







While the Whistling Kite soared overhead, bees buzzed amongst the Angular Pigface flowers, also known as Coastal Noonflower.

I love that we can each grow our choice of flowers in our own gardens yet there is a wonderful range of native plants which continue to flower and spread without help at all from any man, spreading beauty in each and every place we go.

Sharing at This or That Thursday, SkyWatch Friday, Saturday Sareenity, Weekend Flowers.

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the first photography! So beautiful.

geanina said...

the first photography is beautiful! great work :)

Giga said...

Bardzo lubię dziko rosnące kwiaty, a jeszcze na morzem, które uwielbiam - cudowne. Piękne zdjęcia.Pozdrawiam.***I like wild flowers, and even the sea, which I love - wonderful. Beautiful pictures. Yours.

Joop Zand said...

AMAZING SHOTS...... i love this wonderful work.....my compliments Karen.

Greetings, Joop

Rosanna Maisch said...

Wow, welch grossarte Bilder!

Vielen Dank für Deinen Kommentar zu meinem Haiku "Raufrost"...

Herzlichst Rosanna

Hootin Anni said...

These ALL are sublime images!! Why, they take my breath away!

Walking in Sunshine is my Wednesday Link.

Lisa Gordon said...

How beautiful each of these are!
I especially love the first one.
It is extra special to me since it is only about 2 degrees above 0 here right now! Reminds me of a warm summer day!

HANS-PETER ZÜRCHER said...

Eine fantastische Fotoserie...

Liebe Grüsse aus der Schweiz

Hans-Peter

Judy said...

Your photos are always so amazing!

Sylvia K said...

Such glorious beauty with the water and beaches, the flowers/colors and the happy bird in the air and you've captured them all superbly as always!! Such a lovely way to start my day! Thank you for sharing it all with us! Hope your week is going well!

Sylvia

Gina Kleinworth said...

Those are gorgeous- but WOW that view too!!!! Never get tired of looking at the ocean.

Ruby said...

Beautiful shots!

Unknown said...

So many beautiful photos here!! That flower in the first shot is Gorgeous..

Hugs, Linda

Wenche said...

Oh what a color, in the first shot i mean. Its always inspiring looking at your blog - you always find the beauty around you....im hoping to get closer to this beautiful surroundings of yours soon :0) Have a nice day ! :0)

Ocean Soul said...

thanks for taking me to the ocean! I could feel and smell the ocean breeze! That yellow flower standing alone and facing seaward...there's an analogy in there.

Marijke said...

Brr, I wish I could have your climate here even it was for one week. The snow and ice is bringing a whole lot of joy for children and iceskaters overhere. The vieuw is beautiful and you did capture everything great.
gr. Marijke

mariondejong said...

Beautiful landscapes, excellent captures!
Best regards, marion

- Yvonaut -
Das sind Raphael und Yvonne
said...

Hey there
Beautiful series! Very nice pictures!
Greetings from Switzerland
Yvonne & Raphael

FilipBlog said...

What a nice area to have a walk.

Greetings,
Filip

Rena said...

These "hidden", unknown flowers are obviously mostly for His pleasure since humans rarely notice them! I love the first pic of the sun shining on that yellow flower and the fantastic one of the kite bird. As always, you've captures these beauties of His creation so well.
Rena

Gillian Olson said...

Beautiful pictures. What an amazing variety of flowers growing by the ocean, the flower on the "bean" plant almost looks like a sweet pea flower.

francesca said...

Bei fiori, bei colori e bello il mare. Belle foto! Paesaggio che amo.
Grazie per la visita.
Francesca

Nadege, said...

Wow, lovely scenery and the wild flowers are so sweet. Love your capture of the bird.

Talibra said...

Piękne kwiaty, piękne zdjęcia.
Pozdrawiam.

Linda said...

how wonderful!!

eileeninmd said...

Beautiful series of photos. The scenery and flowers are gorgeous!

Rajesh said...

Beautiful. Love those flowers and scenic landscapes.

Anna said...

What a great pictures Sunshine!
I love the flowers but also the landscape pics...
Happy weekend!
Greetings from a cold Holland,
Anna :-)

Liz said...

These are all such beautiful shots!
It looks like such a lovely part of the coast. Great scenery and lovely flower shots. Thanks for identifying the Canavalia Rosea. :)
Bravo on your Whistling Kite shot... awesome!!

Tatjana Parkacheva said...

Beautiful photos.

Regards and best wishes

Bethany said...

Beautiful shots! I LOVE the first one!

Tito Eric said...

The lead photo is my favorite. I love the composition.

Unknown said...

Such beautiful surroundings! And your captures are great!

Regina said...

Such beautiful scenes!
Happy weekend.

SportyMummy said...

Such a beautiful place! I so love that you stop to notice, and share the beauty around you...so many people just don't seem to notice....

Laura said...

beautiful!

Jama said...

Love that first flower!

Tina´s PicStory said...

i really love your serie from flowers and landscapes! very beautiful :) thanks

Red Nomad OZ said...

I thought RED was my favourite colour - but after seeing the detail and the context of that amazing yellow flower I might just change my mind!!!

Deno said...

Great photos! I really like the angle of the first one with it's DOF and the sun in the background.

Aiketa said...

Wow, these pictures are all amazing!!!
I specially loved the first one. This flower is so beautiful!

Unknown said...

wat a beautiful post. i absolutely loved the presentation of the sunflower and the sun breaking thru! n also loved the kite and the bees on flowers shots!

my sincere apologies on visiting so late and thank you for contributing to Saturday Sareenity.

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