Nymphaeaare rhizomatous, submerged aquatic perennials with floating, rounded leaves and showy, sometimes fragrant, cup- or bowl-shaped flowers in a wide range of colours, held on or above the water and followed by submerged, berry-like fruits.
These water-lilies are in Kew Garden’s Victorian Waterlily House completed in 1852, which was specifically to showcase the giant Amazon waterlily (Victoria amazonica) – a natural wonder of the age.
The Nelumbonaceae (Lotus-lily) are from Sydney’s Botanic Garden (Australia) in the main and waterlily ponds close to the Palm Grove Centre.
Lotus flowers are considered sacred in China, Tibet and India and the lotus flower is symbolic in Hindu and Buddhist religions as lotus displays all the different stages of growth simultaneously – bud, flower and seed pod.
Denzil’s Nature Photo Challenge #21 | Water Plants
My kitchen is not the usual place you’ll find me with a camera, I’m more of an outdoor photographer with nature and flora my topics. But yesterday was a rainy day and I was feeling bored so I grabbed the camera and had a look around my kitchen.
It’s not a very tidy kitchen, surfaces have all sorts of appliances, jars and general ‘stuff’ on them. It’s not a normal kind of house being an extended and converted dairy milking stall so the kitchen is a kind of corridor linking the dining hall to the sitting room. No doors. And the cupboards are blue. Very blue. Nothing really matches – I still have things that belonged to my mother! And if it isn’t broken I never throw anything away.
I have tried to coordinate some of the new things I have bought like my Cornishware storage jars, but I’ll never win any design awards.
I have a lot of mugs even after giving dozens away to my daughter when we moved, and some have been bought by my grandchildren like the Gardeners one above. I use a plain white one for my herbal tea when I drink it. I had a thing for plain white crockery once.
But currently my morning cup of coffee is drunk from this new cup and saucer set. Definitely not blue. But very me…
I am not a fan of cacti though I have been known to have some in the house many years ago and when I lived in Cape Town we had some of the lovely Lithops in the garden which look like living stones. But they are succulents so not quite the same. One very tall cactus only flowered at night so there were many anxious evenings once a bud appeared. And I do recall a trough of cacti into which my son fell at the age of 18 months. It happened at night and I hadn’t realised that his hand was full of the spines when I washed it under the tap!
But back in 2009 – 2012 I was lucky enough to spend some time in San Diego and on one occasion went to visit Balboa Park – a definite must see if you are ever in SD. There are several gardens including a desert garden with magnificent cacti and succulents.
The 1935 (Old) Cactus Garden was developed under the direction of Kate Sessions for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition. It contains some of the largest cactus and succulent specimens in the Park and has also been developed to include the exotic African and Australian Protea plants.
In 2005 we decided on a trip to Canada, starting with a flight to Toronto, a train to Vancouver and a ferry over to the Island where we hired a car to get around to some amazing places. So join me on my Canadian trip of a lifetime.
Air: The following images are taken on coming in to land at Toronto as we circled right over the city. Sometimes even having a seat with a wing view can be interesting too.
Sunlight on Wing
Toronto’s CN Tower from the air
Tommy Thompson Park
Train: After a few days exploring Toronto and a quick trip down to Niagara Falls we joined the Canadian train departing from Union Station in the country’s largest city to cross through some of Canada’s most sparsely populated regions. On the first day the panorama changes from the glass skyscrapers of Toronto to the pine trees of Sioux Lookout. Day two took us to Edmonton, crossing Winnipeg River, the Prairies and the lakes of Whiteshell Provincial Park. On the third day the train steadily climbs through the foothills of the Rockies, crossing several rivers and glacial lakes of the most stunning colours. After Jasper the train winds its way through the Yellowhead Pass, the crest of which marks the border of Alberta and British Columbia. The Canadian is in sight of Mount Robson for 16 km before turning sharply south and descending. In the early hours of the morning the mountains suddenly fall away and the Canadian follows the flat green fields along the Fraser River. It arrives at the Pacific Railway Station in Vancouver after a long and astonishing journey.
Via Canada
A Sunset on the move
Grain silos in the Prairies
Boat: On reaching Vancouver the next step of our journey was to travel on the wonderful BC Ferries up and along the Sunshine Coast then over to Vancouver Island. I’m not a very good sailor, but would go on these ferries any time, and if you are lucky, as we were, you might catch a glimpse of a pod or two of Orcas.
Crossing to the Island
Looking Back
Just in Case…
Of course there are many other types of boats on Vancouver Island, so here are a few of the smaller ones.
Comox Harbour at sunset
Ferry Boat Victoria
Houseboat – Fisherman’s Wharf
Road: Of course the journey would not be complete without the use of our lovely Lincoln hire car. She enabled us to get off the highways and to more remote places that were not easily accessible by public transport. On and off ferries to explore the smaller islands of Hornby and Denman, over a logging route to visit Telegraph Cove, along the Pacific Rim coastline to Port Renfrew, Ucluelet and Tofino, and north to Alert Bay. But my first journeys in the car were in the environs of Vancouver – to the fabulous UBC Anthropology Museum, Van Dusen Gardens and over the Lions Gate Bridge to Grouse Mountain.
Logging Truck
Lions Gate Bridge
Arriving at the B&B
And of course there are many other methods of transport available in Canada. I hope you have enjoyed the ride 🙂
Over the Bank Holiday weekend I spent a couple of days visiting my daughter in Surrey. After a morning of gardening we decided to skip a visit to Wisley and instead head off to Richmond Park, one of the Royal Parks in London. It’s a place we’ve been to before when the grandchildren were small, but not for many years for me.
Isabella’s Plantation was a favourite spot with a pretty stream leading to a pond and stepping stones and tiny bridges for youngsters to enjoy, but it was rather disappointing to find it very overgrown with reeds, Greater Willow herb and Joe Pye Weed in particular. So much so that we couldn’t even see the stream and most of the ponds were hidden from view. I’m all for rewilding places, but they still require management and maintenance. However, it is still a popular place for families to find some peace and enjoy a picnic (relatively speaking as huge planes pass overhead constantly and the non-native ring-necked green parakeets screech above your head).
Isabella Plantation
Erica / Heather Garden
Lythrum salicaria / Purple Loosestrife
Greater Willowherb
Reed / Grass
Lythrum salicaria / Purple Loosestrife
Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata)
Erica
The Isabella Plantation is a 40 acre woodland garden set within a Victorian woodland plantation planted in the 1830’s. First opened to the public in 1953, it is best known for its evergreen azaleas, which line the ponds and streams and at their peak of flower in late April and early May. The site is managed very much with nature in mind and the gardens are run on organic principles. Native plants commonly grow alongside exotics throughout the Plantation. [source: Isabella Plantation]
I think spring time is probably the best season to visit this garden as there are many camellias and rhododendrons and azaleas planted and the native stuff would have died down over the winter.
Peg’s Pond Gate
We exited through Peg’s Pond Gate and walked around the perimeter of the garden under the large trees – oaks, beech, horse chestnuts – enjoying the filtered light and listening to the parakeets. It must have been a welcome shady place to be during the heatwave.
Dappled shade
On arriving back at the car park we decided to walk up to Pen Ponds in the centre of the park so the dog could have a run off the lead. You still need to be careful with your dog as there are deer roaming freely in the park and during May – August dogs must be kept on leads throughout the park.
Pen Pond Reflections
By the time we reached the ponds the sky had turned very black to the south, though still blue towards London. Despite the look of those clouds it didn’t rain a single drop.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
And we were lucky enough to see a few of the deer.
TRAVEL WORDS 