Just the flowers, ma'am

[Batty]

Those are beautiful, Del. I'd love to have them in my garden, as I wouldn't get tired of looking at them.

[Del]

I have a water wise garden in this house Batty, plants that require no water but very plain. I used to love gardening before the big drought came in 2007 and they wouldnt let us use any outside water so I thought this house was good for that. So I have some bromeliads down the side and some agapanthsis. The flowering native trees (mainly bottlebrush) add colour as does the boganvillea on the back fence. I planted about seven of these in a very small garden under the front stairs. Unfortunately they bloom at the same time as the summer storms hit so they either get hit with the storms and hail or as this time.. the heatwaves. Nice though. They are quite big flowers too and I usually get about four or five blooms to a plant.

[Catch-up]

Gorgeous! I was just looking at flowers in a catalog. Cruel to send those things out in the middle of winter.

[Broccolee]

I love the Aggie rose...have to see how much it is to get my hands on it...love roses,full stop.
Brianna says it looks like one of those weird flowers from Alice in Wonderland.
The duck orchids are so cute!

[Conforumist]

Wow Del, those are amazing!!

[Penfold]

Thank you Del, this thread is always worth bumping. Those flowers are amazing.

[Catch-up]

Just saw this in a catalog, Ketchup & Mustard Rose:

[Catch-up]

I would like to get these, Coconut Ice Sunflowers:

[AuntyVague]

That is a beauty Catch-up! You will have to post some pictures if you end up growing one

[Catch-up]

I will. I love sunflowers and this catalog we get has some really beautiful and different ones. I'd like to grow a bunch of different ones actually.

[Penfold]

I missed out on the sunflower farm last year due to a combination of health and weather but I shall definitely make the attempt this year (it's quite a walk to get there but very scenic doing so).

[Catch-up]

I would love to see a sunflower farm! There's a woman at the market who sells bouquets of sunflowers. She has some dark purplish ones.

[spideyGirl]

Lovely pics guys

[Del]

This is genuinely a real flower. Psychotria elata, also known as "hookers lips". I can't imagine why.

This should SO be the flower of choice for Valentines Day.

Hmmmm.... sunflower crops (farms). I remember visiting my brother years ago out west when he was working on the railway at a siding. He was a grain grader and inspector. The grain silos (whatever the season for what grain) were where he was and trains would come and deliver the grain to the silos and another train would load it and take it onward. He graded the grain to make sure it was up to spec.

All around him were hundreds of acres of huge sunflowers. Gorgeous. Then I noticed some of them quiver and suddenly PLOP! disappear! PLOP! Gone! Then I noticed it was happening everywhere. PLOP! PLIP! GONE!

He explained that with such a bountiful crop came bountiful rats! And they got bigger the longer the harvest lasted. RAT PLAGUE!!!!!! They would run at the stems and knock them down then eat the seeds. Now I have been through a mouse plague.... nasty nasty nasty!!!! but to think that monster sized RATS were in the same number terrified me. I finally convinced him that since I had driven 10 hours to visit him it might be a good idea for us to drive the extra 6 hours to town to have a nice meal and a cold beer.... no problem, no problem at all.

[jaznbonnie]

Hmm, it does remind me a bit of Mick Jagger.