IN THE MISTY MOONLIGHT...

Early Monday morning I was travelling to work when I saw a huge cactus in flower. I nearly cricked my neck trying to get a better look. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to park nearby and quite a bit of following traffic so, reluctantly, I resumed my trip to the salt mine. I checked it out on my way home that afternoon however all the flowers looked spent.  I resolved to get out of bed early Tuesday in hopes that this was not one of those cactus that flowers once in a blue moon for one night.

Naturally, I forgot all about it next morning until about 9am and was disappointed to find that the blooms were still looking spent.  All was not lost though, because I had a late shift on Tuesday and as I drove by slowly on the way home around 11pm, was delighted to see the flowers were out in all their glory.  Hurray!  One illegal U turn later, there I was trying to look nonchalant.  Everyone takes photos of flowers in the middle of the night, yes?

 I could discern a very slight fragrance but not altogether sure it was coming from the cactus as the garden had other plants I couldn't see which may have been responsible for that. I did stick my nose in one flower but couldn't smell anything. I love the buttery glow that the moonlight (and nearby street light) has given the blooms.    Below you can see what the flash did.  Yukk!  But gives you an idea of the size of the plant.  I had a plan to return another morning but last night could see there were very few flowers left blooming.  Besides, it was raining this morning.  Rain, glorious rain!

THE SIDESHOW BOB TREE

This tree has become a family favourite although we've taken a liberty with the name, given because of the way the flowers fall like Sideshow Bob's hair, albeit a different colour. It's actually commonly called the Ivory Curl Tree , is native to Queensland and has a subtly delicious fragrance, much loved by bees.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

After the snowflake tree (post below) I was quite taken to see this magnificent red poinsettia on my walk this morning. This example is quite a compact shrub and the flowers are large and look like the red bows you'd see on a Christmas tree; the shrubs are often a bit leggy looking with smaller flowers than these. I couldn't help thinking it's a shame the owners haven't planted a snowflake as well, how good would that look? Poinsettia are out everywhere at the moment here in Queensland (or my part of it anyway) and in a few different colours. On my drive to work I see a couple a different reds, doubles, a cream and an apricot colour but the lighter colours (top) don't have quite the same impact do they? These plants also have an insignificant flower and the colour is provided by bracketing leaves.