Live life 🙌🏼
Happy Friday everyone! Today’s flower of the day is the African daisy, spotted not in Africa but in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. They are sure to brighten even the darkest day!
Happy Tuesday everyone. I don’t normally post a flower of the day on a Tuesday but I just had to showcase this flower today!
I bought a plant a couple of months ago at the local markets, without even realising what it was and woke up this morning to find my very own walking iris in full bloom! For someone with notoriously brown thumbs, this little miracle made my day.
The walking iris gets its name from the way it “walks” across the garden, after flowering, new baby plants form on the stems, which eventually bend down and root themselves in the soil. A plant that practically grows itself?! Amazing for someone like me.
Happy Friday everyone. Below is my flower of the day and you can see why it is known as a treasure flower.
Part of Cee’s flower of the day challenge.
Happy Friday everyone! Today’s flower of the day is another Barbados Lily. I don’t usually post the same flower twice, as I had already posted one last week. However, even though this flower is the same species / family, I feel like the colours are completely different and deserve their own chance in the limelight. The colours are absolutely stunning and completely eye popping. These flowers were spotted at the weekend past when we went for a walk around Lilli Pilli, not far from us in the Shire (what a great name for a suburb). Anyway, enjoy your day everyone!
Happy Friday to you all. Don’t you just love when you walk along a dusty main road and find a beautiful floor somehow surviving and thriving.
Yesterday I was walking to work when I spotted these absolute beauties, Barbados Lillies (scientific name Hippeastrum puniceum), so vibrant and full of life. Have a good day everyone 🙂
Happy Friday everyone. Today’s flower is the Calla Lily. I went for a run this morning near our accommodation in Margaret River and was lucky to spot these flowers growing in the wild, never seen these growing like this before, magical.
A little info – The flowers are classic yellow “daisy” type, growing in dense clusters and the species is widespread on dunes and open spaces on Rottnest Island. They are recognised as part of the island’s wildflower displays, very prominent in the spring season.
Happy Friday everyone. Today’s flower was spotted in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland. Absolutely stunning to look at but looks can be deceiving. With some research I discovered this flower was introduced a long time ago and has thrived so well that it sometimes crowds out native plants, a reminder that not everything that looks attractive is harmless.
Happy Friday everyone. Today’s flower of the day is the gladiolus (sounds like something from Harry Potter) and it is from the Iris family. Known also as “sword lilies” due to their long, pointed leaves, which resemble a sword.
Inner strength and courage is much needed in these testing times. The world is very heavy at the moment and I fear I should stop watching the news as I am losing faith in humanity.
Happy Friday everyone! I was going through all my flower images this morning and thought I would post the last few roses that I have in my collection. After today, I will be roseless but I have so many other flower species to showcase. These roses were spotted in Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park in Belfast during their rose fair event that they hold annually.
Happy Friday everyone! I survived my stomach churning train journey this morning into the city and then walked to my workplace. It was a lovely morning and I managed to spot these wee beauties close to my work, nestled in the surrounding foliage.
They belong to the genus Rhododendron, and most evergreen types are native to Australia and Asia, especially Japan and China.They supposedly only flower in spring, which can mean only one thing here, spring has indeed sprung!
Happy Friday everyone!
The Belladonna lily spends much of the year looking like not much is happening, with its leaves gone and ground bare but then suddenly out of nowhere, tall stems rise and burst into bloom with vibrant pink flowers.
This flower jumped out at me this morning and made me think about hope. Hope that the weather improves and that next week will be less busy than this one has been. Ps. This isn’t an actually lily but rather belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family.
Enjoy your day everyone.
Happy Friday everyone! Today’s flower of the day is the Japanese camellia, which surprised me as I thought it was a rose. However, it is also known as Rose of Winter. Very fitting considering it is indeed still winter here in Sydney.
As you can see from the droplets of rain on the flower, our weather hasn’t improved much. They’re even saying now we could have a wet spring. Fingers crossed the bureau of meteorology are wrong. Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely weekend, whether you’re out and about or relaxing at home.
Happy Friday everyone! Today I am showing the Aloe Vera flower, spotted in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney. This flower is pretty special as it only appears once a year, in late winter to early spring, right about now in the southern hemisphere.
Happy Friday y’all. I am delighted to say I have that Friday feeling today as I am off tomorrow. It’s not often I can say that as I usually work Saturdays. Today I am showcasing the Chinese hibiscus as my flower of the day, spotted on our trip to Adelaide in the botanical gardens.
A little bit of info – Native to East Asia but now grown all over the world, this flower is more than a pretty face. In some cultures, it symbolizes delicate beauty, while in others it represents fame, glory, and even hospitality. It’s also the national flower of Malaysia, where it’s called the Bunga Raya.
Happy Friday everyone! Today’s flower of the day is the New Guinea impatiens. These flowers are vibrant, tropical flowers known for their bold colors and glossy foliage, originating from Papa New Guinea. These really caught my eye as they look so luscious and if you look closely you can see the raindrops on them as it was a very wet day. Can you also spot two famous landmarks in the background?
Happy Friday everyone. I spotted this stunning Mexican Lily here in Miranda and had to share as my flower of the day. What a beautiful flower to discover on the side of the road, the red colour is POPPING!
So it’s Friday, which means we get to showcase a flower of the day again. I have shown a bird of paradise flower before but never had I heard of a false bird of paradise! I think that’s hilarious. It’s called false as it is apparently similar to the bird of paradise but is a completely different species. Let me know your thoughts on their appearances.
I love them both but to me they look completely different!!!
It’s a little nod to Wayne’s World, but instead of ‘party time, excellent’ (if you are aware of the cult nineties classic) I will be diving into one WORD each day. It could be something I learned, something bizarre that happened, a favourite word that I have rediscovered or just a thought that won’t leave me alone.
If you’re joining in on today’s word, feel free to use this tag to connect your post to the series: #WaynesWord
Today’s word is HABIBI.
Today’s word is a term of endearment from the Middle East and simply means “my love” or “my dear.”
It isn’t just for people you love, in Arabic-speaking communities, habibi is used for friends, family, kids, even the guy who makes your coffee just right every morning. It’s affection packed into a single, beautiful word and can be thought of as of the equivalent of “darling” or “sweetheart,” but with more cultural soul and musicality.
I first heard it in my nursing profession, when some Arabic patients would call me habibi for looking after them as a term of gratitude. I heard it again today and I thought, yes that’s a fantastic word.
I thought I would tie in my word today with a flower of the day, seeing as it’s Friday. Today I am showcasing the classic red rose.
In many Middle Eastern cultures, red roses often symbolize romantic love, so they’re commonly used in music, poetry, and art alongside terms like habibi. For example: in Arabic love poetry and songs, phrases like “ya habibi” are often paired with floral imagery.
Thanks Sue and Gerry for this weekly prompt colour challenge! Being that it is pink today, I thought I had to participate as it is one of my favourite colours. I don’t own a lot of pink and too much can be overkill but I am partial to the odd pink flower or pink item of clothing.
I was taking a walk this morning after dropping my partner to work and I spotted numerous pink flowers on my route home, as well as a pink flower display in a shop window. It was obviously meant to be that they are shared today!
Have a great Sunday everyone! I am doing some work from home but the sun is splitting the trees so I’m hoping to get out for a bit after lunch.
Wayne
Hi everyone and happy Thursday! It’s been three weeks since my last doors post and I must say I have enjoyed the break. I was debating whether I should rename my doors series since hitting 100 posts but alas, I have continued on from where I left off, with this week being volume 101.
This week I wanted to show you all a fantastic place that I visited a couple of weekends ago in a beautiful place called Menangle, a small village in NSW, about an hour from where we live in the Shire. We have been to this village before when I spotted this great general store and I was dying to take a look inside and around but never had the chance. On this occasion, I purposefully parked nearby to take some photos and have a nosey.
This store was built in 1904 and quickly became an integral part of the local community. Over the years it has served as a barn, a general store, accommodation, an event space, a bottle shop and post office. Today it operates as a quirky coffee shop with an outdoor seating area and a beautiful flower shop attached with some local products for sale also. I was hoping for it to be a general store too but even without, it was a really stunning space and I couldn’t help but admire the architecture, craftsmanship and of course its doors. I also appreciated the Christmas feels that were on display here, even if the weather was stifling hot and couldn’t have felt any less Christmassy. We didn’t have time for a coffee this time but we will definitely be back.
Thanks for taking a look and have a great weekend everyone. My work is quietening down now towards Christmas so I will hopefully be more active on the old blog!
Wayne
Hi everyone and a happy Friday to you all. It’s been a while since I have posted a flower of the day but looking through my photo albums, I discovered that I have a copious amount of flowers to show case.
Today’s flower is the common hollyhock. I found this nestled against a wall when visiting my sister last year in Cambridgeshire. I loved the colour and the fact that it was sitting on its own. Simple yet effective. It is a stalk-flowering plant known for its height and beautiful flowers. Have you ever seen one of these?
I am also thinking of Cee and hoping that she returns to full health soon. She is always inspiring us to post flowers and for that I am grateful ☺️.
Wayne
Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to another week of doors. This week I only have the one door to show you, however, it’s a good’un, in my humble opinion.
We were visiting friends over the Easter weekend in one of our favourite spots, the Southern Highlands and I found this door in a very quaint little village called Berrima.
I also love the flowers in front of the door and they add a lot of value to the image. They are known as Japanese Thimbleflowers, very beautiful but don’t be fooled, as all parts of the flower are poisonous and can be fatal if ingested!
Ps. I love how I can add my door post to another challenge here on WordPress, Cee’s flower of the day (FOTD) challenge 🤗.
Have an enjoyable end to your week everyone.
Wayne
Happy Friday everyone! It’s been a while since I have showcased a flower of the day but today is particularly gloomy in Northern Ireland, so I thought this might brighten up the day!
I hope you’re all having a lovely start to the weekend. I’m just back from work and heading to work again tomorrow but hey ho, bills to pay 😝.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone! Today’s flower of the day is the yellow rapeseed flower. We spotted these rapeseed fields on the way home from Athlone, Ireland when driving back up to the north. Furthermore, I have recently discovered many of these fields here in Northern Ireland also, having become very popular crops to be grown here. Many farmers are turning to these crops for their economic value as they have become increasingly popular for their producing of rape seed oil used in cooking.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Easter everyone. I wanted to show case some tulips today that I spotted during the week. They can be symbolic of Easter due to their egg shaped blooms and they are one of the first flowers to return from winter, signalling a rebirth (Kanuckel, 2023).
Enjoy your day everyone and I hope you have some delicious food on your table.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone and it’s Good Friday today for those celebrating Easter this weekend. Today we took a walk around Hillsborough Castle as they currently have their Spring Spectacular event on display. Here they show case many new spring flowers in bloom, with particular emphasis on rare Northern Ireland daffodils.
Therefore, my flower of the day has to be the daffodil today. I never tire of seeing these brightly coloured flowers as they are a reminder that winter is over and spring is finally here. I always associate daffodils with Easter too, as I’m sure many people do.
I hope they manage to brighten your day as they did mine today. Happy Easter to you all and I hope you enjoy some time to unwind and spend time with those nearest and dearest. Best wishes.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone! That’s nearly the first week of 2023 over, can you Adam and Eve it?
Today’s flower is the amazing Butterfly Bush. I have never seen this before so I was delighted to have spotted this. I love its vibrant purple colour and the shape of this flower. Originally native to China and other parts of Asia, this flower can now be found worldwide, although can be viewed as a pest due to its ability to invade and outcompete other local species.
It is named butterfly bush as its flowers are a vital source of nutritious nectar for many butterfly species and I managed to catch a shot with a stunning butterfly in the frame.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone and welcome to the weekend. This little gem was spotted on our trip to Hillsborough Gardens last weekend. Thankfully it wasn’t covered in snow and we were able to spot this. It’s bright colour certainly does catch your eye.
Have a great day everyone,
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. So, I have showcased this flower before but recently I have seen a different variety and it looks so much different in another season and another country. You can see my previous poinsettia here from March when I was living in Sydney. This flower is always grown as a potted plant and is often used as a Christmas decoration due to its bright red leaves. This flower definitely feels Christmassy, more so as it is now the Christmas season and it’s cold here in this side of the world, unlike when I had previously seen this flower in summer in Sydney.
Have you ever given or received this flower at Christmas? It certainly blends in with our Christmas decorations.
Enjoy your weekend guys,
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone and welcome to the weekend. My flower of the day is the blueblossom and I just happened to spot this in my parents’ garden. I love the colour and shape of these flowers and the fact they can be found on an evergreen shrub, making the blue really pop with its green leaves. You can’t help but smile when you see these.
They are native to the west coast of the United States, however, here we see them in Northern Ireland thankfully. Birds tend to love these shrubs due to the protection they offer, as well as the seeds that the blueblossoms produce.
Have you ever seen this flower?
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. I spotted this flower in the Botanic Gardens Belfast and I loved its uniqueness. I have never seen this particular species before. I love the colour and find it a very uplifting flower. Have you ever seen a common borage?
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. It is another wet and wild day here in Northern Ireland. I may get used to this! Lucky we have some flowers in our garden that are pretty bright and cheery.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone! Today’s flower of the day was spotted at Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park when I was there last week. This flower really jumped out at me and I couldn’t believe it was another black eyed susan. You might remember I showed this flower last Friday but I feel that this flower looks very different from last weeks. Therefore, I thought it would be good to showcase this flower again. What do you think of this flower today? Does it look similar or different to my previous black eyed susan? I have placed the link to last week’s flower below my image.
https://wrookieschu.com/2022/08/26/fotd-black-eyed-susan/
Enjoy your weekend everyone.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday and have a great weekend everyone.
Wayne ✌🏽
Enjoy your weekend everyone,
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. This flower was seen in the garden here at our hotel in Bali where we are vacationing for a few days before heading back to Ireland. I will continue to work on my New Zealand blogs over the coming days and hopefully share my Bali experience also 😊.
“Aphrodite’s phalaenopsis is an orchid hailing from Taiwan and the Philippines. It is an epiphyte, which are sometimes called ‘air plants’ because they grow on trees or other objects, and get all the nutrients they need from debris that drops from the air onto those hosts. The delicate yet striking appearance of this flower has inspired the alternative common name of Goddess of Fertility” (Picture This, 2022).
Have a great weekend everyone and take care.
Wayne ✌🏽
Have a great Friday everyone. We’re loving Queenstown and can’t wait to share some blog posts soon.
Take care,
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. Check out my flower of the day below. I think it’s amazing and I love the name! It actually does look like a little kangaroo paw.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. Today I want to share with you these amazing flowers. The Bigleaf Hydrangeas I’m showing today are part of the decor of one of my favourite restaurants in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. The Chiswick in Woollahra offers a plant to plate experience where many of their ingredients are grown in their own garden. I love the outside setting, with a rustic, quaint and countryside feel.
Enjoy your Friday and have a lovely weekend everyone.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. It’s a wet one here in Sydney and apparently we are expecting a months rain in the next five days. Something to look forward too. Anyway, I spotted these amazing flowers on my walk a couple of days ago and was really mesmerised. The flowers come from the Matchstick Plant and it’s clear to see why, as the flowers look like they are made up of numerous little matchsticks, with a different colour for the head of the stick, just like a matchstick. How cool is that? Have a look for yourself below 👇🏼
Have a great day everyone and I hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. I am delighted to finally have that Friday feeling and have a whole 2 days off this weekend 🤗. You can see my flower of the day below. They definitely suit my mood today 😊.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. Hooray for the weekend…even if I am working tomorrow but let’s not dwell on that. For today’s flower of the day I am showcasing the tea rose. It’s basically an ornamental, garden rose and can have a variety of colours. When I discovered these yellow tea roses, it just so happened that I was matching with the colour on this particular day with my bright yellow jumper. You have to love yellow, such a bright and cheerful colour.
Thanks for reading guys and have a lovely Friday.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. Boy, am I glad to reach the weekend this week, it’s been a long, cold one here in Sydney. We’re all looking forward to a long weekend here in Australia for the Queen’s birthday, which isn’t actually her real birthday, so I’m not sure why that is, nevertheless, I’m not complaining for an extra day off.
I am not, in fact, showcasing a flower today but rather, I am showing you the berries of this shrub. The Golden Dewdrop (what a fantastic name by the way!) and I happened to pass this last week when I was looking at some doors in Darlinghurst. The flowers are a blue colour but I didn’t happen to see these, just the berries. I was really pleasantly surprised to discover these, even though in Australia the Golden Dewdrop shrub is known for being a weed. To me, it looks beautiful. It reminds me of the Leonardo da Vinci quote – “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. Let me know what you think?
Have a great weekend everyone and take care.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone and I hope you all have a lovely weekend, whatever way you plan to spend it.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. Today’s flower is the Mexican Sunflower. Named so, as it originates from Mexico and is a member of the sunflower family. This was spotted on my walk to Coogee in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. I couldn’t help but love the bright yellow. It is so cheerful and brings a smile to your face (mine at least 😃).
All the best everyone and have a great weekend.
Wayne ✌🏽
What an amazing looking flower. My partner and I thought this looked like one of those bottle brushes you see mothers having to clean their babies’ bottles with. When we found out their name, we thought it was very amusing. The crimson bottlebrush is native to Australia and is very popular with birds for its nectar, specifically lorikeets, which we see here in Sydney all the time.
Thanks for taking a look at my flower of the day and I hope you all have a very happy Friday!
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone!! Today’s flower of the day is from the Coral Tree (Erythrina), also can be known as a Flame Tree. I think the flowers look really spectacular. The vivid red colour and their shape is extraordinary. What do you think? Have you ever seen a Coral Tree?
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. Please see below my flower of the day. Todays offering is a China Rose.
This rose is significant for it’s ability to bloom almost every month of the year and therefore, it represents longevity. I like this idea of living a long life, through thick and thin.
Take care all and have a lovely weekend.
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Saturday everyone. Usually I post my flower of the day on a Friday as I always think of Friday Flowers. However, I was pretty beat after work last night so I thought I would leave it for this week.
However, I was doing my usual walk today after work around the eastern suburbs and spotted this amazing flower on my way home from Bronte Beach. Even though it is Saturday, I really wanted to share this one with you all. It is known as Silky Oak and it’s botanical name is Grevillea Robusta. The Silky Oak is an evergreen tree and the flowers appear from spring to summer, which is quite funny as here in Australia it is autumn going into winter. Go figure! I was fascinated as I don’t recall ever seeing this one before. Let me know what you think? Have you ever seen this flower before? It honestly put the biggest smile on my face when I spotted it. I love the bright orange colour and the long looking tentacles.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Wayne ✌🏽
Happy Friday everyone. This is the day of the week that I post some flowers that I have seen recently or I have managed to haul from the archives, as part of Cee’s Photo Challenges (you can find here).
Today’s flowers were taken at The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and are known as Wax Begonia. They are native to South America and are often used as ground cover.
I really need to return to the Botanic Gardens soon as they have such an array of flower and plant species and it’s a really beautiful spot to take a relaxing stroll through.
Have you ever seen these flowers? Have you ever visited the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney?
Please do let me know and thanks for checking out my FOTD.
Wayne ✌🏽
Not your typical Easter flower but it’s a great backdrop for celebrations. I hope you all have a lovely Easter break. I am really looking forward to a glass of bubbles or two.
Take care and stay safe everyone!
Much love,
Wayne 🐣
My Friday Flowers are back again this week! Sometimes I will post a flower of the day on a Friday but if I have a few to share, I will call the post Friday Flowers 🤗. I think it’s a nice way to end the working week, splash a bit of colour through WordPress and it’s a good opportunity to appreciate the little things in life that we can often take for granted. We are still having A LOT of rain here in Sydney and through NSW. I can’t even complain about it as some people have it much, much worse then me. There are severe floods here, people losing their homes, their livelihoods and sometimes even their lives. Plus we still have the war in Ukraine that is in my thoughts every single day. When will it all end? 🙏🏼 .
Please feel free to check out my Friday Flowers below and hopefully they can make you smile and add a little colour to your day ☺️. I will tell you their name and where I have seen them 👇🏼
I have to say, I am in no way a botanist but I have an amazing app on my phone that can tell me about a flower species by simply uploading a photo. I cannot believe how amazing it is that we can learn so much from a photo. The app is called Picture This if you want to have a look for yourself.
Ps. This is not an advert for this app. I just want to share as I think it’s fantastic if you want to know more about the flowers you are photographing. You can check them out here at https://www.picturethisai.com/
I hope you enjoyed my Friday Flowers post. Have a great weekend everyone and if you’re in Sydney, good luck staying dry 😬.
Wayne ✌🏽
WrookieSchU 