In a "Garden City" what else would you expect?

Managed to get up to Toowoomba on the last day of the Carnival of Flowers last week. The Toowoomba City Council really does a wonderful job of putting the gardens together for this once a year show.

 

A geometric pattern of blue and yellow Violas.

The aptly named Smoke Bush(Cotinus coggygria)

Red and white Tulips in a bed of red and pink and white Dianthus.

An aerial view of the main section of gardens. Held every September and really worth the drive if you love glorious flowers with plenty of colour.

An ordinary street transformed

I couldn't believe my eyes as I drove past this short street in The Gap this morning. The Golden Pendas (Xanthostemon chrysanthus) were in flower like I have never seen before. Rainbow Lorrikeets were flying in and out of the trees to get the nectar from the flowers and the flowering of the trees has completely transformed the street into a wonderland.

One windy night......

Is this what one expects to wake up to on Australia Day?

Along with supplying Japanese Tools we also have a nursery growing plugs (a small plant in an individual cell) in trays. But on the morning of Monday 28th of January 2013 things didn't look quite right in the nursery. The roof blew off then the rain accumultaed in the plastic sheeting that was still partially covering the roof. When the weight of the water got too great for the plastic to hold it any longer, it gave way with hundreds of kilos of water landing on the benches below.

 

A hot day at Melbourne Zoo.

 

We decided to visit the Zoo in Melbourne on a day when the mercury rose to 41.1deg C. We were among the few that visited on that day. Needless to say we didn't see any Snow Leopards or other cold climate animals - they were inside like we should have been. The Japanese garden within the Zoo grounds had to bear the heat the best it could.