and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.
This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.
This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.
Today's Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night. The opposite is true for the Northern Hemisphere, where the Summer Solstice marks the longest day and the shortest night. The southern seasons are explained in the diagram below.
In Melbourne the sun rose at 7:35 am and set at 5:08 pm today. Solstice sunset photo below with a mosaic of some of my "astronomical" art pieces (see more on Instagram @jammysevenk).
This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.
Dragonfly nymph |
Dragonfly nymph |
Juvenile yabby (left) and water boatman (right) |
Juvenile galaxiid fish |
Juvenile yabby |
Acacia iteaphylla, commonly known as Flinders Range wattle, Port Lincoln wattle, winter wattle and willow-leaved wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is endemic to South Australia.
The shrub has a weeping habit and typically grows to a height of 2 to 5 metres with a crown width of 2 to 5 m. Young plants are glabrous and have greenish coloured bark that later becomes brown in colour as the plant ages. The slender grey-green foliage has pink-red tips of new growth. The long slender phyllodes are arranged alternately and have a prominent single vein running lengthwise and grow up to 10 centimetres in length.
It produces yellow flowers from March to September (Autumn through to Spring). The flowers are arranged into small spherical clusters that are found in short compound clusters in the phyllode forks. The flower heads have a diameter of 5 to 8 millimetres and contain 12 to 17 pale to lemon yellow flowers. The thin leathery light brown seed pods that form following flowering are elongated and flat usually 5 to 13 centimetres in length and 6 to 12 mm wide. The pods contain hard black ellipsoidal shaped seeds that are 6 mm in length and half as wide.
The shrub is sold commercially for cultivation in seedling or in seed form. It can take full sun or partial shade, can grow in saline soils and is frost tolerant and drought tolerant once established. Used in gardens as an ornamental screen or as a low windbreak, as it is fast growing and has attractive foliage. The best known cultivar of A. iteaphylla is a low-growing form called Acacia "Parsons Cascade". Seeds need to be scarified or treated with boiling water prior to planting.
This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme
A digital collage made in Photoshop with three images: Lawn daisy and Gerbera, on a background of crystals of copper sulphate ("blue vitriol").
This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.
The Yarra Valley is the name given to the region surrounding the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia. The river originates approximately 90 kilometres east of the City of Melbourne and flows towards it and out into Port Phillip Bay. The name Yarra Valley is usually used in reference to the upper regions surrounding the Yarra River and generally does not encompass the lower regions including the city and suburban areas, where the topography flattens out, or the upper reaches which are in inaccessible bushland. Included in the Yarra Valley is the sub-region of Upper Yarra (or the Upper Yarra Valley) which encompasses the towns of the former Shire of Upper Yarra in the catchment area upstream of and including Woori Yallock.
The Yarra Valley a popular day-trip and tourist area, featuring a range of natural features and agricultural produce, as well as the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail.The Yarra Valley is host to a thriving wine growing industry. The area's relatively cool climate makes it particularly suited to the production of high-quality chardonnay, pinot noir and sparkling wine. Vine-grazing is a popular activity for Melburnians and there is a large selection of excellent vineyards making world-class wines in the Yarra Valley.
This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.