These are photos of the beautiful Poinciana trees that are so prevalent as street trees in the Wellington Point and Ormiston areas. The top tree is an old large one in the main street at Wellington Point shops. This was the best shot as it missed the shops and captured the old "Queenslander" behind it!! Unfortunately it doesn't capture the full canopy effect so characteristic of these trees.
This next photo is one of a young tree so I was able to get closer and the clusters of flowers are more obvious. It has been windy the last couple of days so thought it best to go and take some photos as the flowers don't last long.
The last photo is a close up of a flower which is quite similar to the Hibiscus flowers but about 3/4 the size and they are all very close together in their clusters. Just couldn't resist blogging about them even though it isn't textile related although could be inspiration!!
Marj
these are fabulous - you might try collecting some of the recently fallen flowers and freezing them for eco-dyeing, or using them for hapazome!
ReplyDeletei'm still enjoying the last of our autumn colours - our young oak tree is going through a very slow and delicious colour change this year, the sun on it this morning (now gone) made it glow
Marj, they are beautiful trees aren't they? I guess you know that the 'true' flowers are those tiny little bits you can barely see and the really gorgeous bits are bracts to attract the pollinators ... isn't nature fabulous! Our jacaranda is about to burst out, and it is right outside my studio window.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Eva, save some if you can. I never thought of freezing them, and Eva, please tell me what hapazome is. Enquiring mind would like to know .....
Yes Chris I do remember reading somewhere about the true flowers as is the case with quite a few "flowers" and you are so right about nature being fabulous and we are so lucky to have the means of capturing it at its best with modern technology. I have always loved the Jacaranda trees and had one in the garden in Wollongong but they are just about spent up here as they have been flowering since October but were very beautiful. We have quite a lot of Illawarra Flame trees here too and they have flowered really well this year. Must have been all the rain we had last summer as we have had a very dry November with the lowest rainfall for years.
ReplyDeleteI wondered about Hapazome too and then remembered that Eva had given a description of it last year in November and I had even actually done some!! If you click on hapazome in the labels it will take you there.
Why freeze the flowers Eva? Is it just to keep them for another time when you want to use them or does it help the process somehow?
Marj