Te Kukuwai O Toa

Te Kukuwai O Toa.

We enjoyed a wander around this re-established wetland in Porirua this afternoon. It is an area that is central to our local Iwi and was very prone to flooding. The plantings will assist in filtering out contaminants which will improve the health of Porirua harbour. Birds of note so far were a pair of sleepy Paradise ducks, and Swallows flying too fast for my eye to catch on camera. I hope Mitre 10 Mega donated towards this project because they are receiving a lot of free advertising.😉

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Ornamental bamboo in the garden

Small flowers in the garden – a series #13

While this plant is in all manner of places in the garden I needed to research to find its name.  It is Oxalis Stricta or Wood Sorrell.  Apparently it does not do well in shaded places but that does not seem to apply in my garden.  It is also high in Vitamin C.  Once in the garden, always in the garden I suspect.  The bright yellow and very small flower is a positive feature to the attentive eye.

Off the paint chart

Spring green is a colour!

And a wee splash of Lime Green too

Down but not out

Two days of relentless gales had flattened my newly flowering daffodils.

I rescued what I could and bought the flowers inside to enjoy.

I see today that the remaining leaves and damaged flowers have almost returned to their previous height. Winter is very much with us still despite these early spring flowers showing a brave face to remind us of things yet to come.

Friday Flowers

A walk around the winter garden

The sunlight is low and activity levels in the garden are generally low too, given it is winter. But there are signs here and there of plant life that provides for interest in this season of quiet.

Wordless Wednesday

I saw this and it made me pause

When I turned my camera lens towards this climbing rose putting out its new and very special spring leaves I did not expect to see in the image things that my eye had missed.

But this can be the way with cameras and eyes. More commonly it is that the camera has not recorded what my eye was seeing.  However in this instance it was the recorded image that made me pause.

The grey background of the fence was one detail I had overlooked and in the whole picture it had become a key aspect.   It allowed the light, the gloss and sheen of these fresh, bronzey, silver, green leaves to stand out even more.   Such a display of early new spring growth is very short-lived and within days these leaves look very different. Such is the nature of the abundance of spring energy.

I am still contemplating on this photograph and it may be that no great hidden message exists in it for me. It might just be that the stunning digital workings of the camera, combined with nature in a special moment has offered me a gem to enjoy in many ways.

Delights can come in many ways.

The colours of spring

I saw the challenge to photograph the colours of spring on another blog yesterday.

So what are some of the colours of spring in my garden I wondered?

Here are a few as we enjoy a series of warmer, drier and sunnier days which are heralding the change to a new season.

The sweet delicacy of Camellia Quintessence

Spraxia

Lobelia amongst the weeds in their spring green lushness

The very new leaves of the white carpet rose.

White “mouse ears” or forget-me-not”

One of the last Daffodils

Green minty freshness