In the Pink

I went for a stroll down the lane to see what nature would catch my eye. I keep hoping to spot the occasional dragonfly but there were none to be seen this time. After sitting on the veranda of the cricket club pavillion for a while to take in the scenery and fresh air I wandered back home. On the way I took a few photos of some pink flowers I had spotted on the way there.

Common Mallow:


Thistle with a couple of hoverflies, Episyrphus balteatus (I think):


A closer crop of that photo:


A plant I have failed to identify ....


On reaching home I couldn't resist taking a photo of my Callistemon (bottle brush plant)



A straggly bush but a really showy plant when in full bloom and each year attracting more bees.

Callistemon Seed Pods

Haven't been on here much recently. Firstly the Hospital has been catching up on Consultant outpatient appointments so I had three visits in ten days. They seem satisfied with my progress and the next appointment should be in about four months time. Secondly I've been making amateur radio contacts around the world on the HF bands as conditions seem to be excellent. So good my low power, simple set up managed to make contact with four Japanese radio hams this morning. Not something I can usually manage.

My Callistemon (bottle brush plant) produced another good display of its unusual red flowers. In the Summer they looked like this:



Once the flowers have faded the seed pods can be seen:



I thought this would make an interesting subject for a focus stacked closer view:



That was a stack of 20 photos taken using my home built automated unit. The following photo was taken some time ago:



Once the photos had been transferred to the laptop they were processed with Helicon Focus which used the sharp, in focus, parts of each photo and combined those bits to buid the final macro photo.

Red Bottle Brushes

The Callistemon (bottle brush plant) may be somewhat straggly in growth



but the unusual brilliant red flowers make up for it



Even though it is not a native British plant it attracts a lot of bees.
I wonder what bottle brush honey tastes like.
This coming Autumn I will try to cultivate some cuttings.

Seeing Red

At long last the first flowers are opening on the Callistemon (bottle brush plant).



The first of nearly fifty flowers showing this year.

Having survived two winters the Salvia Hot Lips are putting on a good show



When they finished flowering last Autumn I cut them down to about one third their height.
Without pruning they could become too leggy with long bare hardwood stems.

Not Long to Wait

for a display from



my Callistemon (bottle bush) plant.

Last year it had a few flowers. This year it looks like having 25 or more.

The flowers grow directly from the new growth on each branch



Lots of buds nearly ready to open to give a brilliant red bottle brush display.

Brush That Bottle

The second set of flowers have finally opened on my Callistemon plant



I have always been fascinated by the way they develop.
Growing right on the branch and part way along it.
Bottle Brush is a very apt name for it.

Callistemon

As we came back from our mid morning walk I spotted this flash of red:



The first flowers on my Callistemon, bottle brush, plant starting to open.

Not Long to Wait

In May last year I planted a Callistemon citrinus (bottlebrush plant) in the front garden.



I wondered how well it would grow outdoors. In just one year it has grown to



Recently I've been keeping an eye on it to see whether it would flower this year.
Yippee! Two branches are showing buds. Unusual in that the flowers are produced part way along new growth.
Why it is called a bottlebrush plant will, I hope, become evident when the flowers open.



Many years ago I had one flowering in my old conservatory but one hard Winter it disappeared.
How long the outdoor one lives could depend on how severe future Winters are.

Bottle Brush

Bottlebrush plant anyway. Callistemon Citrinus. I used to a have a Callistemon growing in the conservatory many years ago. Even though the conservatory was heated in those days it died off one hard winter. There used to be a garden centre not far away which had one of these in a greenhouse. It had been growing for years and the display of bright red bottle brush shaped flowers put on a magnificent show every year. The version I have just planted in the front garden is rated at H3 which should be safe down to -5C:

 

For those who haven't seen a Callistemon:
You can see what the flowers look like here on the RHS site.

The two pots of Chinese Lantern plants are coming on well:

 



It's nice to have some more unusual flowering plants and am really looking forward to the results.