Flowers by Friends

Friday, 12 July 2013

Allium by Liz

Alliums, also known as ornamental onions, are grown for their amazing flower heads which come in a variety of sizes and shades of purple, blue, white and yellow. Photographed in Scotland by Liz.

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus) by Liz

With its stunning violet-blue hooded flowers, this is a beautiful but very poisonous plant. The leaves, flowers and roots are highly toxic when eaten, and it can also be harmful via the skin. This plant seems to go by a surprising number of different names.

Other common names

Adam and Eve
Bear's foot
Common aconite
Common monk's cowl
Cupid's cap
Dumbledore's delight
Elijah's chariot
Flapdock
Friar's cap
Garden monk's hood
Garden wolf's bane
Grandmother's nightcap
Helen flower
Helen's flower
Helmet flower
Monk's cap
Monkshood
Pops
Soldier's cap
Turk's cap
Venus's chariot drawn by two doves

from the Royal Horticultural Society Website
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=4361

Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Primula vialii (Orchid primrose) by Liz

Primulas come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and this primula, with its scarlet flower spike and mauve-pink flowers looks very different from the primulas and polyanthus we see in Sydney! However, the leaves do look similar to the other varieties. Primula vialli, is originally from China, but is now grown in Duns, Scotland by Liz.

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Trumpet Creeper by Georgie

Photo taken in Perth, Western Australia

Monday, 8 July 2013

Flame Lily (Gloriosa superba) by Pam

Image copyrights 2013 Pam Borland

Gloriosa or Flame Lily is the national flower of Zimbabwe, where it is a protected plant. Queen Elizabeth II was given a diamond brooch in the shape of a flame lily when she visited Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) as a princess in 1947.

It is also the state flower of Tamil Nadu in India and the national flower of Tamil Eelam.

Across the world they have been cultivated by the pharmaceutical industry as they contain the chemical colchicine. Though beautiful, the flowers and leaves are extremely poisonous, causing death to animals and birds if eaten. They grow from tuberous roots and cause problems if they spread into native bushland.