Berry has several good quality art galleries but unlike Berrima they failed to inspire my photographic eye. However the tall gymea lillies outside this one did get my attention. Gymea Lillies are native to the Sydney region and grow enormous tall flowers.
Is that a Coolibah tree beside the abandoned house? Every Australian knows about Coolibah trees because the bush ballad Waltzing Matilda is nigh on our unoffical national anthem but most of us live nowhere near the inland where they grow. Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, Under the shade of a Coolibah tree, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.
Aha .. these look so strange to my eyes -- almost spooky .... reminding me ... wait for a second ...triffids!
ReplyDeleteI've heard of gymea lilies before, but I've never seen one.
ReplyDeleteThese are spectacular.
I wonder if they would grow here,
These are so amazing! I'm sure I've never seen them.
ReplyDeleteYou have captured them so well. What a spectacular clump!
ReplyDeleteI have tried to photograph them as they litter my campus, but never as well as this.
They are a little triffid-like...
Lettie, I just checked the web. They apparently grow well in coastal areas and will grow inland but don't like frost so need to be protected from it. We don't see them up here in the mountains.
ReplyDeleteJulie, I think this clump was well placed for a reasonable shot. I particularly liked the way the red bottle brushes complemented the tall flower but that didn't really show up the photo.
You may not have many menhirs at the other end of the world, but you do have some fascinating flora and fauna
ReplyDeleteI have asked so many people what Gymea lilies are, the most "authoritative" (i.e. from answer from one of those people who are very definite in their view) was imports from South Africa. Thank you for this information (I love them by the way - and I did think they looked very Australian
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