AUSTRALIAN WINTER FLOWERS

This morning the sun was shining brightly although the air was cold (about 11 C) when we went for a walk along the cliff tops to Bell's Beach. I took the photo below for Kenichi Wada who represented Japan in the International Surf Lifesaving championships at the Gold coast last April. He is the son of a Sogetsu teacher I met in Tokyo.

At the bottom of the next picture is the heath-land of small bushy plants that grow on the cliff tops.

I was really delighted to come across this pink heath. It is one of our winter-flowering indigenous plants.There are two plants in this photo, the intensely coloured flowers are of Pink Heath (Epacris impressa) and the sharp green leaves and interestingly shaped berries belong to the Coastal Tea Tree (Leptospermum laevigatum). Click on the highlighted text for further information.

The Yate, eucalyptus lehmannii, (see 12th May posting) continues to flower in our garden so I have made an arrangement with one open and several un-opened flowers. The latter have gone a beautiful orange just before they open, that complements the decoration on this vase designed the Iemoto, Akane Teshigahara, of the Sogetsu School.

When I was in Tokyo in 2011 one of the many people who greatly helped me was Mrs Kazumi Ishikawa. Here is a link to her tour of Africa where she gave workshops in three countries. The images and English text have been uploaded by the Japan Foundation and can be viewed by clicking on: Mrs Ishikawa.

Greetings from Christopher
29th June 2013