western australia

Wreath Flowers and Kangaroo Paws

@JudyEv (382693)

Rockingham, Australia

September 1, 2016 4:29am CST

I've made a bit of a welter with wildflower slideshows but this should be the end of them for while. I've included more photos of the wreath flower to show you how the stems branch out from the centre like spokes on a wheel. The colour varies according to age and you can see how they have come up on the sides of the road. This was a gravel road leading out to various sheep and cattle stations. You can see by the signpost that some are a long distance from the nearest town. There are photos of a couple of odd flowers that I missed in other posts and two more of the expanses of everlastings which greeted us in some areas. After the everlastings are photos we took yesterday when we made a special trip to a nearby country cemetery. Many of the cemeteries in small towns are placed in the middle of an area of natural bush. We were told we'd find spider orchids there but unfortunately we didn't. We did find big patches of kangaroo paws. For such brightly coloured blooms they blend remarkably well into their surroundings. Immediately after the kangaroo paws is a donkey orchid, so called because of the big 'ears'.

Wreath and Other Wildflowers, Western Australia

I created this video with the YouTube Slideshow Creator (http://www.youtube.com/upload)

18 people like this

16 responses

@Inlemay (17712)

• South Africa

1 Sep 16

Quite fascinating that they grow like that with the blooms on the outer side - do they have little spiky green leaves?

1 person likes this

show previous comments

@Inlemay (17712)

• South Africa

1 Sep 16

@JudyEv I think we might have something similar here but I would never have called them wreath flowers.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Sep 16

@Inlemay These look to have a bit more in the middle but they are a bit similar.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

1 Sep 16

The leaves look spiky but aren't really sharp.

1 person likes this

Show more comments

@acelawrites (19272)

• Philippines

1 Sep 16

Wildflowers are beautiful subjects for photography.Are the red ones, the kangaroo paws?

1 person likes this

show previous comments

@Inlemay (17712)

• South Africa

1 Sep 16

@JudyEv they are quite sharp I see - I would have thought them to be softer and fatter. wow

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

1 Sep 16

Yes, the red and green ones are the kangaroo paws. The flower looks a bit like the paw of a kangaroo. Here is a paw of a kangaroo courtesy: Toby Hudson (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

1 person likes this

Show more comments

@allknowing (153529)

• India

4 Sep 16

Enjoyed the show. How large are those wreath flowers. Ever thought of getting them to grow in your own garden?

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

4 Sep 16

It is almost impossible to grow them in a 'normal' garden. And with my skill with gardening, there is no hope at all!

I guess the biggest wreaths are about 2 feet across maximum. I can't find a website to tell me so I'm having to guess.

1 person likes this

@jaboUK (64346)

• United Kingdom

3 Sep 16

Another lovely show Judy, I especially like the wreath flowers,

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

4 Sep 16

Thanks. I couldn't believe how thick they were along the road. I guess they all die down and that road is bound to be graded before next season. I guess that spreads the seeds and they all come up again. They are hard - almost impossible - to cultivate in a garden.

1 person likes this

@Shiva49 (28402)

• Singapore

4 Sep 16

So much variety in them, quite interesting - siva

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Sep 16

Thank you. Wildflowers featured on our news last night as this has been a wonderful season for them, especially the wreath flowers. One lady has waited 10 years to see her first one.

1 person likes this

@5thHouse (1678)

• Sheffield, England

3 Sep 16

Kangaroo paws - what a great name. So many plants have really cool names though.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

4 Sep 16

There is another one called 'cockies tongue'. A cockie is a cockatoo and the flower looks like it has a tongue poking out.

@shaggin (74987)

• United States

1 Sep 16

Besides the orange day lilies around here I don't think we have any very cool wildflowes here. You should dig up a wreath one for me and mail it to me jk

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

1 Sep 16

Apparently they are very hard to propagate from seed or to transplant so probably best I don't send you one - and I might get jailed.

1 person likes this

Arthur Chappell

@arthurchappell (44941)

• Preston, England

1 Sep 16

love the sense of humour behind the naming of such plants

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

1 Sep 16

Yes, some are a bit funny I guess. There is a cowslip orchid too but I don't know how it got its name.

1 person likes this

@epiffanie (11337)

• Australia

2 Sep 16

I planted a couple of kangaroo paws in my garden .. I love them

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Sep 16

Once they were just such an exotic plant I don't think anyone even tried to grow them but the hybrids nowadays seem much easier to cope with. It would be lovely having kangaroo paws in your garden. Well done you!

1 person likes this

Belle Starr (Iz)

@BelleStarr (61463)

• United States

1 Sep 16

Those wreath wildflowers are so pretty and I have never seen anything like them.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Sep 16

They certainly draw the tourists - like us! :)

1 person likes this

@amadeo (111937)

• United States

1 Sep 16

Never say this type around here.Looks nice

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Sep 16

It is very pretty isn't it?

@Jessicalynnt (50523)

• Centralia, Missouri

2 Sep 16

I love small town old cemeteries, almost always feel peaceful to me

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Sep 16

I quite like them too. I always feel that I am paying my respects to the pioneers, some of whom had a really tough time of it.

1 person likes this

@JohnRoberts (109841)

• Los Angeles, California

1 Sep 16

Only down under could you have kangaroo paws!

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

1 Sep 16

If you see my comment ot @acelawrites I've put a photo of a real kangaroo paw so the flower is supposed to look a bit like that.

@teamfreak16 (43685)

• Denver, Colorado

2 Sep 16

Those flowers at the beginning. Those are kind of cool. I don't remember ever seeing anything like those.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Sep 16

I shouldn't think they exist anywhere but in Australia. They won't even grow in domestic gardens here.

1 person likes this

@Juliaacv (56456)

• Canada

1 Sep 16

You've really got a variety of flowers here, thanks for sharing.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382693)

• Rockingham, Australia

1 Sep 16

You're welcome. When we first go to the cemetery Vin was trying to point out the kangaroo paws to me and I just couldn't see them - and there were dozens! :)

1 person likes this

crazyhorseladycx

@crazyhorseladycx (39503)

• United States

1 Sep 16

fantastic, ms. judy! those wreath flowers 're jest somethin', eh? look so nice 'n tidy. loved all the pic's, now i'm gonna be'n the hunt fer me some kangaroo paws, lol. they'd some a few years back here fer sell but i didn't know if'n i could keep one 'live 'r not. might's well 'bite the bullet' if'n i see 'nother, eh? showed the hubs yer slideshow, tellin' him that we missed 't, lol. he was quite intrigued by the beautiful wildflowers. 'n now thinks i need to find 's some donkey orchids coz they're jest so stinkin' cute :)