Wattlebirds
Fantails.
Yellow-crested White Cockatoo, and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Magpies.
Crows.
Crows and Magpies at play
Ivor Steven (c) July 2025
Birds, Beautiful Birds
Tag: Nature
The Final Phase
Today (Friday) was the sixth day of our visits to the Geelong Botanical Gardens Conservatory to view the “Corpse Plant’s Flower” bloom, then quickly deteriorate.
The images below represent the “Flowers” phenomenal six-day journey.
After leaving the conservatory, we had a picnic lunch in the shade of an American Sweet Gum and photographed some interesting and colourful plants.
We hope you have enjoyed being introduced to the incredible “Corpse Plant” and our walks around the magnificent “Geelong Botanical Gardens”
Ivor Steven (c) November 2024
The Collapse Begins
Today (Thursday), I observed that the “Flower’s” central spike (the Spadix) had begun to bend and lean over, and the “Corpse Plant’s Flower” was noticeably deteriorating.
After viewing the “Plant,” we went to the Botanical Gardens Cafe for Coffee and Cake, located, in a delightful open verandah area.
In the bottom right photo, Frankie is looking at a mosquito that has landed on his nose
Then we visited the Gardens’ renowned “Tree Fern” precinct …
Below Photos have their name tags inserted … click on the individual images to read the plants’ name …
Ivor Steven (c) November 2024
The “Flower’s” Curtain is Closing
Today (Wednesday), the “Corpse Plant’s” Flower had begun wilting and closing up. I think the next stage of the flower’s demise will be the collapse/folding over of the central spike (the Spadix). Yes! … I’m coming back tomorrow.
Because there were no queues today! we had time to explore and discovered some interesting displays in the Botanical Gardens.
Frankie in the dog house at the old Customs House
Wow … it’s nearly midnight … these pictorial articles/posts are taking me a long time to prepare and put together! … now, to find a suitable song …
Ivor Steven (c) November 2024
The “Corpse” Flower is One Day Old
The Corpse Plant flower will start deteriorating soon, so we enthusiastically (maybe Frankie was not so keen!) went to the “Gardens” for another close-up view today, and we’ll probably come back tomorrow. The phenomenal event has captured my imagination and I will not miss the next stage of the ‘flower’s short existence …
Yes Frankie! we’re in the queue again …
Yes Frankie! we’re nearly there
Yes Frankie! we’re inside and I can see the ‘flower’
Yes Frankie! we’re here, and the “Corpes Flower” is ours for few moments
Yes Frankie! the ‘Flower’ was big news in the newspaper today
Ivor Steven (c) October 2024
Visiting the “Corpse Plant”
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend’s Challenge is the word ‘Method’. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here.
There was a ‘Method’ in our madness of visiting a “Corpse” today …
The “Corpse Plant” getting ready to bloom, and Frankie is watching closely
Visiting the “Corpse Plant”
Today we went to Geelong’s glorious Botanical Gardens
Our main objective was to see, the “Corpse Plant” flowering
Also named the Titan Arum
This extraordinary plant
Is renowned for the powerful smell
It releases when it blooms
A scent likened to rotting flesh
Hence its nickname, the “corpse plant.”
Alas, “Not today Josephine”
But “We’ll be Back”, tomorrow and the next day
To capture a live viewing of the flower in full bloom
As it only blooms unpredictably, just once every ten years
The corpse plant bloom itself lasts only 24 to 48 hours
So we’ll need to visit quickly to catch this unique sight
The video below is a live YouTube broadcast of the “Corpse” plant. Hopefully, you’ll be able to view the unusual flower as it blooms.
And here is a “Time Lapse” video from Dunedin City Council, New Zealand …
I had a difficult time trying to choose an appropriate music/video for today’s post, and I eventually selected this one by “Of Monsters and Men”
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Perceptions:
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Tullawalla:
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Ivor Steven (c) November 2024
My Vivacious Sunflowers
My Vivacious Sunflowers
This is the start
Of something big
Something big and beautiful
And immensely bigger
Than my shrub’s
Lovely little ladybug
My new sunflower plants are thriving
And are about to burst into flower
My heart is pounding in anticipation
And I can sense the bushes vivacious tenacity
Spiritually enhancing my well-being
Ivor Steven (c) November 2023
A Torn Thesaurus
I went to the Geelong Writers monthly social meeting at the Box Office Cafe this evening … I am back home, It’s 10.30pm, I’m tired, my computer is “duck muck” again, so I thought I would a reblog of this ‘appropriate’ poem before I hit the sack
A Torn Thesaurus
With my fiddle and riddles
Here in the middle
Of this unopened universe
Time spirals in reverse
Quills fly in from cyberspace
As alien words unravel and interlace
A torn thesaurus is my database
I wonder
Have I landed in the right place?
But that does not matter
K-9’s happy with the community chatter
Doggie treats and friendly pats
And he presents his paw for more
Like a hungry beggar’s cap
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Blown Away (a Haiku)
Today’s cold windstorm
Penetrated every pore
With icy needles
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Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com
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AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:
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OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) September 2023
Droplets of Joy, is in this Week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine
Hello dear readers and followers, I am now writing for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “Droplets of Joy”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below to view my poem, at Coffee House Writers Magazine. >> https://coffeehousewriters.com/droplets-of-joy/
This poem is the second Ekphrastic piece I wrote from the Geelongs Writers Ekphrastic Workshop that I attended last week, and the attached photo below, is of Gale Jarmyn’s beautiful painting “Leaves in the Sunshine”, which inspired me to write this poem “Droplets of Joy”, and after chatting with her at the official opening of the Art Exhibition, (at which I recited the poem), she kindly allowed me to reproduce my photo of her lovely Painting, here on my Poetry Website.
Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2023
