Grevillea "Coconut Ice"

This Grevillea is, apparently, a hybrid from  G. bipinnatifida and G. banksii.  Interestingly these are the same parents for G. "Robyn Gordon" and G. "Ned Kelly", the main differences between each being the nature of the leaf and flower colour.

Prostanthera 'Poorinda Ballerina'

This is an attractive Mint bush that is in full flower in its second year.  This one is just 30cm high but can grow to 1.5 metres.  There's more detail about this particular Prostanthera here.

Sunlight through Lilly Pilly leaves

My mother planted one of these in the 1960s when they were sold as Eugenia smithii.  A few years later they were sold in nurseries as Acmena smithii but they've actually been botanically classified as Syzygium smithii for many decades and they're commonly called lilly pillies!  Anyway this wet year has been very beneficial to these lilly pillies that I grew from seed and which have responded with an abundance of reddish and coppery new growth.

Syzygium is a diverse genus and includes riberry (Syzygium lehmannii) and clove (Syzygium aromaticum).  Syzygium smithii is reported to be more resistant to myrtle rust which is devastating many other myrtaceae species in the eastern mainland states.

Stick insect nymph

Yesterday this little insect came inside on my jumper so I put it outside again on a camellia to take the photo.  I had no idea what it was so I sent the photo to Ask An Entomologist and they quickly told me that it was a stick insect nymph which would live on eucalypts and acacias.  Luckily for the little nymph there are plenty of those trees nearby.  What a great service Ask An Entomologist is!

Incidentally, if you look closely there's actually the tip of another insect between the two leaves but I have no idea what that one is.

Mesembryanthemum spp

This time of year in South Australia you see blazes of orange, red and pink Mesembryanthemum flowers in sunny positions in various gardens.  These are plants from Europe and Africa which have naturalised in southern parts of Australia and they are available at most garden centres.  These succulents thrive on virtually no water so they're ideal for sunny patches in the garden that don't get watered very often.  And they grow very easily from cuttings in moist sand.

Grevillea johnsonii "Grace"

Grevillea johnsonii "Grace" is a rare grevillea from NSW.

Orthrosanthus multiflorus

This is a colourful small Australian native plant that is sometimes called "morning iris".  The flowers only last a day or two and they need full sun to open but there seems to be a succession of them (hence "multiflorus").