Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Last Day in Auckland

After visiting the Hunua Falls, we hurriedly went to the Auckland Botanic Gardens. Of course i am curious about the plants in temperate and subtropical climate. Besides, i know that it is very wide, we must hurry up to cover more grounds.

I don't normally ask photos of myself in my walks, but this time i felt it is a must. So an entrance shot with the name is obligatory, hmmm i uploaded it too! Sorry about this folks, now you already see me.



At the back of the administration building the lines of Pohotukawa trees are what will immediately attract the visitors' attention. They are what they call NZ Christmas trees because it flowers in time for Christmas. 

 Next are the vegetables and fruit trees gardens. I had more time taking close-up shots of the flowers that are not familiar to me. Above i am confused if this is blue salvia or lavender. Janneke provided me with the names of some. This one is Salvia uliginosa. 

 
L-R: foxgove, aloe

 
salvia

 Rows and rows of golden flowers that look like marigolds, but not marigolds. All the plants are labeled, but i don't have enough time to record them. According to Janneke this large patch are Achilleas

This is the first time for me to see clivia. I remember once a FB friend telling us it is not pronounced as kleee-vya, rather klay-vya, the namesake is her friend. Oh so this is not clivia? Janneke said it is Sisyrinchium striatum

this one i don't know too. Janneke said this is also an Achilea.

There are lots and lots of flowering ornamental plants, everything is beautiful, but we lack more time.  I guess it is their summer, so the plants are all blooming. Summer at the south of the Equator is opposite that of countries above. At the back far end of the ornamental gardens is the arboretum

another angle of the ornamental gardens with the arboretum at the back

Aside from the normal arboretum, there is also the Gondwana Arboretum. Gondwana is the prehistoric land mass before Asia, NZ and Australia divide into what they are now. The plants and trees there are samples of what was existing centuries and eons ago. 

 Another big area of the botanic gardens is devoted to endemic plants. Many of them are like these, seemingly very chaotic in arrangement, as if they are all stems without leaves. Or they look like prehistoric plants too. There is some truth in that because the species are very old. "The term "divaricating", indicating branching at a right angle, is used in New Zealand to describe the many species of small-leaved woody shrubs that have closely interlaced branches."

 another endemic fern

You will be surprised why i included the above here. Being in a tropical country like the Philippines, sad to say, or a shame to admit, i haven't seen an apple tree in real life. I have seen them very often in pictures, and have eaten a lot of fruits, but young fruits i've seen just now. I hope i will still have the experience of harvesting them. 

I have seen flowering apple and plum trees in Sweden and Turkey, but saw trees with immature fruits just here. I even touched the still rough fruits, saying "öh how i waited years just to touch you"!!!

9 comments:

  1. So beautiful Andrea, great botanic garden at his best. Love the flowering Pohotukawa trees, they are wonderful and not know in Europe. The other flowers in the borders are mainly well know to us. I can help you a bit: The aloe you mentioned is a Kniphofia cultivar and used in so called prairy borders. The long border with blue flowers are Salvia uliginosa, the large patch of yellow flowers are Achilleas, then your Clivia is Sisyrinchium striatum and the close-up of the yellow umbelliferous is another variety of Achillea. I hope you will ever be able to pick your own apples.
    Have a nice week!

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    1. Thank you so very much Janneke for the constant visits and lovely comments, and of course for those identification of the temperate plants in my photos. I wonder if i will still be able to pick any ripe apples in this lifetime, hahaha. By the way, pohotukawa is endemic to NZ. Thanks again.

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  2. Oh my, this is YOUR Disneyland isn't it? I too have the same sentiment, I don't like to have my pictures taken; however, recently when I look at my old photos I regret not having a picture taken in a certain spot. That is the reason why I am changing my tune with taking photos of myself too - NOT selfie.

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    1. Oh yes i know you don't post your photos too, except lately when i finally see how you look like, lol. I also take a few photos really for myself, as certificate of appearance, i just don't want many to see me in FB. I don't put my avatar but this is the first photo i allow of myself. Thanks.

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  3. Beautiful pictures Andrea. If you get bored of your job in the Philippines I am sure you could start working for the New Zealand Tourist Board. The more I see of your posts the more I want to go there!!!

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    1. Hi Nick, thank you so much for your kind words. If only the NZ Tourist Board will see my posts for the last whole year, they are all about NZ. Our standards for landscapes are very different, so please don't blame me if you realize that maybe i am too biased in my photos, hahaha. But i guess you will like it too more than 50% of what i said. By the way, i put all the travel things and those outside my place here in this blog, those in our area are in Pure Oxygen Generators. Go there to NZ soonest so we can compare.

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  4. I enjoyed the cyber tour of this beautiful garden. What lovely flowers and all in bloom. How lovely. Thanks for the nice photographs posted this week on your blog.
    JM, Illinois-U.S.A.

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words. I am glad i was able to give you some nice feelings.

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  5. What an incredible way to end your days there than visiting this gorgeous garden!

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Your comments inspire me to post more, and our conversations make life and gardening more meaningful.

However, Anonymous comments and personal back links give me problems, so i don't publish them. Anonymous + back links = SPAM = DELETE

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