wildflowers – Pelican Yoga

Looking down (#37 in series: on a Wandoo woodland’s floor)

Published April 1, 2026 by Pelidoug

Looking down (#37 in series: on a Wandoo woodland’s floor)

If you wish to experience an incredibly diverse array of extraordinary flowering plants – most especially, species that naturally occur in only one part of the world – you’d be best-advised to avoid places with “good” soil and abundant, “reliable” rainfall.

The “winning” combination: “poor” soil, unreliable rainfall and a very high evaporation rate!

Arguably, the world’s best natural “flower gardens” are in the southwestern “corners” of Africa and Australia; there, “looking down” is almost always rewarding, but most especially so in Spring.

I took the photo on 30 October 2023, circa 100 kilometres southeast of Perth.

Looking down (#20 in series) on a Banksia

Published February 20, 2026 by Pelidoug

Looking down (#20 in series) on a Banksia

Membership of the genus is hotly debated – should Dryandras be included, or not? – but, however defined, Banksias are extraordinary plants.

These members of the Protea family are unique to Australia.

The overwhelming majority naturally occur only in certain parts of Western Australia’s southwest.

Depending on when one encounters it, a banksia’s flower spike can be prodigiously shaggy, “untidy”, and drab…. or a glorious example of perfect symmetry, Fibonacci sequences, and subtle colouration.

Each flowering “spike”/“cone” bears many – sometimes, several thousand – individual flowers.

I particularly love the appearance of some banksia flower spikes when viewed from directly above.

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Looking down (#18 in series: …but just a smidgin)

Published February 15, 2026 by Pelidoug

Looking down (#18 in series: …but just a smidgin)

When in an “epic” landscape such as The Grand Canyon, one should always remember to look at the “near views” as well as the grand vistas.

However jaw-dropping it is to look down 1.6 vertical kilometres to the Colorado, there is every chance that something else – something equally worthy of your attention – sits within a couple of metres of your nose…on the ground at your feet.

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Spring 2025 in Perth ( final in series: late afternoon delight)

Published October 30, 2025 by Pelidoug

Spring 2025 in Perth ( final in series: late afternoon delight)

For wildflowers – most especially if one is photographing them – intensely bright sunshine is definitely NOT the “best” kind of light.

In the middle of the day, a lightly overcast sky is likely to prove a much better friend to a wildflower photographer – or to your naked eyes – than an intensely bright blue sky.

Generally, if you wish to capture a wildflower’s full natural beauty, the ideal circumstance is soft, late afternoon light.

This post’s hero was photographed with a longish (400 mm) lens in just such light, on 29 September 2025, in Perth’s Karrakatta Cemetery.

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Spring 2025 in Perth (#20 in series: UFO in Hollywood)

Published October 29, 2025 by Pelidoug

Spring 2025 in Perth (#20 in series: UFO in Hollywood)

Full disclosure: I do not know the name of the featured plant; in this instance the “UFO” is an “unidentified flowering organism” – unidentified by yours truly, at least.

The relevant “Hollywood” does sit within a wealthy city, but not in L.A.; Perth’s Hollywood Reserve is adjacent to the “far end” (i.e. furthest distant from main entry) of Perth’s Karrakatta Cemetery.

i think that this post’s hero is a member of the Proteaceae Family.

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Spring 2025 in Perth (#19 in series: “inhabited” flower head)

Published October 27, 2025 by Pelidoug

Spring 2025 in Perth (#19 in series: “inhabited” flower head)

This post shows the same species of flowering plant as in #18.

The location is only a few footsteps distant, and just three more minutes had passed.

This flower head, however, has a resident, venomous, ambush predator.

S/he is a member of the Family Thomisidae, which includes the “flower spiders” (aka “crab flower spiders” or “crab spiders”. “Crab spiders” is an umbrella term which also includes Thomisdae members who do not inhabit flowers/flower heads)

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Spring 2025 in Perth (#18 in series: “uninhabited” flower head)

Published October 26, 2025 by Pelidoug

Spring 2025 in Perth (#18 in series: “uninhabited” flower head)

You are looking at the flower head of one of several Melaleuca species that are commonly known as “honey myrtles”.

The Melaleuca genus has more than 300 members, most of them endemic to Australia; it also includes all of the bottlebrushes and paperbarks, plus some of the so-called tea-trees.

The genus is part of the Myrtle family.

I am pretty sure that the picture shows Melaleuca nesophila, a WA-endemic which naturally occurs only in the Albany-Esperance region.

It is however, a popular garden plant, commonly found in Australian gardens and parks.

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Spring 2025 in Perth (#17 in series: Hakea Victoria)

Published October 25, 2025 by Pelidoug

Spring 2025 in Perth (#17 in series: Hakea Victoria)

Commonly known as Royal Hakea, Hakea victoria is one of “our” planet’s most visually arresting plants.

Generally, it is their flowers that make certain flowering plants globally-celebrated, and keenly sought by gardeners.

With Hakea victoria, however, it is the leaves.

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Spring 2025 in Perth (#15 in series: “spiders” in Kings Park)

Published October 22, 2025 by Pelidoug

Spring 2025 in Perth (#15 in series: “spiders” in Kings Park)

There are indeed a huge number of arachnids in Perth’s Kings Park, but they are not uppermost in the minds of many visiting humans.

In springtime, it is spider orchids that draw many people.

Many of those humans wish to photograph them.

In their photos of spider orchids, actual spiders’ webs, and/or individual threads of spider’s silk, are often clearly visible; one such filament is present in the featured image, above.

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Spring 2025 in Perth (#10 in series: blue sun-worshippers)

Published October 17, 2025 by Pelidoug

Spring 2025 in Perth (#10 in series: blue sun-worshippers)

Generally, sun orchids – the 100+ members of the genus Thelymitra – are true to their common name.

They orient their flowers to the sun, open them only when it shines brightly upon them, and always close them before nightfall.

I am no botanist, but am 90 percent certain that there is just one kind of time and place to enjoy an entirely-natural encounter with the pictured, very elegant blue sun orchid species: on a sunny day in southwestern WA.

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Tag: wildflowers