Monday, April 4, 2011

The Kangaroo's Paw....

Hello Dhaarlings...


Today princess is introducing another fascinating Australian Native. 
It thrives in dry conditions and loves full sun.


And No... it isn't "Waterbukketus Allweatherii" from the previous post


It is a real Fair Dinkum Aussie tresure
Found growing naturally in the south west of the State of Western Australia... 


Who have adopted it as their native flower emblem...














It is usually depicted in its natural form of green and red


It's called a "Kangaroo Paw"

This is the yellow hybrid of the plant on show at the native botanical garden
I recently visited...








You can probably work out how it got it's name...







It bears resemblance to...





The Paw of our native National Emblem... The Kangaroo... 
You know the one... that we shoot... and sometimes throw on the barby... but mostly turn into pet food... 
Well that one.




Here's another shot I took...not at the Roo... but in the  gardens
The red and white poles are painted in alternate colours approximately 8 inches apart... so... that will give you some idea of the size of the individual flowers... Yet I'm still pondering the symbolism of the poles... another grant for some poor floundering arts student I guess...






They look stunning in a massed vase of cut flowers 







or giving height to an arrangement



or even as a bridal bouquet....




What ever happened to Skippy you ask?

Well I must confess that I was quite sure I would marry
Ken James or Tony Bonner one day...



Sadly... that never happened... But watch out for a sneaky appearance of the lovely
 Ms Zha Zha Gabor... in the next clip Dhaarlinks!...



She knew how tho get her man...


 Unfortunately she just couldn't keep them...


7 comments:

  1. "The Paw of our native National Emblem"

    Mel Gibson?

    Never saw the Skippy show. When I was a kid, they used have the occasional Aussie movie at the Saturday morning kid's show. Don't remember any of the names. They usually involved kids living in the Outback on a sheep or cattle station ... with kangaroos.

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  2. Dear Xl

    Mel Who? Princess no longer recognises his citizenship!

    Most early Aussie kids shows had Kangaroos featured as if they were regular household pets. Kangaroos can still be seen hopping down the main streets of most capital cities and townships here you know...
    *removes tongue from cheek*

    Skippy was just an amazing Kangaroo... A bit like our own version of Lassie... Despite being female with a pouch... "He" could rescue people in peril.... Alert the ranger to villains up to no good in the national park... And even without opposable thumbs could pick up all sorts of things and put them in his pouch... even an episode where he placed a set of car keys in it...

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  3. I love the flowers, I've never seen any like them, do you know the Genus?

    I can't be absolutely sure, but I think I remember seeing the skippy show when I was very young.

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  4. Beautiful! It's like a stunning of piece of art--the green and red and the fanning out and curves!

    You know, Princess, I've seen those red and white poles around the hill country in Texas. They're used as markers to measure how deep flood levels are!

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  5. Dear Wally

    they are an unusual form of flower.

    Try clicking on the word highlighted in the text "Kangaroo Paw" it shoud take you to the wikipedia link for all the information that you are seeking.

    Dear Eros

    The flowers are an artwork in their own right..
    .
    The red and white poles are an art instillation after all. Similar poles are found here to measure river/flood levels... they are meant to look like oar handles as the garden beds are created in large beds that have a wall surrounding them that look somewhat like a rubber raft! But as this garden is located on the side of a hill in what, during my childhood, was an old sand quarry for the near-by glass works, I doubt there is much call for flood measuring equipment....

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  6. Moose roam the streets of Canada.

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  7. Dear MJ

    I'm pretty sure a Moose would make a bigger mess of a car than a Roo if it were hit.

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