Say It With Flowers

Creativity Gets A Springtime Boost

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

So spring is well and truly here and three weeks after the end of winter, we've already had those warmer, longer days that inspire us to spend more time outdoors. The roses at Casa Authorblog will soon be in full bloom, although there have been isolated buds and blooms here and there.

But these images were shot with the permission of a Melbourne florist, just outside the shop, about ten days ago. Somehow, it seems just about everybody feels more creative as the bite of winter recedes. The displays seem bigger, more inventive and the colours seem more welcoming.

Maybe it's just my imagination. Or maybe there really is some truth to the theory that inspiration comes when surrounded by colour ....


Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

The Other Terracotta Army

Tossing Their Heads In Sprightly Dance

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

It's always a wonderful thing to see a splash of natural colour in winter. To this end, we always plant seedlings in our terracotta pots under cover (and therefore protected from the frost) at the front of Casa Authorblog, with a rich variety that is always deliberately chosen.

Some of the pots have polyanthus, some have lobellia, some have pansies, some have primulas. That mix always ensures that the plants blossom at different times, we have an array of colours and more importantly, because of the mix of types, they flower at different times as well.

With the end of winter only a week away, the tall primulas are now past their best, so we might give them a few more days until the leaves start turning colour. Then we'll head off to the nursery and buy some punnets of petunias, those old favourites that never really go out of fashion.

This shot, taken from above one of the terracotta pots, shows the primulas, both white and purple, in the strong sunlight that is bringing warmth back to Melbourne.

Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

Cutting Remarks

Truly, A Rose Between Two Thorns

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I had to photograph these roses just before I cut them down, just to remind us all how resilient these plants are - some of them flowering even in the Australian winter that gets colder the further south you go in the country-continent.

Last week we completed the pruning of the roses at Casa Authorblog - a long process, because there are so many rose bushes around the property. A lot of people start cutting their roses back as soon as winter begins, but I have a slightly different theory.

The way I figure it, there’s not much point cutting roses back while we still get heavy frost as well as ice in the morning. So I let them be, with their straggly branches bare of any leaves, but I get the secateurs out in late July, when the worst of the frosts are behind us.

Then we begin the long job of pruning each bush. Some of them grow to the limit of my arm’s reach, and there is one climbing rose in particular that reaches about four metres in height. As each bush is pruned, we use secateurs to cut the branches into smaller bits and these are then loaded into a special bin for gardening-related items.

Already, some of the bushes have started to sprout new growth, fresh leaves and shoots that are a rich burgundy. And now I start checking each bush for aphids, those little green insects that suck the life out of any fresh shoots.

Kinda like an "Aphid and Goliath" situation, huh?


Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

Cluster's Last Stand

Daisy, Daisy, Give Me Your Dancer, Do

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This huge bush of yellow daisies is a great colour spot in the winter garden at Casa Authorblog. When little else flowers as the frost and ice thwart us, these daisies bloom as if their life depends on it.

Now, with only four weeks to go until spring arrives, the daisies have finally started to look a bit the worse for wear. As the newly-pruned rose bushes start to show new, tentative growth, these yellow beauties are in turn starting to show their age.

In a couple of weeks, we'll prune them back, savagely, as we always do. And next autumn they will sprout defiantly, reminding us that they will be back in all their golden glory when the nights get so much shorter and so much colder.


Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

Small Is Beautiful

Protect Them From Frost And They Will Thrive

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

The front of Casa Authorblog is always a riot of natural colour, whatever the season. Last summer we had cascades of petunias - and yes, we're talking real cascades, in every colour. This winter, as you can see, these terracotta pots under the front verandah are ablaze with violas.

I have to admit, I've never planted viola seedlings before, but there is a reason for this. From the time our children were little, they have always chosen the seedlings that get planted out the front and out the back of the house. Sometimes, ahem, their choices have been helped along by a little guidance from the publisher of this blog.


But now that the Authorbloglets have their own opinions, I find that we plant things in our pots that I'm not familiar with. Like the time a few weeks ago, when I told the youngest Authorbloglet that perhaps violas were too tiny to provide any real splash of colour.

No, my argument didn't make any headway at all. And yes, I was wrong. These blooms are no more than two and a half or maybe three centimetres across - and the colour is a welcome boon this winter. Yes, we've had frost and ice, but because the terracotta pots are under cover, they are ablaze with every hue.


Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

Kung Fu Panda Takes A Stance

Them’s Fighting Words

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

It was after dark in Melbourne, and the lights were being switched off at Casa Authorblog. I was walking through the kitchen when I noticed that someone had left a miniature figure of Po, the Kung Fu Panda, on the island bench.

There was only one light on, about ten metres away – and the shadow was sufficiently interesting for me to get my camera out. Po by himself was not a great shot, especially since I never use a tripod.

But when I moved back a bit and included the sharper image of the handle of a coffee mug, things got far more interesting!

Check out the rules at Camera Critters or go to Misty Dawn.

Welcoming Winter

Hi Lily, Hi Lily, Hi-Lo

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Today is the first day of winter here in Australia, so I thought I’d give you an idea of how flowers can be used to brighten our horizons.

Melburnians love their gardens, although the last few years have been tough going, with the prolonged drought and the progressively tougher water restrictions. But this display of flowers, shot outside the GPO in central Melbourne, shows just how important flowers really are to Melburnians.


The first shot was taken as I walked down Bourke Street, then I decided to go a little closer. So I walked up the first couple of stairs to get a good look at the vibrant gerberas, freshly cut and wrapped to carry away.

Next, my eye was drawn to the lily buds and the graceful manner in which they pointed to all quadrants of the compass.

It could be a long, cold season, but I’ll be doing some maintenance and recovery in the garden at Casa Authorblog, to ensure our own tribute to winter colour.


Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

Bending Over Backwards For Me

Taking Time Out At The Branch Office

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

There is a theory among my family members that I can spot a mosquito at thirty paces when I have a camera in my hand. But if I'm looking for something at Casa Authorblog, I am pretty much useless.

Like I said, it's only a theory. I ain't buying into the debate.

But here's one sight I definitely did not spot. We were at a park in Sydney during the Easter break when one of the Authorbloglets noticed this caterpillar camouflaged on a branch. As I studied the best angle to capture the view, the caterpillar also decided it would be best to bend over backwards to check me out.

Or maybe he was just completing his early-morning fitness regimen. Bendin'. Stretchin'. Surveyin' the scene.


Check out the rules at Camera Critters or go to Misty Dawn.

Buzz Stop

My Garden Is A Hive Of Activity

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Some months ago, before the hot, dry summer that even killed some of the rose bushes at Casa Authorblog, it was a lazy afternoon that demanded photography. I'd spent about half an hour or so shooting some of the freshest roses that surround our property, when I decided to take a complete change of approach.

I went looking for the oldest rose bloom in the greatest state of decay. That just happened to be this specimen, standing tall but distinctly ragged and well past its best on a bush called Chicago Peace.


Since I had a macro lens on the camera, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to go for the unflattering close-up. Forget the petals, forget the colour that had faded well past its best display. I figured I would go so close that I could literally stick my nose in the rose.

I was going to concentrate on the miniature tendrils at the very centre of the bloom. Let's put this in perspective. They are absolutely minuscule, a few millimetres long at the very most. As I could see in the clear afternoon light (and as you can see in these images) even they had succumbed to age and were completely tattered.


I got a couple of decent shots and then I thought I heard a sound. I knew it wasn't a sound from within the inner recesses of Casa Authorblog. I knew it wasnt the distant sound of an angle grinder. I knew it wasn't the sound of the camera.

So, like some of the shrewdest generals in military history, I staged a retreat. No, let me amen that. I staged a strategic pull-back to assess the situation.

Sometimes my brain isn't the quickest on the planet. The sound I'd heard was the unmistakable buzz of a bee.

Sure, and it wasn't the theme music from 'The Sting'.


Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

After The Blessing Of Rain

Looks Like There's Been A Growth Spurt

Photographs copyright: DAVID MCMAHON

These photographs were talen a few hours ago, to show you a remarkable transformation. Through the long, hot, dry summer just past, our many roses continued to thrive. We had every colour imaginable, with a variety of scents. Maybe they were not as profuse as they have been in years where the drought has been tempered by some occasional rain, but there were roses on every bush nonetheless.


Then last month we had a three-day spell that was hotter than anything else in our history. Unrelentingly, the heat reached the 46C mark (almost 115 Fahrenheit and stayed there. On the first day, I showed the Authorbloglets several fresh blooms on the rose bushes across our property - and I pointed out that by midday they would all have withered.


Even the rose hips were burnt to a crisp. Normally, the hips form a beautiful head-tossing dance in a strong breeze, but few of them took on the orange-green hue that is common to their form. As you can see in this shot (above) taken a few hours ago, some of the rose hips in our garden looked like remnants in a fireplace.


At the end of that torturous hot spell, there were no flowers left in our garden. Then, last Saturday we had real rain. In a few days, the dun-coloured lawns and nature strips of Melbourne have turned green again. And sure enough, some of our rose bushes have burst into bloom once more.


Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

The Luck Of The Iris

This Might Be The Latest Rainbow Warrior

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

One of the pleasures of having a large garden that produces blooms in almost every season is the old-fashioned joy of walking out in the front or back yard with a pair of secateurs and choosing a variety of tall and short flowers for different-sized vases.

It’s something I’ve always done with the Authorbloglets, so there has been the added appreciation of time spent together, which is always so precious.

We had a very special occasion in our family recently, so of course every vase at Casa Authorblog was crammed with flowers of many descriptions. These shots were taken indoors, in soft light in a room that was lit by afternoon sun but not completely bathed in an overpowering glow.

Yes, I deliberately waited for this time of day for two reasons. Firstly, I wanted to be able to capture every nuance of the blues that grace this iris. Secondly, the tall rosebuds in the same vase were the most delicate shade of link pink. Because they were almost white, I knew they would photograph best in indirect light.


In the four hours that I waited patiently to take these shots, one of the irises in the broad vase was probably at its most interesting stage, because the partially-open flower showed strong variation in colour, while still retaining the delicate folds of more beauty to come.

In Greek mythology, Iris is the personification of the rainbow as well as the messenger of the gods. The rainbow manifestation is fairly clear, with the vivid tongue of yellow amid the mix of blues. The first image that appears with this post is actually one of the last I shot in the series but I guess the reason I like it is that the angle makes the iris look like a frill-neck lizard or some psychedelic monster emerging from the deep.

Any angle that endows an object with an added dimension is a good angle.


Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

Put On Your Sinking Cap

Twenty Thousand Leaks Under The Sea

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Is that a battleship I see before me? Or could it be a Vodka cruiser? Maybe a submarine sandwich? Okay, let’s dispense with the one-liners, but this has been one of my favourite games from the time I was a kid.

Back then it was called "Battleships And Cruisers" and we played it on square-grid sheets of paper that we kept artfully concealed from our opponents.


Now, of course, it can be played on hand-held consoles and on computer screens, but this board-game version of the old favourite survived a recent cleanout at Casa Authorblog.

I don’t know who invented this nautical game, but I’m sure Jules Verne would be proud of its popularity. Remember, he created the fictional submarine called the Nautilus, long before the world’s navies had fully embraced the concept of armed undersea vessels.

These miniature vessels might look as though they were shot with a macro lens, but in fact I used my 18-125 Sigma lens, the one that is my favourite because it is so versatile.

All right, landlubbers, who’s next in line to play the game with me? Get ready for that old familiar sinking feeling.

Or maybe I should say, "Give it your best shot".


Visit TNChick's Photo Hunt. Today's theme: "Nautical".

Hop To It

Mate, There's A Kangaroo On Ya Runway

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

As most of you would know, we've been away on the west coast for a family wedding - which is why I haven't been able to visit your blogs and collate the normal Post Of The Day nominations. But we're back home at Casa Authorblog now and life is (slowly) returning to normal.

This shot was taken as our flight was about to leave Perth airport. As usual I was craning my neck to look for interesting sights when I spotted this other Boeing 767 through a window. You can guess what happened next.

Yes, I had to jump up, get my camera out of the overhead locker and take this shot, specifically for Camera Critters. Mrs Authorblog, she just pretended she didn't know who I was.

The flying kangaroo, as the recognisable Qantas symbol is called, simply had to be photographed for this post. So there I was, in an aisle seat, twisting and contorting myself so that I could shoot this just to the side of Mrs Authorblog's stunningly beautiful profile as she sat in the window seat.

By the way, here is a trivia question for all of you. The term for a baby kangaroo is exactly the same as a character from Friends. Do you know what it is? If you don't, scroll to the very end of this post for the answer ....


Check out the rules at Camera Critters or go to Misty Dawn.

ANSWER: A baby roo is called a joey. (Sorry, Ross and Chandler.)

Heaven Scent

From The Garden To The Table, With Rich Perfume

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

The vases at Casa Authorblog are always filled with fresh flowers from our garden. But the greatest pleasure in walking through the door with an armful of fragrant blooms comes from the knowledge that everything on our property was planted by us.

We built this house and we planned very little detail, from what's inside it to what's outside it. We didn't just inherit someone else's garden. We planned our own, right down to the smallest detail.

Each time we place our own flowers in the vases, it reminds me of how much pleasure the simple act of planting a cutting, a stem or a plant can bring.

Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.