Sunday, March 22, 2009

Today's Flowers - Banksia Robur or Swamp Banksia

Thank you Luiz Santilli for having me as Guest today.






Few plants are as charming and striking as this beautiful banksia, which grows in my garden. This is a uniquely Australian plant. The Swamp Banksia as the name suggests is at home in damp and swampy areas. The flower spikes grow to around 18cm long starting as blue-green, changing to a gold colour and then to a rich rusty-brown. The plant flowers for long periods of the year from summer to winter preferring full sun for maximum flower development. The large serrated leaves grow up to 30cm long and 8cm wide and are a deep glossy green. It attracts lots of birds which feed on the flowers.


For other great flowers around the world, please click here.



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45 comments:

  1. Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the GardensMarch 23, 2009 at 12:03 AM

    The Banksias are truly beautiful flowers and lasting such a long time. A feast for us and for the birds. Love, Mum.

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  2. AnonymousMarch 23, 2009 at 3:39 AM

    Just beautiful..
    I would love to have Banksias growing in my garden!
    - Cheers Gisela.

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  3. MelitaMarch 23, 2009 at 4:14 AM

    Hello,
    Flowers really come in all shapes and sizes !

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  4. Pea in a PodMarch 23, 2009 at 5:01 AM

    Interesting flowers! Nice photos:)

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  5. AnonymousMarch 23, 2009 at 5:02 AM

    Lovely flowers!

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  6. david mcmahonMarch 23, 2009 at 5:02 AM

    My favourite is the second shot.

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  7. LeoraMarch 23, 2009 at 5:05 AM

    Certainly like nothing I have ever seen.

    Love the bird (is it a parrot?). So colorful.

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  8. GunillaMarch 23, 2009 at 5:07 AM

    I have never seen such flower amazing.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Gunilla in Sweden

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  9. EG CameraGirlMarch 23, 2009 at 5:08 AM

    Very unusual to my eyes...but I garden in Canada!

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  10. Gemma WisemanMarch 23, 2009 at 5:08 AM

    I have grown a few banksias, but never the swamp variety. Amazing how much longer the brushes are of this one, plus the bonus of changing colour! Great shots!

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  11. UnknownMarch 23, 2009 at 5:11 AM

    Beautiful and fascinating.I shall be returning to your blog.

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  12. Maya / מיהMarch 23, 2009 at 5:13 AM

    This are beautiful and unusual! I would love to see these flowers some day!

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  13. BimMarch 23, 2009 at 5:13 AM

    your passion-fruit photo series over at today's flowers is delicious!

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  14. kayleenMarch 23, 2009 at 5:15 AM

    Fascinating plant and lovely photos. Thanks for sharing

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  15. Misty DawnSMarch 23, 2009 at 5:15 AM

    These are really interesting. Don't look now, but in one of the photos, there's a bird blooming out of the plant ;-)

    This is a great post - I had never heard of Banksias before.

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  16. Lilli & NevadaMarch 23, 2009 at 5:16 AM

    Wow what a beautiful plant. We don't have anything like that here at least i have never seen anything like it before.

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  17. AnonymousMarch 23, 2009 at 5:20 AM

    The flowers here and on Today's Flowers are wonderful. Thank you very much for sharing.

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  18. VALKYRIENMarch 23, 2009 at 5:38 AM

    That is the funniest thing! And so gorgeous the parrot is! Never seen anything like it!

    Congratulation for being guest on Today's Flower! Beautiful shots also there!

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  19. LindaMarch 23, 2009 at 6:21 AM

    Certainly a different looking flower. But lovely. Love those native plants.

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  20. ArijaMarch 23, 2009 at 6:29 AM

    Beautiful Passion Flowers and fruit. Mine died already last year, we used to get baskets full of fruit...drat the drought!
    You are lucky to have a moist enough place to grow tha great Swamp Banksia. Quite odd growth habit, producing terminalflowers in multiples, also on to of the seed heads. Love the Rainbow Lorikeet too.

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  21. InkivääriMarch 23, 2009 at 6:30 AM

    It looks really exotic - great pics of it!

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  22. SandraMarch 23, 2009 at 7:04 AM

    These are really exotic flowers - thank you so much for sharing them with the rest of the world. Greetings from Croatia.

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  23. TarolinoMarch 23, 2009 at 7:32 AM

    I'm new to this meme and I find the most exotic and wonderful flowers here. They really are most amazing. You can see that they are large compared to that wonderful bird. Parrot is it? Also my compliments on the pictures you have hosted with. Magnificent.

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  24. Gill - That British WomanMarch 23, 2009 at 7:43 AM

    what a neat plant, so unusual.....great photos and info.

    Gill in Canada

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  25. sunnymamaMarch 23, 2009 at 8:08 AM

    Incredible pictures!

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  26. NaturegirlMarch 23, 2009 at 8:39 AM

    I did not truly appreciate these exotic blooms until I came to the southwest Arizona and see many blossoms and flowers I don't see in my world.I love your feature guest images..a passion flower and it's fruit!! Happy TF! :)NG

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  27. RosamariaMarch 23, 2009 at 8:49 AM

    This is really a very different flower!

    The Passion flower and fruit at Today's Flowers are amazing!

    Have a nice week.

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  28. JudyMarch 23, 2009 at 8:53 AM

    the banksia is lovely, but i am really struck by the flowers of the passionfruit at Today's Flowers (cat left lap, so now I can typw eith both hands)!! Thanks for sharing!!

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  29. AnnieMarch 23, 2009 at 8:53 AM

    Great photos Marie Louise. Love the lorikeet. Thought we must have lived in the same part of the world! I have been photographing the lorikeets lately too! Well done. I also like the moon photos, and managed to capture it the other week too!

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  30. LOURDES C COSTAMarch 23, 2009 at 9:08 AM

    Very unusual and exotic plants..
    Great shots,indeed...I love all and the main post too...Magnificent!!!
    Have a nice week!

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  31. VickyMarch 23, 2009 at 9:31 AM

    Charming flowers indeed. I was in Australia last year but didn't get a chance to see them.
    thanks for sharing with us.
    greetings from Malaysia.

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  32. ChristineMarch 23, 2009 at 9:37 AM

    What a fantastic plant! I've not ever seen one before and your photos show it off very well. That bird is lovely too!

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  33. Joy0zMarch 23, 2009 at 10:00 AM

    A little bit weird but cool flowers here. Haven'http://www.joyaxtraverse.com/?p=279 t seen like that yet!

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  34. RedzlanMarch 23, 2009 at 10:10 AM

    Oh!.. I only notice the beautiful Rainbow Parakeet here!

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  35. RAMarch 23, 2009 at 10:37 AM

    Congrats as Today's Flowers guest host :)! I love the Marquisa plant and your lovely flowers here. What a beautiful parakeet as well. Best wishes.

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  36. vMarch 23, 2009 at 11:16 AM

    Congrats on being today's guest friend. I've never seen the flower before. Thanks for sharing.Blossom Blooms

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  37. marie-louiseMarch 23, 2009 at 12:19 PM

    Thank you all for your lovely lovely comments. The bird in the second pictures is a Rainbow Lorikeet. We get many of these types of birds in the garden as they feed on the nectar of the native plants, like the Banksias,Grevilleas,Melaleucas and Callistemons which are all native to Australia.

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  38. SunshineleneMarch 23, 2009 at 2:33 PM

    Great passion fruit! I love passion fruit juice. Had lots of that when i was still in college because they serve it in the cafeteria.

    I played here - http://dgscrappingandme.blogspot.com/2009/03/scrappin-mondaze-6.html

    Arlene

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  39. AnonymousMarch 23, 2009 at 3:25 PM

    I have never seen this type of plant before, so exotic looking. Your photos were wonderful.

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  40. Sara ChapmanMarch 23, 2009 at 3:51 PM

    Certainly a new flower to me up here in North America. I love all your flower photos. Congratulations on being Guest Host of Flowers for Today! And your frangipani below is perfect, just perfect.

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  41. Reader WilMarch 23, 2009 at 9:36 PM

    Wonderful roses! And also the Banksia nuts are great! They are much bigger than the ones I saw last summer in Queensland in the Botanic gardens of Cooktown. Last year I had a post about them with the photos. I have also some coasters made of the giant Banksia nut.

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  42. AnonymousMarch 23, 2009 at 10:00 PM

    They are so rare, never seen like this before. The post was so interesting and so informative. Thanks for hosting Today's Flowers.

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  43. ShoshMarch 24, 2009 at 3:41 AM

    I like that passion fruit flower.

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  44. Luiz Santilli JrMarch 25, 2009 at 5:19 AM

    Marie-Louise
    Great post in TODAY'S FLOWERS!
    Wonderful flowers!
    Thanks for sharing.
    I'm very glad for your great success as "Guest Friend".

    Luiz

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  45. AnonymousMarch 25, 2009 at 7:22 AM

    I'm unfamiliar with this plant, so thanks for the introduction in this post. the pink roses in your header are beautiful too.
    Hugs and blessings,

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