Garden growth

A big round ball caught my attention this morning. I looked out of the window that overlooks the swimming pool and there below me was this big golden orb. Out came the camera (of course!) and without even checking the ISO I went into action.
Why did I mention the ISO? Because it was still set for the dim light in which I used the camera yesterday! Grr!
Anyway, the camera is more intelligent than I am and the photos came out fine! The focus was set to manual - I sometimes cannot get the right thing in focus when I rely on the auto focus - and thanks to the decent sized viewfinder on my Nikon D90 I seem to be able to get the focus accurate in Manual mode.

f/20  1/125  ISO 640    78mm

Obviously I am looking down on this plant from above. We have a two story home with a veranda on three sides on the upper floor. The birds are seen on the side veranda. This shot was from the back veranda, which is only narrow enough to walk along comfortably. All the leaves on the plant - it is one of the Cycads - have white fringing on them. This has been caused by the grub of a small grey moth. We spray when we see the moths but obviously don't stop them all!

f/20     1/125    ISO 640      300mm

The second shot was taken from the same place on the veranda (using the 70-300mm lens) and shows the wonderful patterning created by the petals on this flower. For that is what the ball is. It is the flower of the female cycad or Sago Palm.

f/16    1/80    ISO 640    50mm

Now I have managed to get into the swimming pool yard without being followed by the dogs! You can now see just how large this plant has grown. Many years ago I sent away to a seed specialist for the seeds for this cycad, an envelope with four huge seeds (you can see some under the leaves) arrived in the post (remember those days when mail came in an envelope?) so this large plant came from a seed that I planted and nurtured.
Many of the seeds do fall to the ground (and germinate) and many stay anchored to the plant - and many of them germinate on the trunk of the plant.
The flower will open and seeds will have been formed under the protection of those woody petals so they will be revealed. Then new leaves will sprout from the centre of the core of the flower and force the seeds to the outside of the plant. Then the seeds will fall to the ground. That is how the trunk is formed too.

f/6.3    1/80   ISO 640   50mm

This last shot was taken with the swimming pool behind me to show how some of the seeds have germinated on the trunk of the parent plant. We have to cut them off before they get too big and put them into pots to give away (or we would soon have a forest) or the plant would become far to large and untidy.
Do click on each of the photos to see them in more detail. That way you will be able to see the shape, size and colour of the seeds too.
AJ