Wildlife on Wednesday ... Nephila pilipes - Golden Orb Web Spider

It's delightful to be back for another Wildlife on Wednesday post.  Thankfully my computer didn't die ... a lovely surprise!  Anyway ... back to the wildlife.

Just recently we have noticed this rather fabulous spider at our place.  It was my hubbie who first discovered it ... just outside his workshop.  It was hard to miss!!

The size of this creature really took our breath away.  It was enormous ... nearly 20 cms ... and it's web was around a metre across.  Some days later, it had moved up to the courtyard garden ... and I almost walked straight into it's web whilst watering my potted plants. I was intrigued, so I just had to do some research to find out about this marvellous thing.

Nephila pilipes was formerly known as Nephila maculata.  It's a tropical spider and the most striking of three Nephila species found here in Queensland with the distinguishing yellow patches on the joints.  The common name ... Golden Orb Web spider ... apparently comes from the colour of the web displayed in the sunlight.

The photos show the underneath view of the female ... the females are giants compared to the males.  There were two males living on the web with this female and they were hard to spot.  If you look very carefully at the photo above, you might notice one of the males near her back leg on the left hand side of this shot.  It's a little speck of orange!!  I can imagine that mating would be a herculean task!

Now for a short video showing the female dining on it's captured prey.  The fantastic orb web is designed to catch large flying insects ... although small birds and bats can sometimes be caught!  I did try to zoom in on the males that accompanied this female ... but I'm afraid the vision is rather blurry and out of focus when I zoomed in on them.  Hopefully, you will still enjoy the clip.

Lots of time enjoying the garden lately!

Yes, the computer is dead!  So I do apologise for not replying to comments or reading your posts during the last few days ... I'm in blogging withdrawl mode at the moment.  But I'm certainly getting lots of quality gardening time ... and the house is looking rather clean.

I've taken the opportunity to use the computer at work to post this message ... I'll be back as soon as possible.

Flower Flaunt on Friday - early Spring in north-east Oz.

Spring has arrived ... very soon the temperatures will be soaring and the humidity levels will be rising.  Springtime here is really just another word for early Summer!  While that is not an exciting prospect to a dry tropics gardener, I know that my erstwhile Autumn-Winter flowering plants will continue blooming for a little while longer.

The fabulous Snapdragons keep on keeping on.

I've already trimmed the Petunias right back ... and they're breaking into bloom once more.

The Calibrachoas were also trimmed right back ... and are flowering again.

My gorgeous Cineraria are just coming to the end of their show.

I just love the different shades and hues as the flowers age and the colours fade.

My dwarf Azalea is still full of blooms ... and seems to be enjoying the freedom and space after I severely trimmed back the surrounding Hibisucus shrubs that were crowding out this lovely little thing.

Out in the driveway garden bed, I can still spot some flowers on one of my favourite Winter bloomers.  My Bauhinia variegate 'Alba' just doesn't seem to want to drop all it's flowers just yet ... and even though they're not at their best, I still find beauty in these dying blooms.

Further along in this driveway garden bed there's a Gerbera that I would call THE hardiest I've ever seen.  It survives on rock ... there's just no soil on this barren part of the garden!   It's located in one of the driest places on the property and he poor thing is just screaming out for a decent drink ... I really don't know how it keeps on growing.

I have a few Spathiphyllums or Peace Lilies growing in various places around my garden ... and the first bloom has appeared.  These will now begin to show more and more flowers as we get further into Spring.

I'm also seeing more and more of the little native Violet appearing in various spots around the garden.  Viola Hederacae has a tiny little flower and sometimes goes unnoticed.

Another beautiful little flower that often goes unnoticed is the bloom of the Moses-in-a-Basket plant or the Boat Lily - Tradescantia spathacea.  I've got lots of Tradescantia growing in my Shadehouse/Greenhouse Garden.  It's often dismissed as a rather common, unattractive and boring plant.

But, if you look closely at the right time of year, you'll see these wonderful boat-shaped outer casings burst open to reveal a lovely little flower.

Elsewhere in my garden, there are more tiny, tiny little flowers appearing ... such as the flowers on the Triangular Palm - Dypsis decaryi.  Another example of beauty found in the most unexpected places.

Now make sure you pop over to visit Tootise's meme where you will find lots more great blog posts for this Flower Flaunt Friday.  Just click on the link below:

Flaunt Your Flowers

Mosaic Monday ... Pink and Purple Gardening Candy for the Eyes!

Winter's drawing to a close here in Oz and right now there's a lot of lovely pink and purple in the garden.  Two of my absolute favourite flowering plants for adding these soft, fluffy, feel-good colours are Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' and Azaleas.

First my gorgeous Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender'.  Whilst the foliage is not all that exciting ... this plant comes into it's own when it's covered in these tiny little flowers.  Take a closer look at the intricate patterns on these dainty petals.

Now to my Azaleas.  I have one dwarf variety growing in an outdoor garden bed ... and it has astounded me for quite some time!  It is the most resilient, hardy little Azalea I've ever met.  How it survives outdoors during our Summers here is beyond me ... but it does ... and for the last three years it has burst into bloom every Winter and puts on this terrific show of colour.  Unfortunately I have no idea of its varietal name.  I've named it 'One Tough Little Mama'!

I also have two potted Azaleas ... bought around four years ago.  These two did very, very little for the past three years ... then, suddenly this year they have burst into bloom.  Both have been covered by masses of frilly pink flowers ... and they're into their second display for this Winter.  Everyone who visits, comments about these beauties in the courtyard garden.

The potted Azaleas and the Plectranthus together make a wonderful combination.

Now for more wonderful Mosaic Monday posts, make sure you visit Mary at Little Red House