Peacock Flower

There's always plenty to discover at Cambridge Botanic gardens, and today was no exception. I'd arranged to meet my niece there in the afternoon but arrived mid-morning so that I could have a quiet wander round with my camera. It was really very overcast and the gardens were full of excited children participating in a hunt for Lindt chocolate rabbits, but I still had a wonderful couple of hours. 

I could have blipped any number of flowers, but I was particular struck by the vibrant colours of this Peacock Flower, which originates from the Western Cape of South Africa, where it formerly occurred in profusion - what a wonderful sight that must have been! Unfortunately most of its habitat has now been lost to wheat farming and urban development, so it's now restricted to a few small populations.

After K and her son T arrived we wandered round the gardens a bit more. T was a bit shy to start with, but after some time spent observing the mating habits of Hairy-footed Flower-bees he became much more relaxed. We found one rather exhausted female bee on the ground, and he was quite impressed that I picked it up.  I explained that they really have very feeble stings so it wouldn't hurt me. We carefully placed it on a flower to rest, where it was promptly bombarded by an over amorous male!

The rest of our walk was a joy, with plenty of time to chat, as well as opportunities to examine the strangely coloured, almost luminous green Jade Vine (see extra), whose flowers are pollinated by bats, and to ponder the gory wonders of insectivorous plants. All too soon it was time to say goodbye. I must admit I was very glad that I'd opted to travel by train, which gave me time for a cheeky snooze on the way home!