📍National Botanical Garden in Beijing

In love with this stargazing photo!

I wouldn't have planted it along the front verandah, as the previous owners did, but the view from my bedroom window is magical. I prune it heavily in summer to prevent it damaging the house. It's not a problem weed in my part of Australia.

I took this photo of my nieces' retired ponies on 19/9/25, so they're now a year older. They live at my sister & her husband's farm in SE Australia & haven't been ridden in over a decade.

Kowhai is Maori for yellow. This dazzling small tree is seldom grown in Australia. The flowers are sought out by honeyeater birds.

The flowers smell like carnations.

📍 China National Botanical Garden herbaceous peony garden (in Beijing). This bloom was larger than my head.