A trip to the Capital

We've just had a long weekend. A time which tradition has long dictated that all able bodied persons from inland locations should flock to the seaside to spend goodly sums of money supporting regional economies.  Well, we decided to return the favour and spend a part of our weekend in our nation's capital, Canberra.  There were two main reasons - the Australian National Botanic Gardens and the annual flower festival known as Floriade (billed as the biggest flower festival in Australia).

Floriade:
I'm not usually a big fan of flowers.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-flowers.  I like them, but I've never gardened with flowers in mind - other than for their bird and insect attracting features.  Even so, I could still appreciate the beauty of the displays. I had lots of photos from the trip - I've imposed a quota to keep the post small(ish).

Tulip beds

Another tulip bed

A tulip

Botanic Gardens:
The Botanic Gardens are a little more my taste.  They're a place you can always find a little pocket of tranquility - even though you're quite close to the city.  Again, I've imposed a photo quota - only three allowed.

Brittle Gums in the Proteaceae section

Rainforest walk

Rock garden

We weren't the only ones enjoying the sun

Hello, stranger

I thought I owed a low-word count post after the previous Great Walls of Text and as I recently got a new camera, I thought I'd introduce some of the strangers I inherited when we moved into our little piece of paradise.  Of course I do hope I might get a few clues as to what they actually are, but even if I don't it'll be nice to look back on the flowers in the depths of winter.

I believe these three are hibiscus of some sort (I'd never been big on flowers, but I do like these)

I'm not sure what these two below might be and while I took a number of photos, they only demonstrated that I should go back and read the manual, particularly the bit about getting the autofocus to focus on the bit I'm focussing on rather than whatever it happens to have taken a liking to in the background.

I'll leave them up as some miracle worker might be able to give me a clue as to what they might be - or at least point me in the general direction.

  Updated - the one on the right is most probably a gardenia (thanks to gippslandgardener for the pointer).

Now where did I put that camera manual.