Spring blooms

Colours were abalze at the 73rd annual Proserpine Uniting Church Flower Show on Saturday. It would have been hard work for the judges to select the prize winning bloom for each category as there were so many beautiful entries.

Surprisingly, there were a number of cooler climate flowers such as the rose, alyssum, petunias and phlox, in amongst the tropical favourites of bouganivillea, desert rose, orchids and bromeliads. There was also a native flower category with lovely bottlebrush and grevillea on display.

Orchids are the main attraction of the show - their colour and bilateral symmetry are what makes them so desirable. There are more than 25 000 documented species and these masters of deception grow naturally all over the world. The reproductive parts of many orchid flowers are coloured and shaped to look like the insect they are trying to attract, so once the pollen sticks the insect flies off to find another 'mate'!

A timely segment of Gardening Australia on Saturday evening showcases one gardner's passion for the orchid family.

The local school choirs provided some entertainment while we sipped a cup of tea and munched on homemade biscuits and scones, and we bought some unusal plants on sale on our way out the door.