The bold and the beautiful

We have had some good January rain at the farm, and the ground is perfect for pulling weeds, digging up plants and dividing bulbs.

Pineapple lily (Eucomis comosa 'Sparking Burgundy')

My summer flowering precious plants are loving the heat and moisture.

Snail creeper (Vigna caracalla) 

I have been keen to dig up my Brunsvigia josephinae clump for several seasons now, but have been procrastinating. The bulbs are rare and I don't want to risk losing them. Yesterday, the conditions were perfect: the ground was soft and the bulbs dormant; I took the plunge!

I have blogged about this rare beauty before, here and here. 

Josephine's Lily (Brunsvigia josephinae)

It is ironic that something so lovely can emerge from a bulb so ugly! The bulbs are simply enormous. The biggest were 8" across!

Also in the garden today, amongst some eucalypt leaves I was raking:

How gorgeous is he? He is a type of scarab beetle, Eupoecila australasiae. He is commonly known as a Fiddler beetle because of his violin shaped markings. Beetles typically emerge in summer as the weather warms up and summer storms bring plenty of rain. Fiddler beetles are strong fliers and move between eucalypts and other trees to feed on nectar. They are common to Australia's eastern states:

Source

They are completely harmless to humans, and it was fun to find one. I'm always on the look out for insects in the garden. The kids think it's funny and weird when I yell out excitedly about some new find. They think I'm a bit mad, but they all still come running to see!