Sturt's Desert Pea growing wild




Swainsona formosa


Out in the middle of nowhere literally we came across a big patch of Sturt's Desert Pea in full flower.  Something I have never seen before and they are much larger than I thought they would be.  They are only found in Australia, in the all mainland states other than Victoria.  They are the floral emblem for the state of South Australia.  Captain Charles Sturt saw them when he was exploring between Adelaide and the inland in 1844.  Apparently they can be very difficult to grow in your garden unless you buy grafted specimens, they are a prostrate runner of about 2 metres in diameter.  They are most often seen in the wild after good rainfall, so it seems we were very lucky to see this beautiful bright crimson flower looking absolutely spectacular in the wild.  


How about this limited edition linocut print by very talented artist Lynette Weir  who exhibits at three galleries and her works are available through her website for purchased framed and unframed.


3 comments:

Zara said...

Such a stunning flower, it is so unique.
Australia has such beautiful flowers, we really are lucky. x

Susan said...

That's a really unusual find. I've never seen it in the wild before......maybe I haven't been far enough west!

Anonymous said...

What an interesting flower. Looks almost alien.