When you see this questionable collection lines up on a branch, you can see why May Gibbs chose the Banksia Man as the villain for her stories!

Here's a closer look of one of the hairy men.




They look much nicer when they're beginning to flower...




Or when they're in full bloom!




This is my favourite.




There's other flowers in the gardens.




This one hides a tiny green spider.




These ones wear frilly skirts.




Can you guess how the Plum Pine got its name?




After the gardens I visited the lake at sunset. I wonder if Walter Burley Griffin saw this in his dreams when he designed Canberra?




Or maybe it was more like this?




Most of the photos here were taken with the Pentax DA35 limited macro. The macro shots used a ring flash. Alas, the K5iis still doesn't trigger the flash more than once - even with the latest firmware, and I have to cycle the power on the flash after each shot.

[eaglem]

A very nice series of shots here.

[RobG]

A very nice series of shots here.

Thanks! They're linked on Flickr in HD.