Blooms Amidst Drought

It is May, the month for our famous Santacruzan. It is supposedly the pageant on the last day of Flores de Mayo, held in honor of Helena of Constantinople and Constantine the Great finding the True Cross in Jerusalem. Ref: Wikipedia. This is formerly a Catholic religion's celebration of the said event, however these days it is an affair with too much fun and food just like during fiestas.  In our small community, the whole month of May is a social event when the nights are bonding opportunities for the people while doing the Flores de Mayo in the small chapel. Flowers are offered to the Virgin Mary, while ladies are singing the usual Flores de Mayo songs.

When we were younger we always join them in the daily early evening affair, a season of camaraderie too. So a lot of flowers are used nightly and kids roam the barangay to gather whatever flowers they can find. However this time, i am sure the kids had difficulty in gathering flowers, as we have a long dry season and ordinary flowers were almost totally dry.

 From these three pictures i took while riding in a bus to a nearby province, i would like to show you how our plants and agricultural fields fare with the changing climate. The above photo shows its susceptibility to fire. I wonder how animals and birds from these areas cope.

 Above is an agricultural upland landscape, showing you also the intensity of the dry season.

This is an ordinary rice field, normally these are farmed when water is available. Can you imagine what those carabaos eat from those barren lands! In our household we are also having water difficulty, so we fetch water taking our turns from the spring, where everybody goes this time of difficulty. We use jeepneys, tricycles and a lot of small containers to fetch water.

Nevertheless, no matter how dry our surroundings are, i can still show you some colors. I hope my previous photos will not depress you that much. So alleviate those previous feelings, i will give you my flowers of adddiction. Of course, they get some little water as if they are members of the family.

Heliconia rostrata is an exceptional plant, it flowers when the dry season is at its highest. Look at the almost scorched leaves, yet every plant has a long inflorescense. Insects are grateful for them.

Of course, everybody knows that bougainvilla is a dry season plant too. No matter how intense the heat of the sun is, they are very happy and produce more colors.

 

The above 2 plants are hoya. At the left is Hoya mindorensis, that even with very little watering it flowers all year round. The one above has actually 9 umbels at different stages of blooming. At the right is Hoya meliflua, with 12 umbels. Can you imagine if all the umbels flower at the same time! And the scent at our terrace is so lovely specially at night, because the small hoya garden is a meter far from the terrace.

 The above 2 photos are Hoya mindorensis

Above 2 photos are Hoya meliflua

Hoya mindorensis continuously flower when not stressed, however Hoya meliflua flowers only starting from May for about 3 months.

 

Hoya celata

 Hoya elmeri (2 above photos from start of opening to fully open flowers)

 Hoya soligamiana

 Hoya incrassata/crassicaulis

 Hoya imperialis

Hoya pubicalyx (2 above photos)

With my beautifully blooming hoyas, can you still visualize that we are at the height of our dry season? You will not be able to discern that from these flowers, so i intentionally put the actual photos at the the beginning. This way, you will be able to relate how difficult it is for us to maintain our hoyas in good condition. Only addiction can produce this difference!

 Outdoor Wednesday

GBBD