Aside from last Friday's changes in dormant plants, i want to add some more changes from the very long dry season to the rainy season. These are all in our area and garden in the province. Even if the rainy season is already officially declared in June, and thunderstorms happen most afternoon in the big city, our area is still needing the much needed rain follow-up. Some farmers who planted corns and vegies after the first rains are now praying fervently so their crops will not die. Rains continue to be just in slight drizzles only.
This falcata tree, one of the tallest in our area is now full of shoots, it behaves like it is still in its own country's spring. It is one of the characteristics of species that are only acclimatized in our country, somehow it still retains the old characteristics. But of chores the genes are still there.
It is not only in the big city where the sunsets are not as lovely anymore. Most of my sunset skies are cloudy with only a slight window for the sun. My sunrise in the province, direct to my bedroom window is also a bit dim as above. Only a slight window at the bottom allows the sun to peep through.
We have two mussaenda around the house, the above is our neighbor's, while below is ours. They are both taller than shrubs, but still a low tree. We normally prune them during summer, but this time i was not able to do that. So the branches are taller, and more flowers appear because all shoots have flowers. Actually, they are not real flowers but bracts. The real flowers are inconspicuous and hidden among those lovely modified leaves.
Anothre bulb which has dormancy, the blood lily or Scadoxius multiflorus, bloomed later than the hippeastrum. They produce large very round umbels in a profusion of red bursts, that stay there for at least 5 days. No wonder they are called blood lily in the area they came from. It is not native to our country.
those umbels are even lovelier in close-up shots
Some of the Hippeastrum puniceum flowers are still there, but a lot are already spent and wilted. Eventually, this will only be a hedge of green leaves that are still lovely to see there. Those leaves will accumulate food again in the bulb to be ready for next year's blooming.
The back of the hippeastrum also have lovely patterns that are nice to the camera. My disappointment with this species is its inability to produce seeds, as it is self sterile. Even attempts to cross it with my H johnsonii failed, although i am not sure if crossing was correctly done. I instructed my niece to do that, but nothing emerged as fruit buds. Maybe it is the technique of pollination too, which might not be right, or the timing of crossing. Who knows i did not observe it.
I'm thrilled by seeing these Mussaenda trees, never seen or heard of before, the flowers are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteOh yes they are beautiful, we have hybrids of differen colors in the country named after our first ladies.
DeleteOh how I would love to visit your garden in the province. I would gladly pay the admission!
ReplyDeleteWorth a Thousand Words
hahaha, do you know that 2 friends also bought my joke about entrance fees? They literally asked how much is the entrance fee!
DeleteSo many beautiful orange/red blooms! I've never heard of Mussaenda tree before--what a beauty!
ReplyDeleteMussaenda species are already here for a long time, most are endemic or native here in the country. Maybe you don't know them because they only grow in the tropics. They are also growing in the Caribbean. We have a few hybrids here which are named after our first ladies, the varieties are called Doña because the 1st First Lady of the country is after the Spanish period so she was addressed as Doña Aurora, wife of Pres. Manuel L. Quezon. That variety of mussaenda is white.
DeleteHi! The umbels flowers are very gorgeous and strange. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing plants. They all look so healthy. I hope the rains continue to fall and keep the plants happy. Interestingly, we are experiencing a very dry spell at the property we inherited from my father. It has rained all around the area, but missed his valley. The stream is dry and some of the trees are suffering.
ReplyDeleteOh i visualize your area and i smiled, because i suddenly thought there is either a curse on that area or there is a joke. I am also visualizing a lovely property with a stream and a lot of butterflies, oh how lovely to take photos of the dynamic stream. Kidding aside, maybe your inherited area is a little big, to merit such an exemption from a natural phenomenon.
DeleteAndrea, we can't believe how lucky we are to have such a beautiful place where we will be living in a couple of years. It is amazing to watch butterflies floating through the trees and landing on the wild flowers. I have plans to make areas much more attractive for butterflies and other wildlife. Already the house has various little spaces for birds to nest in. There is much to look forward to. And the weather in Scotland is so unpredictable and localized. It can be raining here, but the sun will be shining five miles away!
DeleteHi again Nick, if only our countries are near each other, it would be so lovely to visit each other's areas. Scotland is one of the countries in my dream to visit since i was a kid, until now i am still waiting for the miracle for this to happen, hahaha. I also have a former photographer blogger friend from there for many years now. She is so good and very kind as well. I wonder if you have seen her site http://photography.leavesnbloom.com/.
DeleteIf i only have the budget i will transform our small property here to a resort and agri tourism spot.
We too need rain here as we are in a drought so I water here... Lovely flowers and always nice to see you Andrea... Michelle
ReplyDeletewe can swap weather - not only that we still haven't had proper summer but it also rains a lot and even though Belgium is not that affected (with lives lost) with flooding as some neighboring countries there is still a lot of financial loss caused by it. lovely flowers, specially those red balls - I've never seen something like that.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, we can swap half of the weather. If only we can divert those clouds here, then both of us will be happier. We have incoming La Niña so expecting heavier rains that will cause flooding. I hope it will not happen as expected because a lot of our people suffered already in the past flooding years.
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