September blooms in the tropics!

All plants rejoice during our rainy season. That includes the smallest weed to the tallest trees. And for the mammals, I am one of the happiest, seeing all of them at their best.

This is one of my caladiums, which i really cannot patiently wait to open so last week i forcefully opened the still rolled leaf. After two weeks here it is, fully opened. I think this is the loveliest among them, and with the largest leaves too. 

This Chrysothemis pulchelia dries during the hot dry months but recovers again when the rains come. The very small seeds scattered on the ground also emerge in lumps, so i thinned most of the emergents and left only a few to continue growing. It needs more space for the leaves to expand. The situation above is still compact and a more spacious condition is needed.

This four o'clock, which we call 'alas cuatro' (Spanish for 4 o'clock') is just salvaged seeds from plants i see on the roadside somewhere. It has fully grown with very beautiful color. Our usual color for this is red or violet, and this is the first time i see this color. I know there are lots of hybrid colors in other countries, but i haven't seen them here. It is not really attractive for many because of the blooming time at night. The already close and wilt when the sun rises the following day. (Mirabilis jalapa)

This is the picture of 4 o'clock the following morning, not really very attractive with the many blooms already wilted.

The already acclimatized gaillardia has been loving the rains. It started growing during the dry season. It was sent here as seeds from a temperate climate, Illinois, USA.

An old red shrimp plant has been growing here since the dry season. I did not cut the old growths, and the flowers seem to suffer by not sending more blooms in the spike. Or maybe it needs more organic matter in the soil.

Our Impatiens balsamina has been with us for many years now. A few years back we also have the double petalled red, beige and this pink, plus the single petalled white and beige. We just let the seeds dehisce and scatter on the ground. But this time only this color appeared. Others could have dried totally because of the very hot and long dry months.

Our petunia did not show the typical beautiful blooms i see in the sub tropical setting. They are not as prolific here and we only have a few stems left from the dry season. This is just the ordinary violet.

The yellow-orange heliconia is now producing longer and bigger blooms than during the dry season.

Even the Turnera subulata opens only for a few hours in the morning. At 10-11 o'clock they already  closed, but some insects take advantage of the few hours to get its nectar and pollen. The insect shown here is just about 4mm long.

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Ixora javanica is one tough plant. I wonder if this is just a bush or a small branching tree. Ours is already more than 10 ft tall, with lots of branches coming from the ground level. It didn't stop blooming during the dry months but more prolific not when the rains come. The umbels also got bigger and stays in bloom longer. 

The plant is shown below.

Our Hedychium coronarium blooms for the first time. Every stalk end is having flowers, and the sweet scent permeates the nearby areas. It is just subtle and not suffocating unlike other sweet plants. 

Lastly, i am including here such blooms of this mushroom. It also looks like a floriferous plant species.