Wednesday, September 12, 2012

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.

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. 

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38 comments:

  1. That beautiful Caladium pulled me in! Stunning, and some great shots, love the last fungi pic as well. LT

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    1. Thank you so much LT, i guess we have opposite conditions for plants, so i envy most your Lithops. And you had difficulty growing some of mine! That is what is best in blogging, we experience those at the other side of the world.

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  2. You did it. You moved passed your mushroom mayhem and took a pretty shot of them again:) Love all your plants Andrea. Your garden looks green green green. Do enjoy a nice caladium:)

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    1. Yes dear Kreesh, i hope i did't get a deep trauma on mushrooms. I actually have eaten pizza already after that, with mushrooms, haha! And yes, i really love that Caladium, and I acquired a small corm of different color from my recent escapade to the garden show!

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  3. Ang gaganda naman mga flowets natin. Actually la kong alam about them. Did you study about this? Coz you know a lot about plants . Anyway, laki siguro ng plantation nyo kasi ang dami nyong plants. I like looking at them. Beautiful homecountry:)

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    1. Even if i will not study about plants maybe i will still know them, haha! I am always conscious and concerned about Oxygen Generators, they are our lifeline! Thanks Joy.

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  4. Thanks for visiting and you know it makes me proud being a filipino because of people like you. Matalino at nag care sa God's creation. I really admire you. Yes my husband now is a norwegian, although i have 3 grown ups children sa pinas. But it will be a long story which i partly already shared in my previous post. I became a mother when I was 16. I am 50 now. So my eldest is 34. My story is like from rags to riches or from the mud to a dry land. From being lost and been found. And I just thank God for giving me a new life. Nice knowing you:)

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  5. Your images are so nicely done. You must be enjoying the new lens. I like the soft focused backgrounds.

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    1. Yes Donna, I am enjoying and learning to use it. But i don't have a tripod so more challenging for my unstable hands. Happy weekend.

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  6. Great pictures!
    I really enjoy looking at your flowers.
    Many flowers grow in my garden as well.
    Thank you for sharing,
    Gisela.

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    1. Gisela, till now I am wondering how you can grow tropical plants in very cold Canada!

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    2. Tropical plants such as Canna lily, Mandevilla, Penta and Hibiscus grow only in my garden during the summer and stored over the winter indoors.
      I plant red Canna lilies for the hummingbirds only:)
      This summer we had temperatures soaring to almost 40C.
      Tropical temperatures indeed!!
      I have installed water irrigation in my gardenbeds.
      and my flowers thrived during the hot summer.
      Now it is getting cooler and fall arrives soon.
      - Cheers.

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    3. Thanks so much Gisela for the reply. Gardening with tropical plants in the temperate climates seem so difficult and amazing to me. Imagine moving all of them in to a closed area during winter! I know it entails a lot of work, unlike with us here where we can just plant and neglect them. Congratulations for a beautiful job done. Yes, cheers!

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  7. Hi... absolutely beautiful color in your post... I love the rich reds that are in so many of the tropical plants. By the way... I responded to your gentle spelling lesson on my post... thanks for setting me straight on brugmansia... I think there was a time when I spelled it correctly and then slipped into adding the 's' somehow. This isn't the first time I've done this... for years I was spelling 'Lathyrus vernus' without the 'y' until someone pointed it out... also appreciated!! ... have a great weekend... Larry

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    1. Hi Larry, maybe it is long time association that i prefer the blues and violets than what we always see here in the warm climes. And then, you, who have mingled with them prefer the reds and orange, because you don't have much of them. We want those we don't always see! Thanks also for appreciating my suggestion.

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  8. a lovely series of plants and one of my favourites is the caladiums

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  9. I love the colour of the Caladium, so pretty.

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  10. WOW! Wonderful series! I love the first picture!

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  11. Wow!Such great, beautiful and informative post!

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  12. lots of nice flowers you share.

    Re the flower macro on my blog. It all belongs to the same flower. It is one of the weeds you find everywhere. Just very much close up. The seeds are only 2-3 mm in size. Quite tricky to catch atually. :)
    It belongs to this family:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apiaceae

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    1. Thanks Nature Footstep for these info, and visiting my post.

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  13. i didn't know it's called Alas Cuatro--i love the color. great macro shots especially of the petunia. and the mushrooms--quite interesting, they're great subjects!

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  14. I can only grow caladium in the greenhouse ...it is too tender for this area...great post today...as usual...wonderful gorgeous photos!!!
    I shared this post to tootsie time facebook page!!!
    thanks for linking in this week I hope you will again soon!
    hugs from Alberta Canada!
    (¯`v´¯)
    `*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
    ¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
    (¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
    www.tootsietime.com

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  15. Beautiful shots. Your Four O'Clock is lovely, but my favourite is the Hedychium bloom. The Turnera shot is simply marvellous. What a great close-up.

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  16. These are so pretty, and captured so beautifully.

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  17. Your photos are beautiful ! Such lovely colours. The Ixora is amazing, I had never seen this plant before. I really enjoyed your post, lovely !

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    1. Hi Jocelyne, thanks so much for your first visit, hope to see you again here. The Ixora javanica is really an awesome plant, it is not very common as the dwarf Ixora seen anywhere. I have been trying repeatedly to get my comments in your post, but it doesn't show up, then realized you have wordpress. I wonder why all wordpress blogs don't let me comment in there. I hope you can read this reply.

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  18. Very nice Andrea. It is so different seeing blooms in your part of the world. They grow naturally, and for us so many are mere annuals.

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    1. Hi Donna, I am so honored with your visit here. thanks so much.

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  19. Andrea I am loving getting my fix of your tropical blooms and what a delight to see the gaillardia. Although the tropicals are so bright and beautiful.

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    1. Hi Donna, that gaillardia is also giving me lots of opportunities to practice with my macro lens because of its hairs. I realized temperate flowers are more hirsute than ours! Thanks for being my regular visitor, next time i will give you some snacks and coffee! haha!

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  20. Hi Andrea, I love the brilliant orange-red of Ixora javanica and the yellow-orange heliconia especially. Your shot of the yellow Turnera subulata is terrific.

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    1. Thanks Jennifer for the appreciation and kind words. That Ixora javanica is not a common garden plant here like the dwarf Ixora. In our province, maybe we are the only one who have that.

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  21. Gorgeous blooms and foliage! Your caladiums are just lovely. Why haven't I added caladiums to my garden? I need to remedy that oversight ASAP! Four o'clocks are a flower from my childhood--I love them. Thank you for the lovely tour of your garden. I look forward to visiting again! Happy Bloom Day!

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    1. Hi Julie, thanks for the visit. I went to your site, but i cannot get in my comment. I tried several times and failed, sorry!

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  22. Oh my, this is a fantastic selection of beautiful blooms. Thank you very much for participating in Today's Flowers. I really appreciate your support. Have a great weekend.

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