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Thursday, May 14, 2015

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!


13 comments:

  1. Wow. So many unique flowers (at least to me). Really nice collection!

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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  2. Your Hoyas are looking beautiful. I am glad you have been able to keep them going during the dry season. Is this an unusually dry dry season? It is hard for me to imagine. We are having a miserable May. Temperatures are only reaching 10 degrees with still the occasional frost!

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  3. The Hoyas are so beautiful! You must be working very hard to keep them doing so well in the drought. I hope you get rain soon.

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  4. Beautiful flowers. I hope you get some rain soon. We're used to extended dry spells here too, and they can be devastating - we had terrible wildfires in the city two of the last three summers. So nobody's allowed to complain about the rain!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Al thanks for the visit. At least your area is cold, but here we are now 36+C and still counting, coupled with very high humidity. It is difficult outside.

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  5. Our dry season has begun and after a failed wet season, it's going to be a horrible year for plants around my garden. It's already fairly dry and the plants look thirsty by midday. The bushland around us looks exactly like the countryside photos you showed. It is wonderful though to see all the great colour in your flowers. Those Hoyas are simply magnificent. Your close-ups show just how beautiful the Hoya blooms really are.

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    Replies
    1. Yes Bernie, despite the extreme feeling of heat of 39C for humans (actual temp is 36.5C) the hoyas are still able to survive. A few suffered growth and scorching, but many flowered. I hope it is not an indication of stress response!

      I smiled at your term 'failed wet season'! I hope our wet season which regularly starts in May but now scheduled for June will not also be a failed one!

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  6. The Hoyas are so unique! Since they are your favorites, they are worth the extra effort and tender loving care. So sorry about the drought. That is so difficult. One of my favorite plants from our trip to Hawaii was Heleconia--you got a great photo of those!

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    1. Hi Beth, yes they are favorite for now. It is not I who suffered too much work but my sister who is left at home with the household chores and the hoyas. I only come home on weekends to untangle the vines and do some improvements.

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  7. Your Hoyas look so beautiful and so special, hope you have some much needed rains soon

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    1. Some parts of the country are already visited by rain, but ours seem to be a long extended dry season. Thanks for visiting.

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  8. At Catholic school we offered flowers every day in May to the Virgin....here the flowers are plentiful and yours would make her happy...so exotic!

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    Replies
    1. Oh so most Catholics in different countries do the flower offering. Thanks Donna for telling me that.

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