On My Walk This Morning 3q

"Cassia / Senna" Tree

The city has planted 300 small decorative trees along the St. Genevieve Canal, which

runs beside my building - crepe myrtles of various color and several kinds of cassia.

This is a young "Cassia / Senna" tree, which was only planted a few months ago.

Several others are blooming, but with only a few flowers.  This one has gone wild.

It's at the edge of the canal and can be seen from the walking path I use on the other

side of the canal.

"Cassia / Senna Flowers" Close-up.  The leaves on all the Cassias are similar.

"Peachy Keen Croton"

"White Crepe Myrtle" by the Childrens' Playground.

All of the Crepe Myrtle, in every color, are blooming more and more with all the

rain we are getting.  They have never been this full before.

"Lavender Crepe Myrtle" by the Tennis Courts

New bed of "Double Purple Ground Orchids" from spreading plants at original site.

They grow and multiply very quickly, and they seem to stay true to size.

Close-up of "Double Purple Ground Orchids"

"Tecoma Stans / Yellow Bells."  These were new plants this year.  They are

bushes/small trees which bloom continuously from spring to late fall.  They

are very colorful.

"Tecoma Stans / Yellow Bells" close-up

"Soraya" Deep Magenta Curcumas.  These are again in the German lady's yard.

They are quite striking; I have seen them only in pink and white until these.

This is a vey late blooming "Queen Crepe Myrtle."  The color was almost

a pale blue, rather than purple.

For a year, I have seen this cascade of long stems and green leaves pour out of

a crotch in a tree.  Then this morning, I saw this.  There are dozen of small

"Pigeon Orchids / Dendrobiums."

Each "Pigeon Orchid" is about one inch in diameter.

"Lucrezia Borgia" is one of the most splendid Vanda Orchids I have seen.  I have been 

waiting as it fills out.  There are now nine flowers.  They are large; the one in front

is five inches in diameter.

This flower is five inches in diameter, and the one behind it is six inches

in diameter.  They are gorgeous.  "Lucrezia Borgia."

Here they are.  They are also developing "Double Yellow Ground Orchids."

Shortly after I took the earlier picture of the "Chenille" bush, the gardeners came through

and pruned it severely, leaving only a messy bunch of stems.  But it has now grown back,

quickly, and new stems of "Chenille" are draped all over.

The view from my "resting bench," half way through my morning walk.

This morning, a Great Blue Heron joined me.  There are several that live along

the Ste Genevieve Canal here.  He was fishing for breakfast.

A lovely bunch of "Pink Ixora."

"Pink Ixora" Cluster

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I shall continue taking my daily walks, but I think this will be the end of the

flower photographs.  I hope you have enjoyed them.

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On My Walk This Morning 3p

"Urn Plants / Bromeliads"

These Bromeliads are also Epiphytes - they live on another plant.  They do not hurt the

tree or eat from it, but they like the neighborhood.  Usually one or two flowers appear,

but this year, because of all the rain, we get lots of flowers.

 

"Queen Crepe Myrtle"

The "Queen Crepe Myrtle" comes in a variety of shades from deep purple to lavender

to blues.  This one actually looked sky blue this morning, but here in the picture, it

is more lavender.

 

After I saw the "Double Purple Ground Orchids," I wondered if they would produce

the other varieties.  Today I found the first answer - a "Double Mardi Gras

Ground Orchid."    Instead of the usual three or four flowerlets, there are clusters.

Now I shall watch for the yellow and white varieties.

"Orange Popsicle Heliconia."

They are planted in a shady spot beneath a giant ficus tree.  But as I came by, the

sun shone through the branches and lit up the flowers so they look like neon

The branches of this "Royal Poinciana" got so heavy from the masses of flowers that

they bent down far enough that I could get a good view of them.

The German lady is buying again.  These are three "Curcumas," which have just

begun blooming.

"Sweet Adeline" Phalaenopsis Orchid continues to open more flowers;

here we have six on the stalk.

I had not seen this before.  "Golden Showers" bloom before the leaves appear,

and this tree was splendid.  Then the golden petals dropped and leaves appeared.

But now the tree is putting out more cluster of "Golden Shower Flowers!"

This blessing of some rain every day does wonders.

Clusters of "Coral Pink Mussaenda"

"Aztec Gold Ixora"

A bush of "Yellow Alamanda."  The German lady has pink and red alamanda.

"Summer Daydreams" Orchids keeps putting out more flowers. and

a second stalk is adding new blossoms.

"Lucrezia Borgia" Vanda Orchid.  The orchids look like a dress Lucrezia is wearing

in a famous Renaissance painting.

"Pinwheel Jasmine" with lovely aroma

"Pinwheel Jasmine"

"Chinese Windmill Palm" in center.  It is a very decorative small palm.

"Samba Mama Croton"

"Red Ixora Hedge."  As long as they don't prune it, the hedge will look like this.

"Red Ixora Hedge."  A wall of almost solid flowers.  But gardeners will come by

in a few days and trim off all the red, and we will have a green hedge of leaves.

But the sidewalk will be clear.

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On My Walk This Morning 3o

"Sweet Adeline" Phalaenopsis Orchid.

This was the first orchid to bloom, back on Feb. 1.  Now it is blooming for

a second time this year.  The Blossoms are bigger this time.  It has never done this before.

This photo was taken two weeks ago; it has since added additional blossoms (below).

"Cherie Red Chinese Hibiscus."  This is my favorite color in the hibiscus,

and I always look for good examples.

"Angie's Angels."  More orchids continue to bloom.  I don't know whether

people have tied them to the trees more recently or they are blooming later,

but there was no orchid on this tree earlier.

"Canary Grass."  There are many varieties of decorative grasses these days.

They make nice borders.

"Canary Grass."  Dark Green with White Borders.

The rain keeps this gardenia bush blooming.  Today there were eight new blossoms

on a bush which has been blooming since March.

The eight big magnolia trees continue to bloom and ever more prolifically.

Today there were eight of these gorgeous blossoms, 12-14 in. in diameter.

Many of them are higher up and can only be seen by people on upper floors.

But fortunately, there were several at eye level.

"White Porcelain Dinner Plate Magnolia."  The magnolias in Washington, D.C.

bloom in early April; these are still blooming here in Florida.

"White Crepe Myrtle"

A number of these trees surround the children's playground in the park.

"White Crepe Myrtle" close-up.  The blossoms are in clusters, like a sno-cone.

"Pink Crepe Myrtle."  They come in many pastel colors.

"Raspberry Crepe Myrtle."  These are my favorite color, and this bush is

beside one of the tennis courts.  Last week they made two of the tennis courts

into six pickleball courts, because the sport is so popular.

"Prickly Pear Cactus."  We don't have many cacti around because of the

humidity, but this plant seems to thrive and blooms profusely each year.  A nice

salad can be made with the blossoms.

"Flamingo Lily."  This is a lovely little plant in a pot.  I am used to seeing the

full sized versions in greenhouses.  Longwood Gardens always had several

in bloom and about three feet high.  These are about ten inches.

Botanically, they are "Anthuriums."

"Fluttering Moths."  This cluster of orchids appeared almost overnight.

"Sweet Adeline," now up to six blossoms.  Several more will be coming, and I shall

be watching.

"Summer Daydreams."

These lovely little orchids appeared on a tree by a side building.  They are a 

delicate pink and lavender, rather than the usual yellow and orange.

"Queen Crepe Myrtle" blossoms.  Entire trees are covered with these flowers.

But they are on the top side of the tree, and I am not that tall, so it is difficult to get

good close-ups of the flowers.

"Red Ixora"

This was a wonderful view.  This is what every Ixora bush would look like, if the

gardeners left them alone.  But they are usually trimmed severely so that they

"look neat," and they cut off all the buds.  These bushes were far enough away from the 

sidewalk that the gardeners left them alone, at least temporarily, and so they bloomed

naturally and prolifically.

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