On My Walk This Morning 4b

My neighborhood, Palm Aire, continues to plant new flowers and trees in front of the

buildings and along the Ste Genevieve Canal.  These are "Brunfelsia / Yesterday, Today, and 

Tomorrow" Flowers.  They are usually planted as individual small decorative trees.

But here the city has planted two large beds of Brunfelsia around clumps of three

new palm trees.  When the flowers first open, they are a deep bluish purple.  In a few days

they fade to a light lavender, and then in a few more days they fade to pure white.

"Brunfelsia / Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" Plants

The landscapers here tried something new this year.  They planted two large beds of

white and pink begonias.  "White Angel Wing Begonias" have been around for a long

time, but the "Pink Dragon Wing Begonias" are a totally new flower.  The

combination makes a beautiful entry into this condo bulding.

"White Angel Wing Begonias."  These grow as bushes which reach 3-4 feet

in height.  They take pruning, and some have lasted around other buildings for more

than a year. I will check and see how these do.

These are the wonderful new "Pink Dragon Wing Begonias."  They are as tall as the white.

We have always had small pink Wax Begonias, but never like this.

In front of this same building, someone since last September has tied an orchid plant

to each of the ten or so palm trees.  The plants have looked mangy and as if they

were almost dead, but in the last couple of weeks, most of them have sent out stems

loaded with buds, and today, there were five of them in some stage of bloom.  This

one, "Snowflake White Phalaenopsis Orchid," is the most mature one right now.

"Asparagus Densiflorus Fern."  They make a nice border and last for years.

The "Crimson Red Amaryllis" is the last of the amaryllises growing.

The "Resurrection Fern" is an Epiphyte; it grows on another plant, usually a tree, without

causing any harm.  This fern has the greatest drought resistance of any plant.  It can lose

up to 95% of its water, and it will still revive and thrive after a rain.  These fronds are

quite small; when fully grown, they will be about 12-15 inches long.

One of the three "Yellow Bell" Decorative trees.  They were planted last summer, and

this one is now showing its sixth set of flowers.  The tree will be completely covered

with yellow flowers which last a couple of weeks, and then drop the flowers.  It will

be a green tree for a few weeks.  And then it will produce another huge crop of

yellow flowers.  It is a wonderful little tree.

"Pink Floss Silk Tree."  I have shown you the earlier "Purple Floss Silk Tree."  Notice all

the little spines or thorns growing from the lower trunk.  The flowers look like orchids.

This tree is about 100 yards from the other one.  There are three more around, but they

have not bloomed yet.

"Pink Floss Silk Flowers" on tree.

"Broad Leaf Lady Palm"  One of the condos has a bunch of these on either side of

the entrance.  They look very nice, hardier than the usual decoratve palm.

"Purple Periwinkle / Vinca."  There used to be a large bed of these flowers

growing here, but they got long and straggly and the landscapers ripped them all out.

Except that some piece of root must have survived underground and grew back as

this lovely single plant.  They are very hardy and colorful flowers.

"Blood Red Ixora" Bush.  I think I like this deep red color the best of the ixoras.

The lady in the next building who buys orchids and hangs them on hooks on the wall

outside her door has bought a couple of new plants.  They are doing well.

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Some Art Works 4a

 The very first issue of my arts magazine this year is filled with wonderful images and articles

 which I enjoyed very much.  I thought perhaps you would enjoy some of them also.

"A Glorious Sunset" by Alma Thomas.

Alma was a Black middle school teacher in Washington, D.C. for many years and

painted in her free time.  She loved nature, and she developed a style of intense

colors, abstraction, and a mosaic-like appearance.  This work is part of a show

which is currently at the Fort Lauderdale Art Museum featuring Color Field

Painters from Washington, D.C.

This cabinet, made of various kinds of exotic wood, was created by Holland

and Sons in London for the Prince of Wales in his new house in 1873,

Marlborough House, with his new wife, Alexandra of Denmark.  It has

shelves inside for storing towels.  Prince Albert was the son of

Queen Victoria and later became King Edward VII.

"Flora Imaginaria" by Robert Walker is a photograph taken in the

Montreal Botanic Gardens and being shown now in Palm Beach

as part of a photographic exhibit featuring "Imaginary Flora."

A gallery in Palm Springs, CA, is showing five young California artists.

This painting of "House Interior" and its flat style are typical of a number of

artists, all of whom are indebted to the British artist, David Hockney, who

lived in Los Angeles for a number of years.

This is an oil painting by Kesja Tabaczak of Norway, not a photograph.

"Impossible to Resist" depicts a young girl with a peony in photographic

detail.

"Portrait of Vita Sackville West" by Nikoleta Sekulovich. who lives in Madrid, 

is a painting of the British author and lover of Virginia Woolf.  The juxtaposition

 of richly patterned background with the realism of the face is another

trend in California painting.

There is a very large and rich show of art works set in the pueblos of the Southwest

at Colby College in Maine.  Both Native American artists and Anglo artists who

worked with them and in the pueblos are included.  William Robinson Leigh's

"Zuni Potter Working" is from 1903.

John Marin, "New Mexico Landscape" is a watercolor from 1929.

Marin was a New England artist who spent time in the pueblos and desert.

"Acoma Water Vessel" is an earthenware jug made on the pueblo.  Native American

Pottery began to attract much attention at the beginning of the 20th century, and

Native American potters became famous artists.

"Basket" by Sarah Sockbosen is made from aluminum house siding and spray-painted.

Sarah is a member of the Penobscot tribe in Maine, and is famous for the baskets she

makes from many materials.  She works with other Native American artists.

Dan Namingha, "August Moon" is from 2022.  Dan is a famous Navajo artist.

Thomas Moran, "Acoma," 1902. Moran traveled throughout the West and Southwest

in the late 19th century and came back East and painted very large and dramatic

paintings which established the idea of the West for Americans.

Jason Garcia is a young artist who works to understand the relationship

between his Native American heritage and the Anglo world around him.

"I Live Off the Land . . . and Sonics" is one of his paintings showing

a Native American woman using both the traditional and the very modern,

He paints with the simple shapes and flat colors of Pop Art.

Zhong Wei.  "Two People in the Blue of the Sky."  2023

Zhong lives in Beijing and is one of many Chinese artists represented by

galleries in the U.S., especially in Los Angeles and New York.

Carrie Ann Plank is interested in geometric, carefully constructed

abstract patterns. "Elemental Lattice Orange Red." 2022

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On My Walk This Morning 4a

On my walk this morning, I encountered a number of colorful and

interesting flowers and plants.

Someone planted eight amaryllis bulbs around a tree, and they are gradually

all opening up.  (Someone gave me a Waxed Amaryllis for Christmas, and

it is slowly growing and opening up.  I am up to five leaves.)  In this bed,

there are two pink amaryllis and five reds of various shades.

Pink Amaryllis

Deep Red Amaryllis

Some strange things are happening, and I do not know whether it is climate change

or just that Florida weather is so mild that flowers can bloom all year long.

This is a cluster of blossoms on a low branch of a Queen Crepe Myrtle.  There were blossoms on the tips of three other low branches.  But the whole top of the tree had bloomed three months ago.

Winter Cassia / Senna.  There re many varieties of Cassia, and they bloom at

different times of the year.  There was a spectacular one, which I showed earlier,

which had bloomed further down St. Gertrude Canal.

Flowers on Winter Cassia / Senna tree.

"Pink Sorbet" Copperleaf Bush.  The Copperleaf Bush is a very versatile and

hardy bush which grows up to 6 feet high.  It comes in every color from

Himalayan Snows White to a very deep copper brown.  It is highly decorative

and looks good in any garden.

Purple Floss Silk Tree.  This is one of several flowering trees we have which bloom

in December.  This one has that swelling in he lower part of the trunk, as well as

little spokes all over the sides of the trunk.  The metal band was placed there recently

to prevent iguanas from climbing the tree; they like to eat brightly colored flowers.

Looking up into the Floss Silk Tree.

The purple and white flowers on the Floss Silk Tree; they bloom from late November

through the whole month of December.

Yellow Thryallis.  They are bright and cheerful.  Our Walgreen's used to have a large bed

of them, but has replaced them with blue Plumbago.  I was sorry to see the Thryallis go,

and so I was happy to find some bushes near my house.

Purple Pentas / Egyptian Star Flowers.  One of the buildings planted several beds

of these for winter flowering plants.  They looked very nice.

For Christmas time, each building chooses its own decorations.  This building

chose two very large pots of Yellow Chrysanthemums outside the doors, and

several poinsettias inside the lobby.

Yellow Chrysanthemums

The beautiful collection of Double Purple Ground Orchids is still flourishing.

This is in Nancy's Bed.

The area around this tree was once filled with various colors of Caladiums.  They were

all torn out by groundskeepers at some point.  But a bit of a root must have survived

in one spot and grew into this lovely plant.  They come in every color from white to

pink to red to purple to green and various mixtures.  I like them.

Yellow Oncidium Orchid.  Orchids have continued blooming on trees all year long.

Right now there are more than a dozen orchid plants hanging from trees along my path,

and there are fat swelling buds on all of them.   It is nice to have orchids blooming

on your trees all year long.