"Lavinia" Pale Peach Tuberous Begonia.
Tuberous Begonias are some of the most beautiful flowers you can have in pots or
window boxes. A lady in the building next to mine just got this gorgeous plant.
"Agave Americana" is a very popular plant around here. It is big and bold and
dramatic and occupies a good deal of space. It is a beautiful specimen plant,
and will grow to about 4 feet high. Then it has sex once, sends out a fifteen foot
tall stalk with flowers, and dies. Sic transit gloria.
"Magnolia Grandiflora" with beautiful alabaster like petals. They last only one day,
but for that one day, they are gorgeous.
A "St. Simeon Yucca." There are many varieties of Yucca, and they make
beautiful vertical specimen plants. I like this one.
This is a late blooming "Alicia" white orchid. Most of the other white orchids
have finished blooming for now.
My favorite "Gardenia" bush just keeps on putting out flowers this year.
I can be sure that on the day after a nice rain, there will be lots of fresh
gardenias blooming.
Another perfect "Gardenia."
The flowers and seeds of an "Aechmea" plant. This is about 18 inches long.
They come in many colors - pink, cream, brown, raspberry, etc.
"Aechmea" Plant. They are members of the Bromeliad family, but their
petals usually have a red or orange tint to them, rather than green.
A wonderful little plant of "Variegated Lantana." You really need more of them
to make a colorful bed and display, but this one plant is also nice.
"Yellow Skirt" Oncidium Orchids. Some of these bloomed three months ago,
but right now another three, different plants, are blooming.
"Mardi Gras" Ground Orchids. There are beds of these mixed with "Orange Heliconia"
and "Blue Siberian Iris," and they are very colorful.
A couple of pansies. They are nice, but you really need large beds of these
to fully appreciate them. Washington, D.C. in the spring has the best I know of.
"Pink and Red Dianthus." These are lovely little flowers, but they also
need to be part of a larger bed for lots of color.
And then some more of one of my favorites are back - "Orange Ruffled Hibiscus"
There are three bushes covered with them. The gardeners missed them, so
all the blossoms are blooming.
A very nice pot of "Red Crown of Thorns." I have never seen one in a pot before,
but it seems to be happy and have lots of flowers and thorns.
My Indonesian neighbor has several "Desert Roses," and because he takes
very good care of them and waters them properly, they put forth lots of flowers
and last a long time.
Oh! This is so nice. These are the new "Double Imperial Purple Ground Orchids."
This is the nicest bed of any, and there are many beds of these ground orchids. I met
the man who lives here, and he explained how he waters them and trims them and
gives them some fertilizer. I always stop to enjoy this beautiful bed.
"Adrienne" Phalaenopsis Orchids. There were different orchids on this tree
last year, and they bloomed early. These have just opened, so they are much
later in blooming. The color is very delicate and soft.
"Shell Ginger." We have many kinds of Ginger plants here - Red Ginger,
Lobster Claw Ginger, the splendid White Ginger I found last year, the Pink Ginger
I found this year, and this "Shell Ginger." The leaves of all are similar, but the
flowers are very different. These are just coming to bloom, with lots of clusters
of white flowers that look like seashells.
Close-up of "Shell Ginger." Each one will open and reveal an interior of yellow
with purple markings. You can see one yellow one here.
The "Gardenia Bush" in bloom again.
"Crossandra" in a pot. "Orange Crossandra" is very common down here,
but not usually in a pot. It also comes in other colors.
I just discovered these lovely pale peach "Isadora" Orchids rather high up on a tree and
away from the path. I don't know if many people have noticed them.
A pot with Pink and Red Vinca / Periwinkle. This is the building with all the pots,
and they keep changing the flowers.
Another colorful morning in Palm Aire.
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