On My Walk This Morning 4s

 

"Queen Crepe Myrtle"  This is one of the largest of the trees.

"Queen Crepe Myrtle"  The parking lots are filled with these trees, which

provide color and shade.

"Coral Mussaenda."  The bush is growing very lushly this year.

"Coral Mussaenda" close-up.  Those are actually petiole bracts around each little flower.

"Royal Poinciana".  Many of these trees are planted alongside one of the

lakes in the community.  They sometimes let the lower branches droop

down into the water.

"White Crepe Myrtle" by our Gazebo.  They give concerts out here, and there

are outdoor yoga classes around the gazebo.  It has recently been redone with

lots of new flowering plants all around.  Right now, the White Crepe Myrtles

are blooming.

"Cone of White Crepe Myrtle"

One of two "Pink Crepe Myrtle Trees" by this building.  The two of them

are quite striking and dramatic this year.

"Pink Crepe Myrtle."  The trees have never had so many flowers before.

Huge Cone of "Pink Crepe Myrtle" blossoms.

The "Raspberry Crepe Myrtles" by the Children's Playground.

These are my favorites.

 

"Pigeon Orchids."  The small white flowers grow on vines with no leaves.

They last two days and then fall off.  But then there is a second batch about

two weeks later.  They are quite unusual.

"Tabebuia Rose-Alba"  There are two sets of these, one on either side of the drive.

The group facing south and getting lots of sun is filled wit flowers all the time.

You can see them here.  The flowers on the other side, facing north, have very few

flowers and they are not very big.  Lots of sunlight is crucial.

"Pony Tail Palm/Elephant Foot" in bloom.  Most of the time, these palms just have

those drooping pony tails on top.  But when they bloom, they are dramatically different.

The Christmas-tree-shaped flowers appear - white on the male trees and pink on the female.

"Pony Tail Palm" in bloom.  This is the male; the female is pink.

"Elephant Foot" on Pony Tail Palm.  They get their alternate name from this huge

swelling at the base of the trunk.  They look like the huge feet of elephants.

"Copperleaf."  This is a very nice plant which has not been trimmed, and so the

colorful leaves show up even at ground level.  They come in many colors and

they are very hardy.  They make excellent back plantings to a flower bed.

"Adelina" Pink Pentas

"Harlequin Lantana."  This mixture of flowers is very bright and colorful

and often used as ground cover.

"Yucca" in bloom.  This is up high, perhaps fifteen feet above ground.

"Red Stemmed Philodendron"  They look very much like rhubarb.  They need to

be pruned regularly and replaced every few years because the stems become

very long and unsightly.  They make a dark, exotic corner to the flower beds.

There are many types of "Plumeria" around the world.  This is "Fiddle Leaf Plumeria,"

named after its unusual leaf.  This is the first one I have found one in my neighborhood,

although I pass many on the way to my bridge club.  They are covered in small

clusters of white flowers and they look this way from the time they are merely

six feet tall, and they may reach 30 feet in height.

"Fiddle Leaf Plumeria" - close-up.

The "Heliconia" in front of this building continue to bloom in great numbers

month after month.  It is the nicest heliconia in my area.

"Alocasia / Elephant Ears"  with the early morning sun shining through them.

Some of our fiber glass fish are being repainted or replaced.  This is a new one.

Until they put up a name plate, he is known as the "Oranges Fish."

"Golden Trumpet /Golden Alamanda."  "Yellow Alamanda" is a lighter color

and is the variety I have always seen before.  This is a new young bush blooming

for the first time, and he is definitely richer and deeper in color.

Two "Bismarck Palms."  I wish they would not trim them and they would stay

shorter and look much better.  But the grey-green color is always a nice contrast.

"Philippine Ground Orchids" are now appearing to replace old "Imperial Purple"

or "Mardi Gras" ground orchids.

And I think that will conclude my morning flower walks for now;

I hope you have enjoyed them.

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On My Walk This Morning 4r

 

Each day, more "Queen Crepe Myrtles" burst into bloom.  Because they are pruned

so high, only the people on the 6th floor get the full effect and all the color.  But

they are beautiful even from my view.

The "Queen Crepe Myrtle" has large clusters of large flowers, as opposed to the

small clusters found on regular crepe myrtles.

"Yellow Alder" is a very bright, cheerful flower with very precise leaves.

I first saw one in Cypress Bend three years ago, but they did not come back again.

This new bush is in Palm Aire.  I hope they keep it.

"Fountain Grass" is one of the popular decorative grasses.  This one is in the

Succulent Garden.  It gets pretty big.  All of the plants in the Garden have grown

a good deal.  The "Spanish Shawl" with purple flowers, really needs to be trimmed back.

"Elephant Bush / Portulacaria" is one of the ground covers in the Succulent Garden.

It has taken a while to get going, but is now very nice.

The "Coral Mussaenda" Bush draws my attention everyday.  I have watched the

flowers gradually open and cover the bush and swell out in clusters.  Now I see that

the flowers are beginning to turn peach in color as they age.

"Coral Mussaenda" Bush.  The flowers are big, thick clusters that start out pink and

then turn coral and get even thicker, and finally begin to turn peach in color.

This is a very nice "Pink Ixora."  Horticulturalists have been able to make this plant

do many things because it likes the Florida climate so much.  Mini-flower clusters

have been developed, which are only an inch in diameter.  And others, like this

"Salmon Pink" Ixora," have been developed to about 7 inches across.

"Jungle Flame / Ixora Coccinea."  This plant came originally from India, but it is

one of the most popular and common plants in Florida.  These bushes sit back from

the sidewalk, so they do not get trimmed too much, and thus they can bloom a lot.

I enjoy this color very much.

"Yellow Flame Croton" is one of the dozens of varieties of crotons and colors

in the flower beds.  It makes a nice hedge.

This is the time of the year for "Crepe Myrtles" to bloom.  Because of our very

plentiful rainfall and hot days this year, the crepe myrtles are blooming more

prolifically than ever and also larger. This is my favorite color, "Raspberry Crepe Myrtle." 

 These two bunches are particularly full and large.  The tree is covered with them.

This is another "Raspberry Crepe Myrtle," by the Children's Playground.

The dark color of the flowers sometimes makes them difficult to see against

the foliage.

"Yellow Crown of Thorns."  Several nice bushes have been planted as part

of a hedge.  You can see the thorns on their stems.

"Red-Orange Royal Poinciana Trees" are blooming all over town.  These have been overly

pruned so you don't get the full effect of the orange canopy.  On trees which have

been allowed to keep their lower branches, they are covered in flowers all the way to the ground.

Close-up view of "Royal Poinciana" flowers in the tree canopy.                              

                                                       

The last of the orchids to bloom are these "Golden Ducat" Oncidium Orchids.

There are several of them blooming along my path this week.

"Queen Crepe Myrtle" Tree in the parking lot.  More clusters of flowers appear

each day as I walk by.

 "Queen Crepe Myrtle" flowers.

This "Royal Poinciana" is squeezed between other trees in the meadow behind the pickleball 

courts.  But the color in the sunlight caught my eye this morning.

One of my favorite flower beds, which I visit frequently, is this circle of

"Imperial Purple Ground Orchids."  I have met the man who lives in the apartment

 right behind them and takes care of them.  He is very proud of them.  It seems to me

he has been lucky or smart and gotten two kinds of these orchids.  The variety in back 

is slightly taller and darker in color, and shows off like a fan.

But it is a wonderful view of what you can do with flowers in South Florida.

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On My Walk This Morning 4q

 

The pot of "Pale Peach Tuberous Begonias" continues to bloom.

They come in many colors.  The nicest display I have seen was up

in Montreal.

"Imperial Purple Double Ground Orchids"  are multiplying and

enlarging their bed.  Groundskeepers periodically come through and take some

of the new plants and use them to start new beds.

"Sky Blue Plumbago."  The color of this plant makes it popular as a contrast to

all the reds and yellows and pinks of other flowers.

"Water Hibiscus."  These islands of floating plants have begun to appear along

the Ste Genevieve Canal.  Their leaves are filled with tiny air pockets which

enable them to float on the surface of the water.  They can become a nuisance.

"Shell Ginger," one of the many varieties of ginger.  This plant has become

very large and very high;  I don't know how big it will get.

Close-up of a cluster of flowers on the "Shell Ginger."

The inside of each flower is yellow with red markings.  A couple of flowers 

in each cluster open each day.

"Tabebuia Roseo-Alba."  We have many Tabebuia trees all over the city and

they bloom colorfully, especially the "Golden Tabebuia."  But the flowers are

all single blossoms.  This variety has large clusters of white flowers.  These are

also quite short, five feet high, in contrast to the usual trees, which are 15+ feet/

"Ixora Coccinea / Jungle Flame" were planted beside the white "Tabebuia."

"Plumeria / Frangipani."  These flowers are used to make the leis in Hawaii.

Around here they are decorative bushes or plants 6-12 feet high.  They come in

various colors.

The "Prickly Pear Cactus" is in full bloom.  It is covered with hundreds of buds,

and a few open each day.   The fruits are edible and can be eaten raw after

removing the skin.  

A lovely "Orange Frilled Hibiscus" has begun blooming.  It is set back,

so the pruners did not get at it, and so it has lots of flowers right now.

The green plant with lots of shoots/leaves in back is a "Tillandsia."

It is an epiphyte, that is, it grows on another plant.  It does not take substance

from the other plant, it just lives there.  The white flowers are "Mini-Phalaenopsis."

The lovely peach orchids continue to bloom in their secret hiding place, and

I never see anyone else notice them.

The crepe myrtles are coming into bloom.  This beautiful full bush is a

"White Crepe Myrtle" blooming in front of the building next to mine.  They have

never had so many flowers or so large; it is because of all the rain recently.

The flower panicles are often called "Snow Cones" because they look like

the popular snack.

This is a large "White Crepe Myrtle" by the Children's Playground.

A number of trees were planted about five years ago and have grown and

been trimmed each year.  This year, with their age, and all of our rain, they are

blooming more profusely then ever before.  The area in the park is very lovely.

Some "Pink Crepe Myrtles" by the building beside the park.  The panicles are also

bigger and fuller than in the past.

A panicle of "Lavender Crepe Myrtle."

The beautiful variegated "Bougainvillea" Bush I showed some time ago

lost all its flowers and has not look like much.  But now it is starting to bloom

again with brightly colored flowers. 

The "White Crinum Lilies" are in full bloom, and a couple of  bunches, which 

I guess have never been trimmed, are filled with lilies.

"White Crinum Lilies" blooming in a bunch of plants.  There are perhaps

ten bunches like these.

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