On My Walk This Morning 3n

 

"Magnolia Blossom."  The eight magnolia trees continue to produce flowers,

usually one at a time, and each flower lasts for two days and then turns brown.

"Japanese Fern Tree."  This is a handsome decorative tree.  It never needs trimming,

and takes this form naturally.

"Philodendron Rojo Congo."  The philodendron comes in many sizes and shapes

and colors.  This one has dark red stalks, like rhubarb, and dark, dramatic looking leaves.

"Coral Mussaenda."  The bush is covered with these large clusters of

colorful petals.

"Mussaenda" flowers up close.

"Aztec Gold Ixora"

Outside one of the doors over at Cypress Bend, I found this nice mixture of

different colors of Bromeliads.

"Carissa Multiflora."  The very dark green shiny foliage makes a dramatic

backdrop for the pure white flowers.

"White Candles / Whitfieldia Elongata."

"White Candles"

"White Crepe Myrtle" in front and "Royal Poinciana" in orange at back.

These are in George Brummer Park, where I frequently stop and rest on my walks.

Clusters of "White Crepe Myrtle" blossoms.

"Sanchezia" is a very attractive green bush.  It comes in many varieties of

patters and shades of green.

"Yucca" plan in bloom.

"Broad Leaf Lady Palm."  This comes in many varieties and sizes.

"Yellow Alder /  Jamaican Ramgoat Dashalong"

"Split-leaf Philodendron," one of the hundreds of kinds of philodendron.

A hedge of "Pink Ixora."

A young "Queen Crepe Myrtle"

Close-up of "Queen Crepe Myrtle" blossoms.  Entire trees are covered in these

beautiful purple flowers.

The "Golden Showers" tree bloomed before it had any leaves.  As the leaves appeared,

the golden petals of the flowers dropped off.  But now something unusual has

happened; the tree is sending out more golden showers of petals along with the 

green leaves.  I enjoy watching it.

"Angus" Agave.  The Agave plants come in many sizes and colors, so they are very

handy in creating interesting landscapes.  This large Agave has many stripes on it.

This plant could not be used to make tequila, which is produced only from the Blue Weber

Agave, which grows at a high altitude.  But this and all other agaves can be used to

make mescal, which is also a nice alcoholic drink.

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On My Walk This Morning 3m

 

"White Peace Lilies."  They do very well in the shade.

Bed of "White Peace Lilies" in deep shade beneath large shade trees on North side.

Now the "Crepe Myrtle Trees" are coming into bloom.  They come in many colors.

These are my favorite color, raspberry.

"Raspberry Crepe Myrtle Tree."  Once established, they are very hardy and

drought resistant, but they must be well watered the first year.

"Yellow Dazzler Hibiscus"

This Hibiscus plant has been blooming nicely for years, but this year they trimmed

it very badly and it now has this strange form.

There are at least six of these gorgeous "Blue Jacaranda" trees in Cypress Bend,

the community to the east of us where I go walking.  They grow quite tall

and you have to look up to see them.  I think many people walking this path never

notice them.  But they are covered in beautiful big clusters of blue flowers.

Close-up of clusters of "Blue Jacaranda" flowers.

The zoom lens on the camera is sometimes invaluable.

I walked a slightly different path today and got close to a side of this building

which I had never noticed before.  Two yards had lots of flowers, and the two owners

happened to be outside chatting, so I talked with them.  This is a single "Desert Rose,"

but it has both the pink flowers and the deep red flowers.  I have never seen that before.

On one of their trees they had this lovely cluster of "Jennifer"

Phalaenopsis orchids.

There was also this deeper colored "Oscar Wilde" Orchid.

Normal "Crepe Myrtle Trees" have cone-shaped clusters of small flowerlets, like

the "Raspberry Crepe Myrtle" above.  But horticulturalists have also developed the

"Queen Crepe Myrtle" which has stalks of large flowers which completely cover the top

of the tree.  They make beautiful specimens this time of the year.  This is one of about

twenty "Queen Crepe Myrtles" on the West side of my walk.

This is another of the "Queen Crepe Myrtles," but I am shooting the photo

not with the sun at my back, but into the sun, and so I get this wonderful effect

of sun-lighted flowers.

Here is a closer view of the stalks of "Queen Crepe Myrtle" flowers

covering a tree.  They do not grow very high, so you can see and enjoy

them easily.

Another "Queen Crepe Myrtle" in the parking lot.  They are striking.

Very close-up of a cluster of "Queen Crepe Myrtle" flowers.

And if the blue and purple are not colorful enough for you, the flaming

red-orange "Royal Poinciana Trees" are now in blossom all along my path.

A red-orange "Royal Poinciana" beside our Community Center, where I play cards

once a week.

I have been waiting for this tree to reach full bloom, and it has this morning.

It is a "Sweet Viburnum" and is covered with clusters of little white flowers

that have a lovely, sweet aroma.

Clusters of flowers on the "Sweet Viburnum Tree."

This is related to the "Snowball Bush," which you may know from up North.

The "Red Wax Begonias" are doing better this year and lasting longer than ever.

This is a very nice bed along my path.

"Red Wax Begonias."

Wow!  It was a very colorful morning walk and exciting this morning.

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On My Walk This Morning 3l

We have many decorative green plants in South Florida, and this is a nice display

of five of them: Broad Leaf Lady Palm, Boston Ferns, Dracaena Marginata,

Sanchezia, and Roebellini Palms.

Broad Leaf Lady Palms with Sanchezia in the back right.

 

"Peace Lilies" in pure white with dark green leaves.

 

A mother hen and nine little Muscovy Duck chicks.  Their gestation period

is 35 days, while all other ducks are 28 days.  These chicks are about

a week old.

"Pink Parfait" Copperleaf bushes.  They make a very good background and grow

as high as six feet.

This is an unusual ixora, with pale green leaves and a pale orange flower.

"Song of India" Dracaena Marginata / Dragon Plant.  This variety has long,

drooping leaves for a special appearance.  They are very hardy and drought resistant.

This is a very dramatic "Agave."

When it is two or three years old, it will send up a huge stalk fifteen feet high

loaded with little flowers.  Little fruits will form and drop off,

and the plant will die.

"Red Chenille Plant."  Long chenille strands hang down all around the plant.

A lovely clump of purple "Verbena."

Frilled Pink "Chinese Hibiscus"

A bush of Pink "Chinese Hibiscus"

Two people in the condos to the right have a number of interesting plants,

and they take care of this tree.  This where I found the "Purple Shamrock" below.

A bush of "White Pentas / Egyptian Star Flowers" at the base of the stairs.

Delicate "White Pentas / Egyptian Star Flowers"

This is a new variety of "Golden Tabebuia."  They are all over, and they

bloom in early spring keeping their flowers for about three weeks.  But this

new variety has bloomed three times separately, amazingly.  They bloomed once

and held their blossoms for about two weeks, then began dropping them.  But a

couple of weeks later the trees were completely covered in new flowers.  And then'

they did that a third time.  It was pretty amazing; there were three young trees.

Another of the multi-blooming "Golden Tabebuias."

And the Gardenia bush still produces new blossoms.  Whenever it rains, the bush

will have 8-10 lovely gardenias blooming the next day.

"Purple Shamrock /Oxalis Triangularis."  These plants look very nice in pots

with their very dark foliage and light lilac blossoms.

And this week a I found a bed of these unusual flowers, the "White Butterfly

Ginger Lily."  They are rare White Ginger plants.  They are very beautiful

and were thriving in a shady location under a large, full shade tree.

 

"White Butterfly Ginger Lilies."  They always bloom in clusters, never individually.

When these six or eight clusters wilt and died, they will put out another six to eight.

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