On My Walk This Morning 4m

 

The one building that has chosen small pots for its flowers works hard to keep them

fresh and growing.  They are always watered, and if the plant is finished, they remove

it and replace it with a new plant.  Here some "Pink Sonic Impatiens" have just been

 put into a pot.

A second pot has new "Hot Pink Impatiens"

A third pot has been planted with with "Alphonsine Pink Sonic Impatiens"

There used to be many "Bauhinia / Orchid Trees" along our street, and they bloomed

in December and January.  But many were damaged by a wind storm a couple of years

ago.  But I discovered this damaged trunk with shoots of flowers emerging.

The Orchid Flowers were very colorful.

"Bauhinia / Orchid Tree Blossoms"

"Adeline" is a lovely light pink and lavender orchid.  Last year there were only

a couple of flowers; this year there are many.

"Elsie" is a wonderful large orchid in creamy white with splotches of purple.

"Dangerous Danielle" is a stem filled with deep purple orchids.

These beautiful "Astral Orchids" are a very pale blue or lavender.  They seem hardy

and yet very delicate/

I saw in the distance, at the end of the first half of my walk, a mass of red.  I went

closer and found it is an enormous bush of "Fire Engine Red Bougainvillea."  It is

growing at least fifteen feet high near the pool, but far enough way from the path

that lanscapers don't trim it.  It is glorious.

"Nefertiti Lavender Pentas / Egyptian Star Flowers."  This is a lovely bed of

pentas at the entrance to a building.

"Sidonie Pentas / Egyptian Star Flowers."  They will grow a long time and

produce many flowers if they are watered regularly.  This building has someone good

who watches and makes sure they are always watered.  

"Butterscotch" and "Happy Days."

"Blue Siberian Iris."  The bed will be filled with flowers for a week or so, and then have no

flowers at all for awhile.  And then suddenly, they are again filled with flowers.  This is

the second time for these little iris.

"Geraldine" is a brassier version of the pink and purple orchid.  The dark veins here

are very prominent.

Here is a "Touch of Blush" at its grandest.  It has the most flowers of any orchid

plant on my path.  On two stems, there are now 25 full beautiful orchids.

The plant has never done so well, and has been blooming for a long time.

"Mr. Funny Face" keeps evolving.  The eyes here are very clear and prominent.

The flowers are quite large.  They were among the first orchids to appear this year,

and they have been blooming for almost three months.

These very delicate "Gloria" orchids are tied high up on a tree; it is easy to walk by

without seeing them.  But they have perhaps the most delicate color of any of the

orchids.

This is one of the clusters of white orchids tied to trees in front of this building.

There are ten clusters in all, but all of the same white orchids.

"Queen Margrete" is elegant, regal, and joyous, put out by the man who likes miniatures.

A bed of "Penelope Pink Periwinkle" beside the walking path.

Huge bushes of various colors of "Impatiens / Busy Lizzies" beside the driveway.

"Wicked Witch of the North" Croton.  The long leave start out as pale yellow,

and then gradually turn dark red and finally black, for a very colorful bush.

The "Three Sisters" are growing on the trunk of a Robellini Palm.

A "Magnolia Grandiflora" blossom about ten inches in diameter.  They last for only

one day and then begin to turn brown.  But that one day is very splendid.

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On My Walk This Morning 4l

"Dark Beauties" are a midi-size orchid which is very hardy and blooms profusely.

This branch has been in bloom for over two months now.

"Stairway to Heaven" is an orchid with several stems and white blossoms

which cascade downward.

"Ophelia" is a very dark and rich and mysterious purple orchid.  It is close to the

white orchids and makes a beautiful contrast.

"Funny Face" shows the two white eyes on each of the large purple blossoms.

This was one of the very first orchids to bloom this year, and it is still going strong.

"Rosemary's Raspberry" is a large reddish purple orchid with a cluster of blossoms.

"Ingrid" is a beautiful white orchid with a throat of purple and orange and

specks of purple.

The "Sonic Impatiens" are doing well, as long as they are watered regularly.

This beautiful circular mound has looked this way and gotten a little bigger and

higher over three months.

"Spanish Shawl" is one of the ground cover plants set out in the Succulent Garden.

It is spreading fast, and I'm not sure how the garden will look when all the

plants spread out.

"Pistachio Delights" are one of the stems with pale, greenish colored blossoms.

The blossoms are large and seem very hardy and long lasting.

"Regina" is a handsome dark purple orchid with several stems on this tree.

"Agave Americana" is a very decorative plant used in front of many buildings.

It will bloom only once, with a stem fifteen feet tall and clusters of flowers.

Then it will die, and these smaller plants will grow larger.

"Aechmea" is a variety of Bromeliad, although it tends to be much larger,

and the colors are in the orange family.  This one is getting ready to bloom.

I love this "Aztec Yellow Hibiscus."  After being pruned too severely

for too long, the landscapers now leave it alone.  And if you just leave hibiscus alone,

it will reward you with tons of blossoms.

"Gaillardia / Indian Blanket" is a beautiful low growing plant, also comes up in the North.

There are two beds in front of one of the buildings, and as long as they get regular

watering, they keep producing more flowers and beautifully shaped.  Drought

will harm them.

"Dulcinea" is a beautiful purple and wine colored orchid.  It opens its flowers

very slowly, in contrast with other orchids.  This one has been weeks in development.

"Fanchon" is a lovely orchid put out by the man who likes miniatures.  This is not

a miniature, but a full sized orchid, and so he has it on a tree to the side.

"Blue Siberian Iris" have appeared by several buildings.  These iris also come in

yellow and white.  Clusters of them make attractive settings.

A bed of "Blue Siberian Irises."

"Blue Siberian Irises" with some "Orange Heliconia."

"Easter Egg Bromeliads."  Bromeliads seem to come in every color and many sizes,

so they are a nice plant to be used in a variety of ways in a garden.

"Green and White Liriope" is one of the decorative grasses which are used

in many places.  This is a good size, neither too large nor too small.

Two varieties of purple orchids at the base of a tree.

"Finlandia" is one of the most interesting orchids I have found.  The plant produced

only a single flower, but it is stunning.  I will have to watch for it again next year

and see if it has more blossoms.

"Aphrodite Wings" is an unusual wine and peach color.  It was slow in developing 

and grew only two flowers, but I like them.

"Variegated Alcantara" makes a very dramatic single plant.

Four white orchids with a colorful wall behind them.

"Oopsy Daisy" is a cluster of puffy purple and white orchids.  The petals look like

they are inflated.

 Another stem of "Pistachio Delights."

Colorful day in the neighborhood.

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