Succulents in Full Bloom
You saw these earlier before the buds burst open. Beautiful then, beautiful now.
http://ceenphotography.com/2016/01/10/flower-of-the-day-january-10-2016-dahlia-and-yellow-lady-bug/
Time was when I would have cropped this picture, but given permission by Cee’s “rule of 2/3,” I have left the wall above––mainly because I’m intrigued by the quality of light and shadow there. I love the contrast to the very busy crown of thorns and succulent in the foreground. I always know what I like but don’t always know why. Thanks, Cee, for giving a name to this one!!
http://ceenphotography.com/2016/01/09/flower-of-the-day-january-9-2016-lotus/
Chameleon Poinsettia
This pot of poinsettias is right on my deck so I can witness the changes in color from green to yellow to white. I also love that the centers are starting to pop out their little pom poms. I know Christmas is over, but my poinsettias don’t know it. Actually, at the market today everyone was buying King’s Cake (Rosca de Reyes) to honor the 12th day of Christmas–January 6–the supposed day the wise men arrived with gifts. Shaped round like a king’s crown, the cake contains a surprise inside–a porcelain or hard plastic effigy of Jesus.
The one who finds it in his cake is the one expected to host the party and make the tamales for Candelaria, on February 2nd. On this date everyone takes the baby Jesus from his creche, redresses him in new clothing and takes him to the priest to be blessed. On buses, in the streets and in the subways, people can be seen with babies in arms, taking them for their yearly anointing. If you think Christmas is strung out in the States, you should witness Christmas in Mexico!
The Answer:
This is the answer to the previous post entitled “What is It?” The answer is that the earlier pictures were of the inside of this Datura flower. Hard to believe such a long bell-shaped flower would look so non-assuming and flat inside. I expected a long exotic stamen and pistils similar to a hibiscus flower.
What is It?
This is, obviously, the inside of a flower. I’ll give a hint. I had to get down on my knees and shoot up into the flower. Want to give a guess in comments? I’ll give an answer and show a picture of the flower in my next post.
For more flowers, look here: http://ceenphotography.com/2016/01/05/flower-of-the-day-january-6-2016-rhododendron-color-your-world/
Succulent Potential
The beginnings of flowers are often even more spectacular than the finished product. I love this starburst effect on one of my most prolific succulent plants.
For more flowers, check out Cee’s site: http://ceenphotography.com/2016/01/05/flower-of-the-day-january-5-2016-teddy-sunflower/
Skyscape with Thunbergia
I loved this simple view of this tiny thunbergia against the blue sky.
To see Cee’s Iris and other floral offerings, go here: http://ceenphotography.com/2016/01/04/flower-of-the-day-january-4-2016-iris/
Ceiba Speciosa–Silk Floss Tree
When I first published pictures of the flowers of this tree, I didn’t know its name, so I identified it as a Mexican Orchid Tree.
I later published pictures of its thorny trunk. These photos of the trunk are new, as are all of these photos, except for the ones that show flowers, since the tree is no longer blooming. (An explanation of supposed reasons for the thorns is given below in the comments section.)
At first, when the fruit appeared, I thought it must be a breadfruit tree:
but later, when its very large pods started to burst open, revealing huge clumps of what looked like kapok–the material that was once used for packing material and to pad envelopes–I told a friend that it was a kapok tree.
Today for some reason I was reminded that I’d meant to see if this was true and an hour’s research online finally earned me an answer. Although it is not a kapok tree, it is related to it and the stuffing inside the large pods is often used as packing material as well as in the production of canoes, wood pulp and ropes.
In addition, oil from its seeds may be used for both commercial and cooking purposes.
All in all, a most intriguing tree. I was so happy to have identified it that I drove through stop and go bumper-to-bumper weekend traffic to get these additional shots to thrill you all with my new knowledge. You are thrilled, right???
What is the name of this tree and flower???? Ceiba Speciosa–Silk Floss Tree
To pingback your flower picture to the prompt or to see Cee’s or other flowers, go here: http://ceenphotography.com/2016/01/02/flower-of-the-day-january-3-2016-amaryllis-bud-flower-day-8/
Pointed Giants–For Olga
This is the art studio behind my house. As you can see, it is rather overgrown with vines and other plants, despite the huge palm tree I just had cut down because they said it would interfere with the solar water heater coils soon to be installed. So, that little scoop out of the roof overhang can be explained by the fact that I actually built my studio around the palm tree just to gain an extra foot of space without having to cut down a tree. The trunk once occupied that scooped-out place. If you look up by the electrical wires, though, you might notice a flash of red. What is it?
Here’s a closer view. Almost smothered out by the thunbergia and other vines is this stubborn giant. It was a small poinsettia houseplant given to me by a friend as a housewarming gift when I first moved to Mexico 14 years ago. After Christmas that year, I planted it in the ground near my wall. A few years later, I built the studio in front of it. By then it was obscured by a large banana tree than afterwards died. Hidden between my studio and the wall, it was long forgotten until this year, when I suddenly noticed a flash of red peeking over the roof of my studio.
It was my little poinsettia of 14 years ago, now grown into a very tall tree and surviving even though it has been practically choked out by thunbergia and the other hearty vine that grows over my wall.
See that wire running behind it? that is a wire that either carries telephone messages or electricity to my house and beyond. This pointed giant is in high company.
So that, Olga, is the story of how poinsettias are more that the symbol of Christmas that they are in El Norte. Here in Mexico, they are just another subtropical plant that in this climate often grows into a tree–in spite of our best efforts to overlook them!
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 