Floral Friday: Golden Beauties

Golden twins appear

Rivalling the sun’s bright rays

Today’s miracle

Wishing you all a very happy weekend.

 

Floral Friday: Vanda Blooms Again

I have many orchids outside my kitchen window. I wish they could all bloom at the same time, but I’m always happy to see even one in bloom. This week, my orange Vanda is showing her true colours.

I read that this orchid represents “good fortune and happy blessings”, so I smile every time I see her through my window. I’m linking this post to ‘Cee’s FOTD Challenge‘.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. Take care and be safe.

Flamboyant Friday

This gorgeously flamboyant Flame Tree really brightened our morning walk today. I think all the rain we’ve been having has really done it some good.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Floral Friday Surprise

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”  ~ Lao Tzu

Our Cattleya orchid has been resting for so long, hanging high on the post outside the kitchen window. that I’d almost forgotten about her. She has however, obviously been very busy and yesterday surprised us with two exquisite twin flowers, just in time for hubby’s birthday. What a perfect gift.

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend full of pleasant surprises.

Friday Finds Around The Neighbourhood

Seen on our walk around the neighbourhood, a heavenly band of ‘Angel Trumpets’

and a whole village of ‘Toadstools’ that must have magically sprung up overnight.

Wishing you all a very pleasant weekend.

Floral Friday: Lily Of The Incas

I love having these colourful Inca lilies to greet my visitors and our local supermarket always has them in abundance. This beautiful flower also known as Alstroemeria and Peruvian Lily, originates from South America and was introduced to Europe in the 18th century by Swedish botanist Baron von Alstroemer.

Wishing you all a really enjoyable weekend.

This is also for Cee’s FOTD Challenge.

 

Floral Friday Fotos: Finally A Flower

Our newest Hibiscus has been very green and healthy-looking for months now, but every time a bud started to appear, it dried up and fell off. I’ve fed it, sprayed it with bug repellent, cajoled and threatened it, but it seemed determined not to flower. Hubby and I have been on a week’s jaunt to Key West for our 53rd wedding anniversary and yesterday on our return, this is what we saw; a perfectly formed flower the size of a soup bowl. I think we should go away more often.

Wishing you all a splendid weekend.

 

Floral Friday: Orchid Surprises

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ~ Lao Tzu

I have several orchids in my lanai which for the most part seem happy to be just green leaves. I often engage them in a very one-sided conversation, encouraging them to please try a bit harder. They appear to ignore my impatience, but just when I’ve almost given up hope, they surprise me with gorgeous flowers.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Frilly Floral Friday

Our ‘Tropic Escape’ hibiscus has been flowerless for a while, but this week she’s decided to show us what she’s capable of. Her exquisitely delicate flowers look like they’ve been carefully crafted out of the finest tissue paper. What a pity that after all that effort, each beautiful flower only lasts for a day before closing up again, then wilting and dying. We should really appreciate Nature’s miracles whilst they last.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

 

 

Floral Friday: First Gardenia Flower

A few weeks ago, my daughter sent me a gardenia bonsai, “Just because I love you, Mom.” What a lovely surprise it was, and I stood it in my kitchen, read the instructions and waited for the buds to come out. I was supposed to mist it daily, keep the pebbles moist in the tray and make sure not to water it too much. Not that difficult really. My daughter was disappointed when she saw the photo, because in the brochure, it showed a bright red pot with many flowers already blooming.

I followed the instructions religiously, but all that happened was that a couple of buds fell off. Then I had the bright idea to stand it outside in the humidity instead of inside in the air conditioning. Light bulb moment! The very next day, my first flower started to appear and now it’s looking gorgeous.

The fragrance is wonderful and takes me back to when I was a teenager in the 60’s. For Christmas, my very favourite aunt bought me my first bottle of perfume, which was ‘Gardenia’ by Goya. I can still remember how excited I was when I opened the bottle and dabbed a couple of drops behind my ears.

Tonight we’re going to see the fabulous Judy Carmichael performing at one of our local theatres. I wish I could play piano just like her. Tomorrow evening, we have dinner and dancing here at the club, so that should be fun too. Wishing you all a very happy weekend.