As I walk out my front door, this is what greets me. The tag says Mardi Gras (Jacfrain). That's about all I know, but she smells lovely!
A bit farther out, just past the front patio is this funky looking guy, known as a golden shrimp plant or Pachystachys lutea.
I think the sun did an awfully nice job coordinating with my day lilies this morning, don't you? Sorry, but I don't seem to have the tag for these anymore. They have a very light scent, which is really lovely.
Remember this little guy who followed me home from the drug store and proceeded to bloom straight through from January to April (I only have photographic proof through March, but, really, they lasted through April)? Well, he's at it again! What a prolific little bloomer! According to his tag, his name is Den. Pam Tajima (atroviolaceum 'Pygmy' x eximium) and he came from H&R Nurseries, Inc. in Waimanalo, HI. Hmmm...maybe I should stop referring to Pam as "he."
This is a hau plant or Hibiscus tiliaceus, and it has traditionally been used for many things in Hawaii, but we are using it for privacy. This picture was taken at 6:05 this morning. It's easy to miss the flowers for the brightly colored leaves.
Same time, an inside view of a hau flower just beginning to open.
I just went outside and snapped this shot at 7:45.
By the end of the day, the flower will look like this and by tonight or tomorrow morning, it will have dropped off the tree, just like any other hibiscus.
Here is a shot of the leaves on this variegated variety. See what I mean about the foliage stealing the spotlight?
Growing below our hau plants is this lantana. This one is the "yellow" variety. I'm sorry. I know I'm a terrible information giver-outer. I like that this shot shows all different stages of the blooms.
And here is the "purple" variety.
Here is my previously purple, now white, Agapanthus. I think this is A. africanus, but don't quote me on that.
After making my rounds, I returned and found this guy just hanging out, literally. He wasn't gathering anything or buzzing around, just resting.
24 comments:
Lots of lovely blooms! Your agapanthus looks great (much happier than mine at the moment.) The golden shrimp plants are really cool and unusual!
I love how different everyone's garden is! Yours is filled with things that would never survive in my backyard. I love the agapanthus -- I grew up with them and miss their blooms.
Your golden shrimp plant is very interestingly unusual-looking!
Flowers from a tropical garden are always a treat to see. Luckily you had a daylily — something I could grow, too; giving us a bit of common ground in our gardens.
Iris-My agapanthus is a bit finicky-one year it blooms, one year it doesn't, one year it's purple, one year it's white! This year seems to be a good year for it.
Liisa-I know what you mean. I totally miss a lot of mainland plants that we don't have here like lilac, peonies, and anything that needs a cold cycle.
queerbychoice-Yes, that's a good description. I can't quite decide how I feel about it. It's one of those plants that, everytime I see it, I think, Wow, that's a cool plant, but then I can never really get too excited about owning it. I think maybe it's the color. It's kind of growing on me though. :)
I like the Golden Shrimp Plant -- so colorful.
Your white daylily looks a lot like mine, and unfortunately I don't know the name of mine either! Ah well, they're beautiful and cherished, and that's what matters. The white Agapanthus is lovely too.
My first thought was, How in the world could she get up early enough to see the sun rise? Then I got sucked in by the pretty flowers. The agapanthus is stunning!I see by your bio that one of your favorite books is the Time Travelers Wife. You know, the story is set in my neck of the woods - in southwest Michigan. Good story -
I'm glad to see you don't let the darkness get in the way of doing critically important things like garden photography! The variegated hibiscus is both really interesting and gorgeous to look at. Like you observed, the flowers are nice for sure, but it's hard to compete against the foliage.
Great blooms! I love lantana (partly because of their warm weather duribility). They don't do so well for me here in western WA though. Thanks for visiting Petunia's Garden, too. - Paula
Ms. Wis-We must have been posting at the same time-I didn't see your comment before. Isn't it nice to have something in common so far apart?
sweet bay-Yes, I thought the same when I saw your lilies. I'm pretty sure that mine used to be a lot more white/cream, not peach & green like they are this year...weird.
Jill-O-Little confession: I didn't get up for the sun rise, I was still up for the sunrise. Although flower photos are one of the few things that I would willingly drag myself out of bed for that early! It's always fun when something is filmed in your neck of the woods and you can say, "Hey, I've been there!" I just saw a trailer for The Time Traveler's wife, and it seems like they chick-litted it up a bit for the big screen. =Z Hope it's still good.
lostlandscaoe-Bah! What's a little darkness when you have flowers to photograph and a flash? :)
Petunia's Gardener-Thanks, and I'm glad you stopped by!
The golden shrimp plant is really interesting. And the hau flower all curled up in the early morning is really beautiful.
Hiya Dreambee,
Did I read somewhere that you can only grow roses in containers successfully? Was that you?
I agree: all my best ones are in tubs or often still in the plastic pot they came in.
Who needs soil?
And your Agapanthus changing colour intrigues me. Maybe that only happens in Hawai :-)
bradzio-I agree, the hau flowers do have a certain charm in the morning.
jo-Yes, that was me with the roses in containers. I've put 4 of them in the ground out here so far, and all of them have perished. :( I have no idea what the deal is with the Agapanthus. I think hybrid flowers will often revert to their ancestral forms...or something like this, so maybe that's what's going on?
What a lovely garden you have, I enjoyed looking at all the photos of your plants which here in CT would be annuals or houseplants. I especially loved the golden shrimp plant, I don't think I've ever seen one of those before.
My husband has a thing for agapanthas, so we usually have a few in pots he hauls in and out (zone 5, Utah) every year! love your flowers, and thanks for your visit to my blog.
A lot of nice blooms, and nice foliage in their too. I agree with everyone that the shrimp plant looks cool.
Hi Dreamybee!
How lovely to visit a blog from Hawaii! The hau plant is awesome. I'm stunned by the changing colours and the foliage. One of my friends had a lovely golden shrimp plant. I'm still trying to figure out who:) Yours is beautiful! And the daylily against that gorgeous sky backdrop! Love the purple lantana and the agapanthus. Hmm...must get up early to shoot against a sky backdrop. That bowled me over! Happy gardening!!
Well I expected to see Hibiscus in a Hawaiian garden, but not Roses and Daylilies. I would be willing to try any plant there if someone was willing to move me.
Familiar and not. Very nice bloom, some I didn't expect. So, please tell me, why do you have crepe mrytle sticks in a pot? I'm with Les, I think we need to come see these blooms. H.
I was just thinking that you are so lucky to be able to grow such exotic things in your garden; then I laughed -- they probably aren't that exotic to you!!
Debbie-Thank you. The shrimp plant certainly seems to be the crowd favorite today.
Muum-Agapanthus are nice, especially in a grouping. I'm glad you're able to enjoy them in Utah, even if it does involve hauling pots.
Ryan-Thank you. And that's one more vote for the shrimp plant!
Kanak-Thank you for visiting me all the way from India! The sunrise-as-backdrop was a happy accident. I wasn't planning on having such a nice background, I was just waiting for there to be some light outside, but it worked out well.
Les-It's funny, but I had no idea that my hau plant was a hibiscus until I looked it up for this post. Now that I know, I can't believe I didn't think of it before! I have a hard time with roses out here. I have to keep them in pots or they die. My day lily is in a pot though, and it seems to be doing well.
Helen-Should my crape myrtle sticks be somewhere else?? LOL. I planted a couple in pots last year, and they did OK, but a lot of die back. They are slowly putting on new growth this year, but they are only about 6" tall and very sad looking right now. Maybe we can take up a collection for you and Les to come out here for "research."
Sylvana-You're right, most of the stuff in my yard isn't that exotic for Hawaii, but I grew up on the mainland, so sometimes it still seems a little exotic to me at times. Thanks for visiting my blog!
So pretty! I just want to sniff them!
The flowers are awesome, but I am still stuck on the rainbow pictures. Just great! I wouldn't be able to drive by those sights either, AND you have tropical flowers in your garden. These are the things dreams are made of. Lucky You! Thanks for showing us.
Meryl and Teresa-Thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed stopping by! I'm happy to share my flowers and rainbows as I can. :)
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