Thanks, Deb. I thought it looked more like a prayer plant, too. It's not bunchy enough to be a Calathea, I don't think.
Love that stripey rose!
D'you think Paula can take pictures of the trees and flowers whizzing by as she's on the zipline?
Here's a floofy purple orchid that smells like cookies.
Debra - that 1st pic - the "split leaf Phil" - I have one that is over 30 years old. I bought it in a 4" pot when I was stationed in CA in 1976. I thought it was a reg Phil & needed a plant in my dorm room. Then it started growing.
That Dec I had to drive back to PA. When I stopped for the night I had to leave it in the car (it barely fit in the back seat of my Fiat). When I got to PA it again spent the nite in the car. Brought it in the next day & soon discovered it has froze. So it sat, unwatered, in my parents basement all winter.
In Spring, when it was warm enough to think about throwing it out, my Mom realized it had some new growth. So it grew in my parents LR for many years as I served around the world. When it would hit the ceiling, we'd cut the top off and make a new plant from it. Can't even remember how many people got plants. When I got to MD 18 years ago it came back to live with me. Now it has moved to FL with me.
Now I have 1 in a pot in front of my house & 1 on the back porch.
good morning all,
about to head out for the zipline. Say a prayer for me, I do have two children at home. I will try to take pictures as I zip along, lol, but I will probably be holding on too tight.
Paula, you will be in my prayers. If you don't make it down the zip line alive, it's been nice knowing you! I will be waiting on the ground with a clean set of clothes for you!
LOL KayJones...
Good Luck Paula, have fun!
Quilter, that came to me as a small Piece in a tropical swap. It is still in a very small plastic shower caddy, waiting for a new home. I hope to get it in a pot with a pole soon. I loved your story of your SLP. Wonderful!
woohoo, we made it! It was pretty fun, the scenery was beautiful! All the hedges here are hibiscus, ixora, and of all things devils backbone. Saw a lot of familiar plants growing wild along the roads and in the woods. Mostly colocasia...looks like calidora(?)....everywhere. Then there were thunbergia, blue sky vine, crotons..these were hedge plants also, coral vine, and lots more. plumeria pudica is a popular decorative plant. Then theres what i think are jacarandas, and several I have not seen before. Mango trees about 30 ft tall loaded with fruit. Our guide said they were just about to start harvesting them. Also, so many cacao (cocoa) trees loaded with fruit. That was cool to see them all growing. One of their exports. Saw the most beautiful travelers palms today. About 20 ft tall with 10 or 12 fans...beautiful!! I just want to go on a flower tour......husband wasn't excited about that.
Good morning and PHEW - you made it there - now, let's see if you can get some pilfering done. Never go out without baggies, paper towels and clippers. We want pictures of all your fun!!! I'd leave DH at the hotel and go out foraging, if I were in your shoes!
Uh, they are pretty strict about bringing any plant material out of any country or into the US these days. Just getting back to the mainland from Hawaii was hard and I didn't have to go through customs for that one. They still searched my luggage and carry-ons FIVE times. Obviously I had the "this one is a plant snitcher" look (or maybe it was the clippers in my suitcase. LOL) DH was in hysterics, they didn't look in his bags. Actually, I had already mailed my finds back home but I have since learned they are now x-raying packages and destroying any non certified live plant material they find. You can go to the trouble of getting plants and cuttings certified however but that is no fun.
I always put my "finds" inside the shoes in the suitcase!!
LOL, you are the second person to tell me that. I understand the toe of riding boots with their tall legs are another good hiding place.
I knew i couldn't take any plants back, but what about seed? I really wanted to get a cocoa bean and try to grow it. And maybe some others if I could find some. Oh well, I 'll see if I can find out.
Hibiscus Susan's Sunset, Bouvarida ternifolia and the moon this morning.
Awesome!!! Last Night around 9:30PM EST. Was the brightest I had ever seen! Weather guys said; "It will be the brightest moon this year".
It sure was a lovely moon last night. I was out picking Sri Lanka weevils off my rose bushes - you can really see them well after dark with a flashlight.
Mexican flame, or plume, I think. In any case, this flower scape was caught in the late sun and shining like a flame.
UGH, that is one bad bug. I wonder how they control them at Selby? Do you suppose a heavy dusting of the diatomaceous earth on the ground under the plant and on the undersides of the leaves would help eradicate them? We do not have those evil things up here yet but I am always wondering if or when they will hitch hike in on a plant from FL.
First flower on the gardenia vietchii.
Great plants; Debra, Alice & Elaine!
Alice, I can smell that gardenia from here - oh wait! I have one in a little vase on my desk . .. so lovely, like a perfume drink. I spoke too soon on the Black Gamecock iris, they were just in hiding, and have just raised their gorgeous faces above the calla foliage that was hiding them.
Drew, first report on the great P. Gloriosum experiment - the one in the ground is bigger! We'll have to wait and see though, the tree roots "have not yet begun to fight". How's your Jurassic Park project coming? Are the giants all out of the garage yet? We want to see!!
I am really thrilled with this Thunbergia that Mj sent me last fall as a cutting! Such vibrant flowers!
Good for you Elaine! Thought it would "Live long and prosper". Little Star Trek humor there.
So your enquiring mind wants to know about the giants? All in good time my Pretty! HE HE HE!
Here are a few pics from the trip....
Post more later.they're taking forever to load
Lovely, Paula. I have a traveler palm that looked like that. Now it has turned sideways and made several pups, so it is just a mess. They need a lot of room and grooming, it seems.
I have my first Gloriosa lily open today, and the plumerias starting. I followed the perfume to them.
Paula, it looks like some place we ALL should go! I hope you are having a wonderful time. What is the beauty with the red flowers?
Great pictures Paula! You know what the red flower guy is at the end? Beautiful Elaine!
Great minds K!
Maybe its Peregrina, (Jatropha Integerrima)? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2447/
Nope,I have several of those. Whatever it is, I think we all want one.
Looks like a wonderful trip! The red one is a red cone ginger that is falling over and babies are growing out of the flower.
Oh, I want one!!!! It's gorgeous!!!!!
Aha, I can see that now, the babies are too cool, I had never seen that. It is so sad the red ones do not have any scent.
Yes, ginger. It was unbelievable!! It was about 7 or 8 ft. tall and loaded with blooms. It just took my breath away. All the plants were huge. Ficus trees 15 to 20 ft tall. all the palms...huge. Cotons were 7 to 8 ft tall and they were trimmed and shaped. Dracena (I think) were 15-20 ft tall. The plumeria pudica was about 10 ft tall and loaded with blooms.
Next I want to go to Costa Rica.
Dracena (?)
Roots - how cool is that
4th - cacoa (chocolate) tree
5th - view from zipline
3rd pic is huge philo
Crown of thorns everywhere
Bloom
another shot of beach
sanseveria growing all along the side of the road
helonconia
That cocoa is so cool! I think the dracenia roots Might be a pandanus or screw palm?
Looks like Philodendron maxima to me Paula.
Did you 'do' the zip line?!!!
Yeah Kay, the zipline was fun. Wasn't what I thought but we still had a good time. I was looking forward to getting a 'sky' view, but you have to sit in a squat position, watch for signals from the guide, and make sure all your 'limbs' are in the correct position or you get out of control, plus you go so fast....no time to look around.
Thanks candela, wasn't sure about the root thing, and they were very tall...very unusual.
Drew, that thing was enormus. The leaves were probably 2-3 ft long. I guess the same year round temps and afternoon showers everyday, you could grow most anything to its full potential. OOOO...to live in a nice tropical place!!
2nd that Paula!!!
I lived in HI for 7 years (up in the mts of Oahu) and Paradise was WONDERFUL!!!! Everything grew year round and hedges of Bouganvilla were the norm. The colors were just spectacular. So, until we win the lottery, we will settle for living in FL!!!
We passed on the zip ine when we were in Costa Rica a few years ago and instead took a ride in a "bucket" high in the air, thru the jungle. There was a guide with us who pointed out the various plants & critters. Was amazing. Took hundreds of pics..................
A good friend was almost killed on a zip lilne in Costa Rica, something malfunctioned and she was approaching the platform at a rapid rate of speed with no way to stop. Two attendants on the platform actually strapped themselves to the line and grabbed it and held on as she plowed into them rather than the platform. She was later advised that she should not have gone on that particular zip line as it was known (locally) to be poorly maintained. I like the idea of a slow bucket so you could see more plants and birds.
Oh wow! I've actually zipped lined in Manuel Antonio Costa Rica. Hate those thoughts as I'm speeding over a canyon!!
Bucket or zip line, if it's not well maintained, I wouldn't risk my life on it. Everything degrades so fast in tropical conditions.
I got this little 'bonus' tillandsia ball in a gift box of plants for Christmas. Now here it is blooming!
