Hibiscus Flower (Gumamela)

I took this picture when we went to Laguna, Philippines a few years back. This is a typical sight outside Catholic Churches in the country, vendors selling sampaguita leis. Parishioners likes to buy them as an offering to God or their favorite saints. Sampaguita or Pikake in Hawaiian is made as leis for other occasions…

I have high hopes this flower will soon be pollinated and become a fruit. The variety I have in the garden is the yellow type. Apparently there is a purple type but I haven’t seen any yet. I love having “lilikoi”(Hawaiian name for passion fruit) in my garden. The fruits I gather can be made…

Nasturtiums – Tropaeolum majus – is becoming the number one popular among the edible flowers.  It’s not only tasty and peppery but planting and growing it yourself is almost foolproof.  They don’t need fertilizer and they grow in poor soils and give more flowers than if you grow them in very rich soil.  It prefers…

Terrestial orchids grows in the wild in Hawaii. The one in the picture is called Spathoglottis Bulbosa. It is considered a terrestial orchid because it can grow in the soil not like other orchids which are aerial or epiphytes. They grow in loam or sandy soil with good drainage and enriched with either compost, well…

Euphorbias are plants that might be mistaken to be cactus plants because of their thorns but is considered succulents and have milky sap that is poisonous. The one I’m talking about is the species named crown of thorns. I was not interested in these plants before because of the thorns but my cousin who just…

Most gardeners consider these wildflowers as weeds but I find them pretty amusing. Their simple beauty makes me smile. Marjolein Bastin, my favorite sketch artist, seemed to be drawn to their beauty too that she always draws them. I can’t help but emulate.