Sampaguita Vendor

ByMaria

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 like graduations, birthdays, weddings and other special occasions. It is white in color and very fragrant. Most of the leis are almost always made with another fragrant flower called Ilang-ilang. The flower has five petals and are lime green in color. It has a very intoxicating smell that it is widely used in the perfume industry. Did you know that it is one of the secret ingredients in Chanel perfumes?
Anyways, back to the girl in the picture, what an honest way to earn a living, selling the most wonderfully fragrant flowers in the world.

Similar Posts

  • Orchids

    ByMaria

    Orchids have been amusing us with their unsurpassed beauty and assortment of colors depending on their variety and even today, I always get amazed by their tenacity to be the focus of attention of so many flower enthusiast and gardeners like me. I am not a collector but I admire their beauty so once in…

  • Water Lily

    ByMaria

    I consider water lily as an exotic flower. It exudes such mystery as their name implies, Nymphaeaceae from the word Nymph which means beautiful maidens in Greek mythology. Just like the flowers of the water lily they are beautiful. Apparently, there are two types of water lily, hardy and tropical. Since we’re in the tropics,…

  • Amaryllis

    ByMaria

    In the community garden, you will find gardens that have interesting plants and flowers. I’m always on the lookout for anything that is worth capturing. I have a small camera that do the job very nicely. I always bring it in my garden bag just in case. This day is when I saw these flowers…

  • Lily Flower

    ByMaria

    I like this Lily Flower particularly because it reminds me of my childhood in the Philippines. In our elementary school, the flag pole is surrounded with plants but I don’t know what type of plants they are. Anyway, I just recently find out that it is in the Lily family. The flower is also especially…

  • Blue Ginger

    ByMaria

    It’s always nice to just go and walk to the beach in Waikiki and come across so many beautiful things like the blue sky and the white clouds slowly moving over a vast ocean of different hues of blue. And then this blue ginger caught my eye and I just have to capture its perfect…