It's anudder bloomin' Friday!

This cattleya orchid is about 8 years old and has only bloomed once before a few years ago. It was Home depot special.

Welcome to blooming Friday! The frangipani is beginning to bloom, the bougainvillea a drought lover is in its glory. For more blooming Friday please take a stroll over to Katarina from roses and stuff. Have a great weekend my friends!

Ah feeling hot hot hot

desert rose

It is very very hot and dry with no rain in sight. Yet many plants are still managing to put forth their colourful blooms. I am indoors during the hottest time of the day, that is between ten (10) am and three (3) pm. Cane fires and bush fires are plentiful mostly ignited by human hand. The fire service is exhausted and overworked. I am very tempted to join my fishy friends in the pond.

Happy Valentine

I love my husband because he is a sweetie pie and

1. He accepts me for who I am without trying to change me for the past 15 years we have been married.

myself and Candy at lunch, sorry Dennis someone had to take the photo, cheers to you Chuck and thank you!

2. He is away having surgery on his hand and for Valentines unknown to me, he made reservations at my favorite restaurant Champers for lunch with two of my friends. He then left an envelope with the voucher with a note that am not to open it before the 12th of this month, (I peeked at it anyway).

3. He loves animals and plants.

4. He makes me laugh

5. I would marry him all over again.

6. He balances our marriage...I am the spitfire and he is the coolant.

7. He is not a fix it guy but he is married to a fix it gal.

8. We are renovating our kitchen and it was he who suggested that we go ahead and says whatever I decide to do it is ok with him (as long as it is within the budget).

P.S. what would you like to share about your hubby?

Dry times and blue skies

the imortelle also known as the scarlet coral tree (erythrina lysistemon) with its striking scarlet blooms

All my Mango trees are in full bloom as a result of the dry spell, they would normally bloom around April/May. I hope that they will set fruit.

parched and cracking ground

toads trying to find some shade in the cracked earth

"RAIN RAIN come down and wash the whole of Bridgetown" we would sing as children playing with our friends. This is one time we would welcome such a thing. Yep things are dry......the ground is cracking making it difficult to traverse parts of the garden. And only blue skies are insight. I get very irritated when I hear visitors say that they don't want it to rain when they are on holiday. I would interject that we need the rain and without it we cannot eat, bathe and there will be no gardens to visit. So I am all smiles when I see the rain. For me it is eau de vie!

Clerodendron madness

My clerodendron quadriloculare is in full bloom at this time. Even though we are now going through a severe drought they have still mustered up enough energy to bloom. I am hoping that the gods send some rain soon or else we will be in a very serious and dangerous drought. Farmers are losing their crops and many of my plants have died.

An Open Garden .....The Finale

this is my idea of paradise

this was la piece de la resistance!

I have never seen a cannon ball tree with so much ammunition!

The house was designed to allow the cooling Caribbean breeze to blow freely throughout and is beautifully framed by flowering and colourful foliage shrubs.

Mr Ole Dam- Mikkelsen


Oh what a paradise this garden has been, with so many species of plants from around the world. This garden has given me inspiration to keep on going and dreaming that one day I can create a beautiful area like this. Remember folks, this type of garden doesn't happen overnight. It is many many years of hard work, twenty five years to be exact and tons of patience. My hats off to the owner Mr Ole Dam-Mikkelsen known as Ole (Olay) to many, who hails from Denmark and is from a long line of Danish pig farmers.