Happy Yuletide

 Snow on the mountain (euphorbia leucocephala) and golden crinums

 Christmas palms

 Mangoes giving me a second crop for the year

Ham just out of the oven, I couldn't resist and stole a few slices of pineapple so I apologize for the missing pieces. Ha!

Wishing all my blogger friends and those following my blog a peaceful and joy filled Yuletide.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day Dec 2012

 Begonias enjoying the cooler temperatures.

 Bougainvillaea

 These dwarf browallias with their pretty blue flowers make a great border and ground cover.

 My snow on the mountain right (euphorbia leucocephala) on target for Christmas, she is on her last legs  but not giving up the fight.

 Yellow ground orchids still putting on a show

 Purple ground orchids not wanting to be left out of the party

Galphima glauca (thyrallis or showers of gold)

Hello and welcome to Garden Blogger's Bloom Day where gardeners form around the world show what is blooming in their gardens. Last night the temperatures dipped to 70 degrees F or 20 degrees C so  it was very pleasant out in the garden in the early hours this morning. 

To see what is blooming in other gardens around the world please visit Carol at May dreams gardens.

My deepest condolences to the people of Newtown Connecticut who have lost their babies and loved ones. It is very hard to fathom out why someone would do something like this except that there are many mentally sick individuals amongst us with very easy access to guns. May you find comfort in these difficult times.

Orion is back

 Video of Orion feeding

 We recently harvested some bananas and of course all ripened at the same time. What we couldn't give away we gave to the birds and butterflies. We were hoping that the Orion (historis odious)butterfly will make its annual appearance.

 In fact two made an appearance today, one was so busy feeding from underneath the table  that he took no notice of me.

 The other one was also busy feeding on the table top that it totally ignored me.

Here I am trying to get its wings open and it didn't even budge.

Dry days are here again

We are now into our dry season. Last month was the driest November I have ever experienced.

This lemon ginger is drought tolerant and seems to be growing effortlessly under my lime tree.

This area is where my natural pond occurs during the rainy season and since it remains damp I decided to try a bog garden here. I planted some gingers on the perimeter and am undecided whether to place a lipstick palm in the middle or plant some lotus.

The heron looked rather surprised as I took this shot.

I planted this creeper between my frangipani trees about  ten years or more ago. It has found its way to the top and this is the second time it has flowered and just recently I found out its name. It is called the red hot poker vine (norantea guianensis) thank you Sharon.  The flower spike is more like an orange colour and of course it only blooms at the very top.

The island now is very busy preparing for Christmas and this year I decided to scale down things and just observe others (I hope). I am hoping for some rain, just enough to green the grass and feed the plants.  Wishing all a great weekend!