The Hibiscus Show! For Blooming Friday

After presenting parades of hedges, then Vandas and Cattleyas, i am now presenting a parade of Hibiscus species. We call it gumamela here in the Philippines. It  is  cultivated throughout the country, being sunloving all year round.  We have some native ones, but we have also several hibiscus hybrids developed by our local scientists from the University of the Philippines Los Baños.  Hibiscus hybrids with “stunning” flower colors and appearance, which improved the native cultivars were developed to be competitive in the world market. Just like the Mussaenda species hybridized in the mid 1900s, the hibiscus hybridization started in 1994 and has already produced 35 hybrids. While Mussaendas were named after first ladies and women presidents of the country (except for the Queen Sirikit of Thailand), Hibiscus hybrids are named after prominent women of science.  For example the 35th hybrid was named after the first Filipina who specialized in Biological Chemistry.

The gumamela flower has several uses around the world. In this country it has been used as a poultice to boils, cancerous swellings and mumps,  while the leaves are used as a lotion for fevers and headache. The flower is also used as ingredients in soaps, lotions and as tea and food in other parts of the world.

I chose variations in color and morphology of the flowers for posting here.  These are just the available photos now from my ready files. A lot more are coming. Please stay tuned to this channel.

The above three types have shorter styles, while the next ones have them very long.

The next pink multiple petalled Hibiscus has different reproductive parts from the last red one.

This red cultivar has three distinct reproductive parts fused into one common flower. Can you see them distributed around, the yellow stamens protruding among the red petals. Isn't it wonderful to compare them not only in terms of color, but also in terms of how they show the reproductive parts, and how many flowers actually present in one show!

I again dedicate this post to   Autumn Belle, because she is so generous, diligent with her postings for her readers, and... her country's national flower is the single petalled red hibiscus.

The last complex cultivar is very special, so i will give it to Autumn Belle as a souvenir for her garden.

Moreover, thanks for  Katarina of Roses and Stuff,    the originator of Blooming Friday.

Back to the Galore, Bromeliads

I am posting foliages today! You might already be saturated with flowers, especially my hedges, Vanda orchids,  Cattleya orchids and   unusual orchid species. So here are the leaves...Bromeliads.

The Bromeliad Family is composed of several genera, including the moss, Tillandsia  and the pineapple, Ananas. Color of the leaves are so varied that gives spectacular designs, which make them very good accents in the garden. The flowers are also colorful that vary greatly from the colors of the leaves.

Since most of the bromeliads originated from the dense forests in Latin America, they need to be moist most of the time. They are normally seen with water at the shoot apex to keep them moist. Maybe it is designed like that to really keep more water even if the environment is already dry.

I am just showing a little sample here because i still cannot make collages to accomodate more species. How i wish i can learn fast as Jacqui already put in her blog tutorials. I am sorry i still cannot just sit and learn the art of making collages.
 

 I still have a lot of Bromeliad photos of different colors, but maybe i will put them in part II, because cannot be accomodated here.

                      

Clitoria salad

To veer away from the orchids and heavy bright colors i will deviate first from them and post some alternative view.

I still recall our previous discussions about the   blue butterfly pea  first posted by Autumn Belle, which Kanak and i joined later. First we were fascinated by the bodily part connotation which its scientific name denotes, being Clitoria ternatea! Then i added in Centrosema pubescens on the same note. However, an outstanding thought within those exchanges of discussion is the blue flower of Clitoria ternatea for food or for medicine.

Last week i had the opportunity to taste exactly that flower. We were in an exclusive type of restaurant, and a friend ordered green salad to go with her pesto dish. The blue petals, six in all, are added separately on top, and the arrangement is magnificent. I am sorry folks i forgot my camera at home and failed to show you the elegant arrangement. Nevertheless, i hope you can visualize that green salad predominantly lettuce, topped with individually arranged six blue petals.

I tasted the petal alone, the taste is good, not spectacular and not bad at all. It is just neutral. You will not even taste the tangy-raw-grassy taste. It is just fine, trust me! Next time you see the blue Clitoria, it is wise to taste some petals.

Here it is again, and thank you.

This is for you Teza of Teza's Garden  Since you are fond of blues, here is one. You still have not seen my  other blues!

Orchids Galore Still, D' Uncommon species

I've been fascinated and obsessed to post the still lots of orchid photos in my files. So please bear with me with my inkling at the moment. Maybe it all boils down to the guilt if i will not be able to share these photos with you. Somehow it doesn't feel right when all of them just sit there hidden at the recesses of my computer, and they might got mad at me for just letting them be...just be!

Whether i know them personally or not, everybody will be introduced! However, most of them i just saw also for the first time. I only know the group they belong, as in cattleya, vanda, dendrobium, cymbidium, phalaenopsis, oncidium, etc., but i don't know their real identities. I am sorry for not having time to copy their name tags I hope they will understand. I am sure they are happy with just that, at least they are not neglected. So...here they are...dyaraaaaaan...

Cattleya

ground orchid

Cymbidium

Cymbidium

 Cymbidium, unknown

Unknown, unknown (indigenous)

unknown, Oncidium

Phaelanopsis, Robiquetia sp.

So what do you think folks? I hope you will tell your friends of my unusual finds. Thank you very much and please tell me what you think, whatever they are.

Dedication: For my very special friend Autumn Belle

Thank you very much also for linking this to   Blooming Friday   hosted by Katarina of Roses and Stuff. Katarina thank you so much also. I hope more will be able to visit  my orchids.

Orchids Galore too, Cattleya

The yellows

The Greens

The pinks and purples

The White

Having been thrilled by the Vanda hybrids, i felt those are still limited. I now am showing you the Cattleya from the same event but on the succeeding year, in the same location. It is again hosted by the Philippine Orchid Society. How i wish i was not in a hurry that time. I remember i just got out of the office without telling anyone where i was going. When in classes, that was cutting class. So from the office i had been cutting office.

Please tell me what you thought. I love your comments and they inspire me to get more photos and more uploads.

Orchids Galore!

I have long been contemplating on showing some photos from a garden show i've recently visited here in Manila, Philippines. However, i have not been diligent on resizing my photos. Besides, there are lots of work. Now i will try to upload some. I have a lot of photo files as i've said in my previous posts. It takes lots of time to manage them, but still i always have the proddings to share them with you. I hope these will remind you of getting the plant you have long wanted to have.... the Vanda hybrids.

Most of the hybrids used the Vanda sanderiana as a parent, either as immediate parent, as a grandparent, a cousin, distant relative or any relation. Vanda sanderiana or what we call "waling-waling" is endemic to the Philippines, and called the "Queen of the Philippine Orchids". It grows originally in the thick forest, but when the forests are dwindling they are already found in gardens of the rich and famous, or as collectors items by breeders and big flower farms. I cannot find my V. sanderiana photo at the moment so it deserves another time. For a thorough discussion of V. sanderiana  please look at this.