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Spring in the Tropics!

Yes, it’s “Spring” here (la primavera) and almost the beginning of “Summer” (el verano) or Dry Season which starts in December. There are some trees and flowers that bloom this time of year while other bloom at the end of dry season and I can’t explain why because I don’t know.  🙂

I call these my “Yellow Bell Trees” because the flowers are bell-shaped, but that is not the name of them and I can’t seem to get an agreement here on what their English name is. I recently lost two of these trees, so less yellow this year in my garden, but it calls for a Haiku anyway:

¡Pura Vida!

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Book of Haiku Poetry

Click image or address below for electronic preview for free.

http://www.blurb.com/b/9093011-costa-rica-haiku

I have been playing around with writing Haiku about Costa Rica Nature for nearly 3 years now and this is my little collection of poems, each printed on one of my photos. I’m not a poet, but it was fun to do and I may continue trying from time to time. I write the American 2-3-2 syllables style of Haiku but like the original Japanese Haiku they only describe nature.

¡Pura Vida!

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Colorful Neighbors

African Tulip Tree on hill above my house.

On the hill above my little casita are blooming some brilliant orange African Tulip Trees (an immigrant or invasive species?) and above those the ever-present pink-to-purple bougainvillea which I see here through the limbs of my Guarumo or Cecropia tree. Having “colorful neighbors” can be a plus! And colorful flowers add to my happiness!    🙂

Just living is not enough…

one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

~Hans Christian Andersen

Flowers help boost happiness and I was just introduced to a new website that you might want to check out:    Garden & Happy     for a little boost in your happiness, try gardening!   🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Hillside Flower: El bastón de emperador

El bastón de emperador

Or in English it is most often called “Torch Ginger” and is one of many plants and trees growing on the steep hill that is my “Front Yard” or what is seen from the street.

This shot I took with my good camera earlier on the same plant and the ones below I took today with my new cheaper cell phone camera that’s not as good as my old cell phone camera and/or the colors and looks change on these flowers.   🙂

 

 

El bastón de emperador “bud: or baby
El bastón de emperador
El bastón de emperador plant seen from my terrace
My “Front Yard” seen from the street

 

Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

~Hans Christian Andersen

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La Pitahaya or Dragon Fruit / Pitaya

“Pitahaya” is not a Spanish word but rather a word from the indigenous people of Costa Rica and what everyone calls this unusual fruit or flower growing on a cactus plant. It is used most popularly in bebidas or fruit drinks like American Smoothies and the fruit is called “Dragon Fruit” or “Pitaya” in the states. The inside is gelatin like and pink in color with tiny black seeds and very sweet.

The photo is of one David brought to Spanish class the other day and I thought I would share another one of out unusual foods here in Costa Rica (and all over Latin America and in Asia). Read about it on Wikipedia (en español) or  in English as pitaya/dragon fruit.

¡Pura Vida!

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Tiny Pleasures

Life is made up of small pleasures.       ~Norman Lear

Photo of flower Costa Ricans call “Once de Abril” (11th of April) to commemorate the only war and battle Costa Rica ever fought and of course won with the heroic help of Juan Santamaria (name of San Jose Airport). It is so delicate with such tiny blooms like Santamaria was just a boy.

See more tiny pleasures in my photo gallery Flora & Forest.

¡Pura Vida!

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Morning Walk Surprise!

My morning walk today surprised me with this simple little flower – What a joy flowers can be!

Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

~Hans Christian Andersen

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A Simple Pleasure: Desert Rose Bloom

Just one bloom on a potted desert rose plant is a joy and mine has been loaded with blooms this year during rainy season and maybe because I moved it to the side of house for morning sun – my gardener’s suggestion! Later I will show a photo of the whole plant with multiple blooms, but somehow the only photo of the total plant is in my January 12, 2018 Post about this particular flower, though it was not as loaded in flowers as it has been recently.

“A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.” 
― Walt Whitman

For my gallery of Costa Rica Flowers+ see:   FLORA & FOREST