Category: Flowers

Posted on

White Angled-Sulphur & Atenas Weather

The wind is slowing down a little and that helps to see more birds and butterflies like this White Angled-Sulphur (my gallery link) photographed day-before-yesterday in my garden. This is a typical folded wings sideview showing a little greenish hue, while the top view is bright white with bright yellow patches under the two dark spots. See that in my above linked gallery, which I was unable to capture this time.

White Angled-Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

“The Best Weather in the World”

or “El Mejor Clima del Mundo,” is the slogan of the town of Atenas, where the temperature stays in the Fahrenheit 70’s or Centigrade 20’s year around! It is usually windy just January to March, blowing in both regular dust and sometimes volcano ashes, which are black, making them obvious. Dry season is December to April or May and Rainy Season May to November, with April and November called “shoulder months,” meaning that it could be either dry or rainy and this April, also windy, which is not normal.

When I walked out of my bank across the street from Central Park on Tuesday, there were no other people by the city sign (unusual), so I did the touristy thing and made a selfie in front of the sign, which I haven’t done since it was first installed. The ATENAS letters have colorful drawings of places and activities in Atenas, while carved in stone beneath the name is the weather slogan: EL MEJOR CLIMA DEL MUNDO, which is also on the back of all Atenas buses.

Charlie Doggett, Central Park, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

We were suppose to have a big rain last night and I hope it will be the early beginning of the rainy season, which is my favorite time of year here with most days having only a couple of hours of rain in the afternoon or evening, and everything is greener and more beautiful! Plus that is when I see & photograph more wildlife including butterflies! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Amateur video in español . . .

Amateurish, but it does show a lot of Atenas including the county villages . . .

Posted on

About my “Miracle Flower” & Change in My Blog

¡Buenos dias! Good Morning! I hope you missed my blog post yesterday! 🙂 It was not more computer problems or too much AI, but I simply did not make a post yesterday and will not every day any longer. Some people wonder what old people do with their time while I wonder why I seem to never have enough time! 🙂 Just daily life seems to fill every moment, not to mention the many appointments and daily tasks I must complete, a lot related to my health and basic things that just simply have to be done! 🙂

Lately I have also been strained to see enough birds and butterflies in the continued high winds to have enough photos for a daily blog along with the busy schedules and sometimes just being tired. Plus I don’t want to force a poor photo into a blog post which has been done. So I will continue to share nature photos when I have some that I really want to share, which just may not be every day. Though when I travel there will always be photos to share every day for a while! 🙂 Now today’s share . . .

History of my Desert Rose Plant that has bloomed every day for 9 years!

In 2017, in this same month of April, my next-door neighbor and artist friend, Anthony, left to go back to the states, hoping to get an art teaching job (never happened). I bought his small flower pot with a small Desert Rose in it. Unfortunately I made no photos of it until this one in 2020 (3 years later) when it was still small as seen here between the larger Crown of Thorns and Bougainvillea, both of which have since died and the Desert Rose has more than tripled in size! 🙂

The small middle plant was my Desert Rose in 2020, between a Crown of Thorns & Bougainvillea.

Today most visitors I have at my house are amazed at the growth, beauty, healthiness and longevity of this Desert Rose plant that has always been on the east side of my casita in direct morning sun until maybe 1+ pm. My head gardener has never seen such before! And he stares at it on his every-other-week visit. They are hard to find in any plant nursery here. The photo below was made yesterday. And it keeps blooming every day, 365 days a year for nine years now! 🙂

Desert Rose, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica, April 16, 2026.

Note that in the above two photos you can see a sort of bulbous base to the plant. That is to hold water for when no rain as this plant is native to dry North Africa and the Middle East. And also in the 3rd photo or feature photo, there are almost always buds next to each flower ready to replace it when that flower wilts or dies. Google’s AI summarizes this plant as follows:

“The Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) is a succulent originating from arid regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Madagascar. It thrives in full sun (6+ hours) and requires extremely well-draining soil, such as succulent or cactus mixes. It is best grown in pots in warm, sunny, and dry conditions, with minimal water in winter.”

Notice the buds ready to open when the older flowers begin to fade. A continuous cycle! Always blooming!

In some ways, it is a good model for retirement life! And I hope I continue to “bloom” in whatever way possible for the rest of my life here in beautiful, tropical Costa Rica! 🙂

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” — Anais Nin

More flower photos: My Home Gardens GALLERY

¡Pura Vida!

And how you can grow a Desert Rose . . .

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

South American Cloudless Sulphur

We haven’t always had the “South American” part of this one’s English name, but just like with birds, names of butterflies are always changing and that challenges the hobbyist to keep up with the names! 🙂 See the others I have photographed in my Cloudless Sulphur Gallery with some from many locations on both slopes of Costa Rica, but as with everything, the more recent ones are from my garden. 🙂

South American Cloudless Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Blue-vented Hummingbird

This is one of the few hummingbirds not totally chased off by the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, though he is only an occasional visitor to my Porterweed Flowers.

Blue-vented Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See more of this species in my gallery: Blue-vented Hummingbird.

And two more totally different shots . . .

Continue reading “Blue-vented Hummingbird”
Posted on

Polydamas Swallowtail

It was still windy when I captured this very determined butterfly feeding on the flowers. Maybe the worse part of the January to March constant winds blowing here is no butterflies! And somewhat also my allergies to the constant dust blowing in! 🙂 But the Polydamas Swallowtail (my gallery link) seems to be one of those few tough (or strong) butterflies who can fly in the winds and is maybe the most seen butterfly during this time period. I do also see some Banded Peacocks and tiny brown Skippers in my garden, but only occasionally, plus way up in the trees are some Yellows that seem to stay high, with almost no other butterflies. But that will start changing in April & May as the winds stop and my peak of butterflies in my garden is May to September! And yes, that is the rainy season. Just one shot of this Polydamas.

Polydamas Swallowtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

February Flowers

I’m rather late with my monthly flowers report, but that is because of all the photos from the 3 day trips with my Canadian friends. Below this one email photo is a gallery of a dozen shots. Click one to see it larger. Enjoy my tropical paradise!

Baby Orchid Tree Blooming
Continue reading “February Flowers”
Posted on

Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Birding Gallery

The last of the three day trips that I participated in with my Canadian Friends was to the Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve better known here for its Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel where we had breakfast after a couple of hours of birding. And the clouds never lifted or burned off the entire time we were there. Click the first page of that gallery below to access it or if you prefer an address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/Birding-at-Villa-Blanca-Cloud-Forest-Reserve

CLICK THIS IMAGE OF THE GALLERY to go to it.

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Carara National Park Gallery ready

Because we went after the Rio Tarcoles trip, it was too late in day for many birds, I got only 2 species, but I did get 10 species of other wildlife including some interesting species like the Helmeted Iguana, stick moth caterpillar, etc. and one of my dark monkey shots is visible. Click the first page of gallery below to enter or if you prefer an address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/Hiking-Carara-NP

CLICK ABOVE IMAGE to go to the gallery.

I earlier did a post on the Helmeted Iguana and one on the Stink Bug, two of the 10 “Other Wildlife” seen at Carara this time. See gallery.

And tomorrow I will hopefully have completed the gallery for our morning visit to Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve and Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel.

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Augochlorine Sweat Bees, Tribe Augochlorini

This tiny little bee on the Spadix of an Anthurium (not a large pistil) was, I first thought, a Green Orchid Bee, but the AI of iNaturalist says no, it is one of many different species of sweat bees and once I post it on iNaturalist, it may or may not be given a species name, just the Tribe Augochlorini. He will go in my general Bees Gallery with only this tribal name for now. 🙂 He is less than half the size of yesterday’s orchid bee.

Augochlorine Sweat Bees, Tribe Augochlorini, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

My First 2026 Photography Day Trip Today

Early this morning Walter will take me and a group of 4 Canadian friends to breakfast at El Jardin on our way to a birding boat trip on Rio Tarcoles to its mouth on the coast followed by a birding hike in nearby Carara National Park, then lunch somewhere on our way back to Atenas. This is the second time I’ve arranged this always productive birding trip for this group.

Then on Thursday we go, at their request, to a mountain Cloud Forest Reserve north of San Ramon. There will not be as many birds there but all will be different from what was seen on the coast. Plus that 6:30am guided hike will be followed by a great “farm to table” breakfast at the Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort. I spent a couple of nights there during my earlier years in Costa Rica (2017) and it is nice, but I photographed only 9 species of birds that one time there. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!