Category: Garden

Both my gardens and ones I visit

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New Looks in Garden

My photo gallery Flora & Forests      or directly to the sub-gallery My Home Gardens
Note that in these and all of my photo galleries at Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA I have added the new gallery header that is available at Smugmug which features one of the photos in that gallery. An improvement by Smugmug I think. 

Politics
Yesterday I told you that there were versions of the Women’s March on Washington in more than one town in Costa Rica. Well, today I learned that some of my rich Republican friends in Atenas had an Inauguration Celebration Party at one of their large houses on Friday night. Unfortunately it is not just poor Democrats migrating to Costa Rica. But I think I can safely say that most Costa Ricans are horrified at the prospects of the Trump presidency. 
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Its a Jungle Out There!

From my kitchen looking across the DR/LR and terrace at another rain.
Our rainiest rainy season in years has everything growing. 

Step out my back door and the flower garden is 6-7 feet tall!

And the screen of little palms outside my office/guest room is growing too! 

Usually by December the “Dry Season” or our summer has begun, but it is raining again today and forecasts are for more. Its a good thing that I love the jungle!  🙂

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My New Toy: Macro Lens

Not the expensive one, just a simple Canon 100mm zoom, 1:28, Image Stabilizer (for hand-held) and auto focus. Here’s a few flowers with it and MY VERY FIRST HIBISCUS in my garden! I only recently got the plant which is slow-growing, but here’s the first bloom!

 

Hibiscus
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Once de Abril  (haven’t found an English name yet)
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Heliconia
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Plumbago
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Red Ginger
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Porter Weed
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

I think I did okay on close-ups of flowers before with a telephoto lens from a distance, but this is suppose to be better! It has the capability of a 1:1 ratio if I get close enough. Insects will be more difficult because they scare off, so I’ll probably continue with my 300 mm for them. Though, note the little tiny ant on the Porter Weed above.  🙂 And it is so nice having flowers blooming year around!

My Flora & Forests photo gallery

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Trogon During Class

Gartered Trogon
in the Cecropia Tree beside my terrace
during Spanish Class Tuesday morning at my house.
Quick cell phone shot & he flew away.
I’ve traveled many miles to get a photo of this guy
and he finally comes to me when I’m without good camera.
🙂
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Maybe My 2 Most Frequent Visitors

These two I see from my terrace every day and possibly more often than any other birds.

Rufous-naped Wren
Seen at breakfast from my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
White-ringed Flycatcher
Seen at breakfast from my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
Similar to the very common
Social Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee & Boat-billed Flycatcher.
But white on head makes a complete ring around his head
and Kiskadee & Boat-billed are noticeably larger with larger bills.

See also my BIRDS Photo Gallery

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This Morning’s Garden

 Each morning I walk through my garden and then eat breakfast on my terrace. Today I liked:

There are many more blooming of course, especially the red ginger and porter weed all the time, but not sure I’ve shown the above recently, so enjoy! I love life in the natural, slow lane in Costa Rica! With no car!   🙂
¡Pura Vida!
See also my photo gallery call Flora and Forests for more flower photos. 

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A Couple of Repeat Birds

Hoffman’s Woodpecker Female
In my garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
A little better photo than one posted the other day.

White-Ringed Flycatcher
In My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

White-Ringed Flycatcher
In My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

And my BIRDS GALLERY online

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Blue-crowned Motmot

Blue-crowned Motmot
In My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

Blue-crowned Motmot
In My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

The other day I told about missing a photo of a motmot, well at breakfast today I got one. Not my best shot with the cool tail partially hidden, but okay to be behind some leaves. 

See also my BIRDS PHOTO GALLERY 

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Anthony’s Gardens

On the hill behind my neighbor’s house he has this very full, lush garden that is more than camera shows!
Anthony has spent a lot of time and money making this full hillside garden next door.

And by his front door this nice garden in front of my house.

Anthony is a good neighbor for many reasons and his gardens are certainly one of those! Together we keep our landlord’s property looking good and we both use the same gardener to keep our yards up. If you live in Atenas, it is J&C Gardens or contact me to get the phone number or email address. We think they are very good.

Yes, this is the Anthony who made the garden-art clay bird in my garden though he does not have anything similar in his garden yet. He will eventually.

And there is my under construction FLORA & FORESTS photo gallery if interested.

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Kitchen Window Jungle

What I see when standing at the kitchen sink looking out the window.
My home, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

There are prettier spots in my garden, but this is how it is at this spot this week. It is all constantly changing and further to the right is the prettiest now with a lot of Red Gingers blooming.