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| How the Heliconia looks today! |
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| The same one posted on July 27 – Just a bud! |
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| And one of the first flowers I see when I walk out my garden door. |
Exotic Flowers Hiding in My Garden
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| In the back corner of my garden beyond the big Heliconias and behind these Red Gingers are some tall green, leafy plants, not flower-like. |
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| If you get close, you see they kind of look like tall, leafy stalks, similar to corn, but that is not a corn cob in the back! It is the flower! |
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| If I stand on the hill above my garden and look down 1 of 4 is peaking out. |
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| This is one full-grown Maraca or Shampoo Ginger Flower |
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| Another Maraca or Shampoo Ginger |
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| And a Baby Maraca or Shampoo Ginger |
In my pre-move travels all over Central America I saw these unique tropical flower and always thought they were the most unique. Thanks to my gardeners and especially Alfredo, I now have a plant that has grown well and spread in my garden. I can now walk out my back door and see them, well, with a little searching! 🙂 They are somewhat rare and not available in all the Veveros (plant nurseries), but my good gardener Alfredo found one in his uncle’s yard for me! Be nice to your gardener and he will be nice to you! 🙂
I’m just starting my garden photo gallery but it has quite a few photos already!
Old Man’s Joy: Having Gardeners!
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| A team of 6 young men come every two weeks to cut grass, edge beds, weed, and trim shrubs, flowers or trees as needed. That’s Cristian above. 6 guys swooping over my yard in an hour. Neat! And at just $50! |
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| They save my back and other potential aches and pains as well as time, and they do it fast and very well. I am fortunate! And they are my friends! This is Alfredo above. |
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| My back garden is still the centerpiece, but the whole yard is a garden! I love living here among the tropical plants with doors/windows always open! |
I’m just starting my garden photo gallery but it has quite a few photos already!
Grasshopper Dinner Plate?
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| This Grasshopper, like the Leaf-cutter Ants finds my garden to be a cafeteria or at least a dinner plate! |
See my “Other Insects” Photo Gallery
New Unknown Moth
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Unknown Moth
Inside My House, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
NOTE how the different light seems to change his color.
All four shots are different colors in my eyes, especially with back-light.
And to tell the truth, the one above one is dead while the others are alive. Some die in my house nearly every night this time of year. Many butterflies/moths only live a few days naturally. |
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| Unknown Moth Inside My House, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Unknown Moth Inside My House, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Unknown Moth Inside My House, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
I am calling it a moth because the antennae have no little ball on the end like butterflies. The other characteristic is a “furry” body which is hard to tell in these photos but looks like it could be, especially in the top photo. Plus I cannot find it in my new most complete butterfly book for Central America and none of the brown butterflies or moths online match it, so I call it “unknown moth” for now.
And by the way, my computer is working fine right now! Maybe it was the heat and humidity of the coast that caused it to keep turning off every few minutes. Who knows?! Computers!
See my photo gallery of Butterflies and Moths found in Costa Rica and neighboring countries at 53 species now!
Dina Yellow Butterfly +
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| Dina Yellow butterfly My garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica On my “Once de Abril” flower |
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| Dina Yellow butterfly My garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica On my “Once de Abril” flower |
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| Unknown Insect, similar to a Green Orchid Bee except for red tail Caught accidentally while photographing the above Dina Yellow My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
Here’s a Dina Yellow seen in my garden last year:
http://costaricadecisionprocess.blogspot.com/2015/05/leuce-yellow-butterfly.html
I know, I’m starting to repeat butterflies and even some birds, but hopefully the next few days will be fresh photos as I travel again. John Rasbury is here from TN and just bought a house here in Atenas to rent out as part of his income when he comes back later to retire somewhere in Costa Rica. The next four days we will be in Guanacaste (northwest corner of Costa Rica) where he will look at possible other rent houses in Tamarindo and Flamingo Beach. I’m tagging along and then we will be tourists and do a birding float trip in Palo Verde National Park on a river. Hoping for some new birds in a part of the country I have not been yet.
Sphinx Moth or Hawk Moth
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| Unknown variety of Sphinx Moth or Hawk Moth On my terrace ceiling tonight, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
There are over 1,400 species of this category of moths and I haven’t found a match to this one. But I love the use of different shades of brown God used in painting this guy! It would go with my brown and white bedroom color scheme! 🙂
Malachite Butterfly As Houseguest
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| Malachite Butterfly
Inside My House, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
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| Malachite Butterfly
Inside My House, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
NOTE: The bottom or wings-folded side is always lighter in color
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And see my Butterfly Gallery with 50 species photographed here.
Black Witch Moth
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| Black Witch Moth On the ceiling of my covered terrace in Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica. Wing span about 5 inches. |
This guy is pretty common and one of the 8,000+ moths in Costa Rica and appears in all parts of the country. He is one of the best travelers, appearing from Florida to Brazil.
Here’s a photo of another one inside my house last November:
And an earlier one that matches the description except for the color but it is a Black Witch:
Cows Munching on Neighbor’s Hibiscus
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| Cow Eating Hibiscus Shrubs 1 of 3 cows in a neighbor’s yard from the cow pasture near me. They get out frequently! Someone comes and rounds them up. 🙂 |
Just another day in the neighborhood! And most of us are glad that this is the most exciting thing to happen in Roca Verde! Another neighborhood, possibly richer, does not have a community gate and guard like us. They have had a couple of break-ins recently. We have had none! I feel very safe.