Tuesday, September 16, 2008
bougainvillea - part 1
Looking closely at more of the beauty of nature....My Bougainvillea in the front----the one I have written about before----is exceptionally beautiful right now......It is still blooming and it gives me such a wonderful feeling to just sit out on my front patio...(Near the street....) and look at it.
There are so many colors in this particular variety, and I love that you can see the variety of colors in this picture that this particular Bougainvillea produces.....
Right now.....some of the flowering parts of this particular plant are on the wane....not every part, mind you, just here and there, on certain portions of this plant......And what happens is, the rich bright color of the leaves begins to fade, which is happening right now, as you can see above, and below, too.....
As you can see in the picture above, that particular flower leaf has faded out to almost a 'white' color, and it is curling up as well.....this particular blossom will fall away very soon, if it already hasn't since I took this picture. Below, is the same picture, before I cropped it....
I loved looking through the green of some of the other plants right there and seeing all this pastel beauty.....Faded beauty, if you will, but still very beautiful to me......
But still....as you can see above, there is great vibrancy happening on other parts of these beautiful blooms, too....I love these little flower pods that you can see above, before they open.....
The light in this picture above just knocked me out.....And there you can see the little flowers are open....How delicate they are!
I LOVE the light in this picture above, too....it was the way the sun was hitting this section at the time of day I was taking these pictures. Some blooms were in the shadows because of it....Look at the variation of color here, too....Stunning, isn't it?
A closer look at one of those two flowers from the picture above this one.....I fell in love with this particular Bougainvillea back in 1974 when I saw it on 'The Big Island'....I was living there in the Kona-Kailua area for 14 weeks and got to see this plant and many other Bougainvilleas many times a day.
I had never seen so very many variety's and such variations of color. A lot of the Bougainvillea had grown up into some of the trees along the roads there, so it was cascading down in abundance and it was breath-taking.....I determined right then and there at that time, to have some of this particular Bougainvillea somewhere in my garden eventually. It took a while. But once I began to get so involved with Cactus and Succulents....this plant seemed like the perfect compliment to them.
And in fact, it is the perfect compliment to all the Cactus and Succulent plants.....It brings this shock of color wherever I have it planted---- these multi pastel colors, wherever it is growing in my garden---and it really sets off the Cactus and Succulents in a wonderful wonderful way......
You see how the 'greens' are greener and the flowers are pinker and more orange and lavender?
All the plants are prettier. They all stand out more...At least they seem to, to me. So, what I had envisioned back in 1974, in fact, is even more beautiful than I had imagined, in every way......There will be.......
More To Come..........
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 12:06:00 AM
Friday, September 12, 2008
beauty
I have become obsessed with the beauty of this Succulent....It is most unusual, in every way.
And though it certainly is fantastic when you see the whole plant....It is even more fantastic when you isolate---in close-up----the different parts of this Succulent....
The colors alone are just stunning......But the different shapes that this plant encompasses just boggling the mind. Wherever you look...there is great great beauty....And just moving the camera slightly, allows for some slight differences that make you go..."Ahhhhhh...!"
I have a particular liking for the look of one color moving in to another color in an imperceptible way.....It pleases something in my psyche and I feel it in a visceral way.....
And I love seeing the edges of these pads with that beautiful dark red-to-shocking-pink-to-green look....I also love the contrast there of the dark red edge up against the green....Once again, the beauty of nature just takes my breath away.
The magical shapes with the variations in color.....I have no words.
I repeat myself. Stunning. Amazing. Breath-taking.
I probably have taken 500 pictures of this plant....maybe more. It is endlessly fascinating to me....I am never bored with what I see.
Here are some more looks at this amazing plant.....
I rest my case.And trust me....there will be.......
More To Come.......
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 10:55:00 AM
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
little flowers
Gorgeousness lives on my deck......
So very many pretty soft colors.....
These are very small flowers, all in a cluster....All pastel....all Beautiful.....
These Clusters were kind of a revelation to me....I don't remember seeing them before but then, maybe I just wasn't looking as closely before as I have been in this last year or so.....
Getting in as close as possible but still having these flowers be in focus, is a rather large challenge.....But one I love taking on, as you all no doubt have gathered by now.....
Just to give you a little idea of how small these flowers are...Well, each one is about the size of the nail on a small pinkie.....So, when you see one of them wide open, as that one above is, well....it is pretty astounding in all it's very beautiful detail.
I have taken a lot of pictures of these amazingly stunning clusters and have so many more, well....let's just say there are an excessive amount....! (lol....What? Naomi, Excessive?? NO!...I don't believe it....!NOT!)
This is a view of one of the clusters, stepping back just a bit.....The actual color of the succulent plant itself is towards the top of the picture. I'm not even sure I can describe the color...a pale grey with just a tinge of blue and a teeny tiny hint of just the barest drop of light green, too, but there is more blue than green.....
An early look at the "clusters", before there were actual flowers that one could see.....And then below, a slightly different view----a second look, if you will-----of these clusters where you can see just a tad bit more.....
And then.....all the flowers came out and the variety of the pastel colors just took my breath away.....
There's more......Always, there is more....And.....More To Come.........
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 12:08:00 AM
Saturday, September 06, 2008
more nature
A little Visitor.....He looks so very sweet, doesn't he? And he stopped just long enough for me to get two pictures of him....Here is the second one, below......
I know it looks like the same picture, but, it isn't....! There were some sweet birds that were visiting me, too.....This one below was new to me. I couldn't identify him....Anyone know who he is?
He, too, stopped long enough for me to get three pictures of him.....
He is a cute little guy, isn't he? I don't believe he is a Finch. He is a bit bigger than the Finches I see around here....Also, the top of his head is almost black.....
And his little feet are not so little. I mean they look bigger than a Finches to me.....He is sitting here on an Opuntia having flown in from one of my neighbors trees.....! I was so hoping he would stay a bit longer or move to The Waterfall, and take a bath the way this little guy below did.
But no such luck. And this little guy wasn't a Finch, either. But....look at this great moment, below......
This bird is a Finch, at least I think he is a Finch.....And he had quite a bath. I so loved catching him in the middle of doing what ever it is they do with their feathers after a bath....In this case, it appeared to me that he was re-arranging them after his very lovely bath and before taking off for greener pastures, which he did almost the second after I snapped this picture......
And then, of course, above, this little sweetie-pie-Hummingbird-beauty, in a 'still' moment as he sits on the top of The Waterfall, having had a little bath and a little drink, too.....Oh, how I love these birds.....
Here above is another dear little bird who had a bit if a bath and was considering where he would go next....There is much to see and do in my garden, and the birds seem to have a very good time....
I love the colors of this little bird-person.....I cannot remember his name....Perhaps one of you may know and would remind me, please....I would dearly appreciate it.....The colors are so very pleasing to me.
And of course, there are always Doves in my garden....All year long they come, and every day of the year, too.....This one above looks a bit raggedy, but still, quite beautiful, I think.
And last, but not least, a sweet Finch. The Finches too are an all year round garden-visitor, I'm happy to say....And depending on the time of year the colors can be quite vibrant......Right now there isn't much color other than the brownish-grey you see here.....I hope you all have a very lovely weekend........
More To Come........
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 2:30:00 AM
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
the beauty of nature
So many colors and shades in one plant.....The Beauty Abounds. Outside on my Patio the Bougainvillea is blooming and looks so gorgeous.....This is my favorite Bougainvillea.....I think it is called Sunrise or maybe Sunset.....whatever....it is stunning right now.
What I cannot get over is the variety of Oranges and Pinks that are in this particular Bougainvillea.....And the pinks go from pale pale Pink......
To this stunning Shocking Pink below......
And everything in-between.....
And the Oranges run the gamut, too.....
Dark Orange and Light Orange and everything in-between.....And all of these Oranges are so fantastically rich......
And of course, as always, to see everything much bigger and better, do click on each picture......And truthfully no camera can 'capture' the depth of beauty that these flowers share with us......But, these are pretty good.....
And here are some more pictures of this exquisite flowering plant.......
Some more shocking pink above, now flowering in the center...I never tire of looking at these flowers or this plant....The fact that it is at the height of it's abundance...well, I just cannot get enough of it right now! What you are seeing in these pictures is why I chose this particular Bougainvillea....
Wherever you look, right now....there is this delicate beauty....It is like a kind of meditation to just sit and look at this particular plant. I sit and get lost in the variety of colors, and marvel at Nature.....!
Wherever you look....whether you are looking close-up or far away.....There is all this fabulous exquisiteness.....
And as always, dear readers, there will be.......More To Come.......
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 12:05:00 AM
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