Category Archives: Flowers

Rosy red

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Color Challenge: Rosy Red.’ See more responses here.

The top photo is a very red gate at the entrance to a newly fenced field. The grey cylinders are protection for something planted inside, possibly macadamia nut trees.

The middle photo shows a group of soldierfishes, mostly pearly soldierfishes, though one or two might be the very similar bigscale soldierfishes.

Finally, the third photo shows the brilliant blossoms of a royal poinciana tree.

Upolu landscape

  • A small plane taxis at the airport.
  • There are dairy cows and beef cattle here. Some are bigger than others.
  • I often see sheep or cows on the road. These were trotting past the wind farm.
  • A sleepy orange butterfly on the flower of a native Jacquemontia sandwicensis vine.
  • A pair of nenes walk along the road outside the airport fence.
  • The newest addition to the landscape is this alien-looking sugar cane harvester.
  • Horse riders on the road along the coast.
  • Upolu is a good place to watch the sunset.
  • The view from Mo’okini Heiau towards a cloud-covered Maui.
  • A view of Maui from the top of the road to Upolu Airport.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Your Favorite Landscape.’ See more responses here.

When I think of the landscape at Upolu, it includes both the ocean that borders it and the skies above. They are, in my mind, integral to the place. But here, I’ve focussed on the land, a relatively small area of a few square miles where I walk most days. It’s rural, agricultural, and coastal. It’s historic and modern. It’s also a place I never return from feeling disappointed. There’s always something of note that I see or that happens when I’m there.

Also posted in response to Becky’s January Squares challenge theme of ‘Up.’ See more responses here.

A bird of paradise flower, comrades

The sixth year of this blog starts with a photo I took to isolate a bird of paradise flower against the blue sky. But when I looked at it, my first thought was that it looked like some kind of Soviet emblem from the days of the Cold War, possibly something associated with the space race or armaments.

The only thing that rules that out is that the flower is far too colorful for that kind of thing. Perhaps the version below would be more appropriate. Onward comrades to Year 7.

Golden penda

Golden penda (Xanthostemon chrysanthus) is a member of the myrtle family and native to Queensland, Australia. Though it can grow to 50 feet high, it’s generally kept more compact in domestic gardens, where it’s grown for its showy yellow flowers.