We’ve had some wild weather here this past week or so, the kind of wet and windy days that make even me feel sorry for people here on holiday. That’s not why people come to Hawaii.
On one of those days, the winds were so fierce, they stripped one side of the giant mango tree in the yard of all its fruit, together with several branches, and bounty of leaves. These photos show how the yard looked when I got home! The bulk of the fruit was still rock hard so that even the pigs didn’t venture out for them!
A Kapok tree, planted by Dr. Hillebrand and native to tropical America.
When I was in Honolulu, in December, I had a few hours to kill and decided to visit Foster Botanical Garden, which is not far from the downtown area. It’s one of five gardens that make up the Honolulu Botanical Gardens.
The garden dates back to 1853 when it was started by William Hillebrand, a German physician and botanist. It was sold in 1884 to Thomas and Mary Foster who continued to develop the garden. When Mary Foster died in 1930 she left the garden and her house to the city of Honolulu on the condition that the garden be maintained as a public park.
A Quipo Tree.Rainbow Eucalyptus.A bee on a Scarlet Powder-puff flower.
The garden is best known for its trees, some of which were planted by Dr. Hillebrand, and includes 21 trees designated ‘exceptional’ by City Ordinance. Despite it being a rather dreary day, walking through the trees and checking out the other plantings was well worth the visit.
Garden greenery.A Silk Tree trunk.A Wild Mussaenda flower with conspicuous bracts.
More information about Foster Botanical Garden here. Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour. See more responses here.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 230. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
A Ground Beetle on the move.Common Waxbills.A Green Anole keeping watch.A Day Lily growing in a Banyan tree.Bath time!A duck decoy finds freedom on the ocean.
This Humpback Whale encounter was probably the highlight of the year (here).
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Year in review.’ See more responses here. As usual, I’ve picked a photo from each of the past 12 months and included a link to the original post.
Sunrise over Mauna Kea (here).A Monarch Butterfly on a leaf (here).A Manta Ray passes by (here).One of the many episodes of the current eruption at Kilauea (here).A Japanese White-eye on Octopus Tree flowers (here).The interior of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hawi (here).A male Sonoran Carpenter Bee (here).A waiting room at the Hilo Benioff Medical Center (here).Jumping into the ocean at Coconut Island, Hilo (here).
A kerfuffle in the corral at Paniolo Adventures (here).
A Painter Lady Butterfly feeding on a Kiawe flower.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 227. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Two donkeys drying out after heavy rain.Spinner Dolphins stop by.A variety of fishes in a hunting party.
It’s the time of year when big northwest swells start to hit the islands. This one is from a few years back.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 223. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
A Cigar Wrasse not blending in with some Convict Tangs.Boats anchored off the Kohala coast on a calm day.First flight of the day arrives at Kona Airport.Mauna Kea’s telescopes at sunrise.Yes, it’s getting to be that time of year!A plane tied down at Upolu Airport with Maui in the background.
Graham's Island 