Tag Archives: Tropical Foliage

Here’s where my garden grows

A gecko on a wax ginger at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden
A small Gold Dust Day Gecko climbs over a Wax Ginger. The small yellow parts are the flowers and the red mass is bracts.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Plant Life.’ See more responses here.

Here are a few plants seen on my last visit to Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden. For more information about Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, go to htbg.com.

A Heliconia Longissima Red Wings at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden
Big leaves on Heliconia Longissima Red Wings
Towering trees at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden
Towering trees reach for the sky.
An Anthurium cupulispathum at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden
The giant leaves and long spadex of an Anthurium Cupulispathum.
Selaginella Umbrosa ferns at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden
A mass of Selaginella Umbrosa ferns.
A powderpuff flower at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden
A Powderpuff flower growing from a mossy trunk.
A red ginger at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden
The syrupy look of a red ginger.
Foliage surrounds stairs at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden
A variety of tropical foliage borders a staircase at the garden.
Foliage reflected in the lake at at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden
There are plants on land and reflected in the water.

Plant shapes

Lily pads in Hawaii

The current Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Shapes.’ See more responses here. Since I just paid another visit to Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, I thought some flower and foliage shapes would be appropriate. In the top photo, round lily pads float in the garden’s pond.

A coiled fern in Hawaii
An anthurium flower in Hawaii
orchids in Hawaii
A Guzmania 'Limones' in Hawaii

The squares show the coils within coils of a Hapu’u fern, a distinctly-shaped anthurium, the familiar curves of an orchid against a large, angular leaf, and the geometric precision of a Guzmania ‘Limones’ bromeliad.

A beehive ginger in Hawaii
Tropical leaves in Hawaii
A heliconia in Hawaii

The rectangles start with the distinctive shape of beehive gingers, then large, tropical, heart-shaped leaves, and the sinuous shape of a colorful heliconia.

The bottom photo shows feather-shaped leaves that even look like feathers!

For more information about Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, go to htbg.com.

Tropical leaves in Hawaii

Solstice photos

A Royal Palm in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Again the Solstice.’ See more responses here. I didn’t have any good ideas for illustrating the solstice so, instead, plumped for photos taken on the solstice.

The top photo, I’ve run before in 2019, but who doesn’t love a grumpy cat? The second photo, from 2021, is of a royal palm amongst other tropical foliage. These palms can grow to 70 feet tall and look very stately when planted in a row. This one was quite a bit smaller.

The bottom two photos show a Fiery Skipper butterfly on a Mesembryathemum flower in 2020, and a Pacific Day Octopus hunting in the company of a goatfish back in 2018.

A Fiery skipper butterfly on a Mesembryathemum flower
A Pacific Day Octopus hunts with a goatfish

Walking Iris

A walking iris flower at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden
A walking iris flower at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden

The lovely blue color of this Walking Iris caught my eye when I was last at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden. Not only was it striking in its own right, but it was also a distinctive splash of color against a predominantly green background.

For more information about Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, go to htbg.com.