Tag Archives: Tropical Foliage

How green are my valleys?

A view of the Valleys of Kohala Mountain in Hawaii — Valleys and waterfalls of Kohala Mountain.

This week’s Sunday Stills monthly challenge is ‘Green.’ See more responses here. Captions on photos.

A Green Anole on a green Ti leaf in Hawaii — A Green Anole on green Ti leaves.

A pueo flies over the pastures of North Kohala in Hawaii — A Green Anole on green Ti leaves.

Tropical Foliage and shadows in Hawaii — Tropical foliage creates strong shadows…

A view of Pololu Valley in Hawaii — A view up Pololu Valley in Kohala

Signs: Gecko leaving

A gecko on a sign at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden

This gecko appears to be figuring out exactly how it’s going to get to the Visitor’s Center at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden. I didn’t wait to find out if it made it.

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 — Big leaves on Heliconia Longissima Red Wings

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 — A Powderpuff flower growing from a mossy trunk.

Foliage reflected in the lake at at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden — There are plants on land and reflected in the water.

Abstracts: Lily Lake reflections

Reflections in Lily Lake at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden

One of my favorite places at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden is Lily Lake. Surrounded by tropical foliage, the lake offers a bounty of reflections, such as this one.

A moment in the sun

A red ginger plant catches the sun in Hawaii

I just liked the way the light illuminated this red ginger in the tangle of tropical foliage.

Plant shapes

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.

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.

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.

Solstice photos

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 Pacific Day Octopus hunts with a goatfish

Walking Iris

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.