Sometimes you just have to stop and gaze…
This morning outside Mercado Sánchez Pascuas.
Posted on Cee’s Flower of the Day.
Archive for the ‘Flora’ Category
Hibiscus and a wall
Posted in Flora, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged flor de jamaica, flowers, hibiscus, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, pink wall on October 20, 2017| 4 Comments »
Colors of Mexico
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged bougainvillea, bugambilia, colors of Mexico, flowers, Frida Kahlo blue, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on August 8, 2017| 4 Comments »
Two weeks ago, as the sun was about to sink behind the mountains to the west, I glanced up from my desk.
Light and shadow highlighted the Mexpost pink of the bougainvillea against the backdrop of a Frida Kahlo blue wall. Ahhh…
Week in Oaxaca – Day 2
Posted in Archaeology, Churches, Flora, Food, People, Textiles, Travel & Tourism, tagged ahuehuete, Árbol de Tule, Benito Hernández, Discover Oaxaca, Juana Gutiérrez Contreras, Mexico, Mitla, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Porfirio Gutiérrez Contreras, Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, Restaurante Tlamanalli, rugs, tapetes, Teotitlán del Valle, textiles, tour guides, Tule tree, Week in Oaxaca, Yagul on July 10, 2017| 2 Comments »
On day 2 of introducing B to the sights, sounds, and flavors of Oaxaca, I turned to the professionals at Discover Oaxaca for assistance. I had met the owners Suzanne Barbezat (author of Frida At Home) and her Oaxaqueño husband, Benito Hernández, several years ago through friends and knew they were licensed guides. And, as coincidence would have it, they were good friends of B’s god-daughter and her Oaxaquaño husband in California. The choice was easy and the rave reviews on TripAdvisor were icing on the cake.
Thus, Wednesday began with Benito picking us up in a comfortable, spacious, and air-conditioned van. Our day’s first destination was Mitla, the second most important archeological site in Oaxaca and home to amazingly intricate grecas (fretwork). However, as we headed east on Mexican highway 190, Benito was a fountain of knowledge — much of which was new to me. This was going to be good!
Grecas (fretwork)on the outside of the Palace at the archaeological site at Mitla.
For almost an hour and a half, Benito led us through the site — always explaining, answering our questions, and letting us marvel at what was before us. We could have stayed for at least another hour, but we headed back west on 190, to Yagul, an archeological site I had previously never visited. Several friends told me they experienced a deeply spiritual sense and that it was a must see. We barely skimmed the surface (definitely a place to return to), but the sun was hot, archeological overload was setting in, and hunger beckoned.
Ballcourt at Yagul — the biggest in the valley of Oaxaca.
Next stop, Restaurante Tlamanalli in Teotitlán del Valle — the renown restaurant of Zapotec cooks, Abigail Mendoza and her sisters. Using time honored methods and recipes refined over generations, the Mendoza sisters have elevated and brought worldwide recognition and respect for their traditional cuisine. It was a delicious and tranquil interlude.
Metates used at Restaurante Tlamanalli to grind ingredients for mole and more.
Tearing ourselves away, Benito, B, and I climbed back into the van and drove to the center of the village to see Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, another of the countless churches throughout Mexico built on top of a sacred indigenous site.
Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, sits atop Zapotec ruins at the base of Picacho, the sacred mountain in Teotitlán del Valle.
My intent, during our visit to this village, known for its weaving with wool, had been to visit several of the weavers I know — including Fidel Cruz Lazo, Antonio Ruiz Gonzalez, his brother Sergio Ruiz Gonzalez, and the family of Samuel Bautista Lazo. However, we were running short of time, and B had been following my adventures with the family of Juana and Porfirio Gutierrez Contreras and had poured over the family’s website, so stopping at their home and workshop was a priority for him. Porfirio was back in the USA, but Juana and her husband Antoño gave their always excellent explanation and demonstration of their work with natural dyes. And, yes, B couldn’t resist purchasing a wonderful rug (though not the one pictured below)!
Woven wool tapete (rug) by Porfirio Gutiérrez Contreras.
On the way back to Oaxaca city, our last stop for the day was at Santa María del Tule to see the world famous Árbol del Tule. This Montezuma cypress (Taxodium mucronatum; Ahuehuete in Nahuatl) has the largest trunk of any tree in the world, is thought to be between 1,200 and 3,000 years old, and is home to hundreds, if not thousands, of birds. It is quite a sight to hear, let alone see.
Looking up at the Árbol de Tule in Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca.
We left Oaxaca city at 9:15 AM and didn’t return until almost 6:00 PM. It was a full, informative, and terrific day. Next up, day 3 — another delightful day out of the city with Benito.
Reproduction cereusly
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Science & Nature, tagged Black and white photography, flowers, garden, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, pistil and stamen, plants, stigma and anther on June 30, 2017| 1 Comment »
Late yesterday afternoon, it looked like a night blooming cereus blossom would burst open for it’s one night only orgy with the pollinators of darkness. I’m guessing the hours-long torrential tormenta that thundered over Oaxaca put a damper on the action. This morning found only an ever-so-slightly opened blossom. So here, in black and white, I bring to you, up close and personal, cereus reproductive organs in waiting.
If you slept through the birds and the bees unit of high school biology (or it was too long ago to remember) and now you can’t tell a pistil from a stamen or the stigma from the anther, check out this cool little graphic (also in black and white) from the American Museum of Natural History.
Framing the shot
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged African tulip tree, Árbol de tulipán, Casita Colibrí, Flame Trees, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, trees on June 24, 2017| 2 Comments »
A razor wire (aka, concertina wire) frame for an African Tulip tree blossom.
The rainy season not only brings lush greens, it brings the brilliant red-orange of the Árbol de tulipán to Oaxaca.
Guava grows on the terrace
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged garden, guava, guayaba, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Psidium rufum, purple guava, terrace garden, trees on June 15, 2017| 6 Comments »
What could be called, A terrace transformed – Phase 4, is currently underway at Casita Colibrí. A highlight is the addition of several trees, including a guava (known here as, guayaba) already bearing fruit. I see pitchers of agua de guayaba in my future.
Once this phase of my growing garden is finished, a blog post will no doubt result. Stay tuned…
Rainy lushness of Teotitlán
Posted in Flora, Geography, Travel & Tourism, Weather, tagged El Picacho, goats, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, rainy season, rivers, Teotitlán del Valle on June 8, 2017| 6 Comments »
Late afternoon and middle of the night thunder, lightning, gusting winds, torrential downpours, and gentle showers — the rainy season has arrived and appears to be hanging around. This is good news, as there has been an Historical Drought in Oaxaca. What a difference a month makes…
Goats scrounging for food in Teotitlán del Valle – May 3, 2017
Streams have begun running in Teotitlán – June 6, 2017
Cerro Picacho and surrounding mountains have already turned green – June 6, 2017
Splashes of green now dot the rocky landscape at La Cuevita in Teotitlán – June 6, 2017
A green Teotitlán del Valle with a dam that is filling is a beautiful sight
This is good news, as this is an agricultural village and state.
Flora & fauna
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged birds, cactus, flowers, gardens, hibiscus, lizards, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on June 4, 2017| 4 Comments »
… from my rooftop garden in the city.
Opuntia – April 2017
Lizard on the terraza – June 2017
A feathered friend watching from a distance – June 2017
Hibiscus flower this morning – June 2017
Wistful
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged flower of the day, flowers, garden, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plants on May 21, 2017| 4 Comments »
This morning there were three… And, when I came out to greet my night blooming cereus, they looked wistful.
Remembering last night’s splendor? Or, reflecting on how fleeting their glory? Me? I’m appreciating their presence in my present.
Beneath the sheltering leaves
Posted in Agriculture, Flora, Food, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged fruit trees, gardens, granadas, grapefruit, mango, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, pomegranate, Teotitlán del Valle, trees on May 2, 2017| 4 Comments »
Cooking with Juana… Mangos ripening just out of reach.
Sunlight filtering through the leaves of the granada (pomegranate) tree.
A pomelo (grapefruit) waiting to drop.
There is something to be said for outdoor kitchens.
Cereus small joys
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged flowers, garden, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plants on April 4, 2017| 4 Comments »
Friday night, around 9:45, I went out onto the terrace to turn on the security lights. But, who needs lights when my cereus was glowing in the dark, beckoning bats and other pollinators of the night?
By 9:30 on Saturday morning, the petals had begun to droop.
Saturday night, oblivious and readying for the dawn of daylight savings time, I turned the motion sensor lights on early and never gave the cereus a first, let alone second, glance. However, at 7:45 AM on Sunday morning, with coffee in hand, I went out on the terrace and couldn’t miss the show my night blooming cereus had staged while I slept.
Three hours later, the latest extravaganza had drawn to a close — but I see tiny buds waiting in the wings.
[There are] many other small joys, perhaps the especially delightful one of smelling a flower or a piece of fruit, of listening to one’s own or others’ voices, of hearkening to the prattle of children. And a tune being hummed or whistled in the distance, and a thousand other tiny things from which one can weave a bright necklace of little pleasures for one’s life.
…
My advice to the person suffering from lack of time and from apathy is this: Seek out each day as many as possible of the small joys, and thriftily save up the larger, more demanding pleasures for holidays and appropriate hours. It is the small joys first of all that are granted us for recreation, for daily relief and disburdenment, not the great ones.
— Hermann Hesse on Little Joys
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Sunday supermarket stroll
Posted in Churches, Culture, Flora, Music, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged arboles, Basilica de la Soledad, children, cross, Delonix regia, drum and bugle corps, flowers, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Royal Poinciana, trees on April 2, 2017| 2 Comments »
I had put off making the trek down to Soriana long enough. Supermarkets, even in Mexico, are not one of my favorite destinations and this is one of the smaller and less pleasing stores in the chain. However, I do enjoy the quiet of the streets on Sunday mornings and besides, I was curious about the drum and bugle corps I could hear practicing.
Stop number 1: Watching a little drummer girl and boy in the Plaza de la Danza.
Stop number 2: Noticing a newly installed cross in the atrium of the Basílica de la Soledad.
Stop number 3: Feeling like a queen strolling under a canopy of Royal Poinciana trees (Arbol de flamboyán) on calle Independencia.
A seven minute walk that took twenty seven — that’s how it is in Oaxaca.
Banana bonanza
Posted in Flora, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged bananas, fruit, markets, mercados, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plátanos on March 22, 2017| 5 Comments »
To continue the grocery shopping theme…
Why is it that of the almost 1000 varieties of bananas grown in the world, grocery stores here in el norte mostly only sell the Cavendish? Sheesh, even the smallest mercados in Oaxaca often have at least four varieties and sometimes more (depending on the season). After all, there are eight types of bananas cultivated in Mexico. The states of Chiapas (35%), Tabasco (25%), and Veracruz (13%), are the major producers, followed by Michoacán (6.5%) and Jalisco (4.5%), with Guerrero (3%) and Oaxaca (3%) bringing up the rear.
Bananas outside of the mercado in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Oaxaca – November 2016
Did you know that banana plants are not trees? They are an herb and their “trunks” are made of overlapping leaves. As for the origin of the word “banana,” it comes from the Arabic, banan, which means finger. Thus, it makes perfect sense that the cluster of bananas growing on “tree” is called a hand. (For more banana facts, check out All about bananas.)
Banana “tree” outside Las Huamuches restaurant — between Santo Tomás Jalieza & San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca – February 2017
Now we come to the “heart” of the matter — the astonishing flower of the banana. Given its resemblance in color and shape, it’s also known as a heart and is a show-stopper for anyone who has never before seen one. It is often used in South Asian and Southeast Asian cooking, especially in curries, and a friend from El Salvador told me in his home country, the flowers are baked in the oven and eaten. Apparently, according to this website, banana hearts are good for most everything that ails you. Alas, while Mexico exports la flor de plátano, Moisés Molina, representative of Mexico’s Regional Association of Independent Producers and Banana Traders, lamented in 2000 that it was a pity they were consumed in China but not Mexico.
Banana flower in San Andrés Huayapam, Oaxaca – December 2016
For those in the USA, enjoy your bananas while you can — according to Geo-Mexico, “The USA is the world’s largest importer of bananas and Mexico’s main foreign market, receiving 80% of all exports of Mexican bananas.” Hmmm… I wonder how long before the toxic, twittering human smokestack of polluted right-wing demagoguery wreaks havoc on that?
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Something about the light…
Posted in Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Abraham Lincoln quote, bicycles, bougainvilla, bougainvillea, John Gay quote, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, shadows on March 15, 2017| 8 Comments »
… and shadows in Oaxaca in March.
Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. — Abraham Lincoln
Shadow owes its birth to light. — John Gay
Jazz in the garden
Posted in Culture, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged bougainvillea, Casa Colonial, flowers, Mexico, mural, music, musicians, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations on March 1, 2017| 3 Comments »
Sunday afternoon at Casa Colonial in Oaxaca: Sun filtering through the trees of a lush tropical garden, the smell of hamburgers and hotdogs grilling on a barbecue, a friendly bartender, and a great jazz combo. What more could anyone want?
Thank you to the Casa’s owner Jane Robison and manager Amado Bolaños. It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday.
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