Opening the door onto my terrace this morning, I was greeted with more pitahaya flowers glowing in the morning light. In the background, rain drops glistened on unripened fruit, as their dry spent flowers continued to cling to the fruit of their late night labor.
Behind the chain link fence, one of my ripe Dragon Fruit is so close and yet so far.
However, there is more to come; blossoms preparing to burst open — for just one night.
From tenacious roots and branches of my previous post to fleeting flowers to long ripening fruit; such is the life of the pitahaya.
Posts Tagged ‘flowers’
Stages of life
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, tagged cactus, Casita Colibrí, Dragon fruit, flowers, fruit, garden, Hylocereus undatus, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Pitahaya on September 2, 2015| 6 Comments »
Last night in B&W
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Gardens, tagged cactus, Casita Colibrí, Dragon fruit, flowers, garden, Hylocereus undatus, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Pitahaya on July 30, 2015| 2 Comments »
Late last night, twelve buds on my pitahaya burst open; my favorite the cluster of four at the top of the eight foot tall chain link fence.
Alas, now, less than twenty hours after their night-blooming show began, they are no more. Hopefully, the brilliant white flowers with their sweet scent attracted the desired pollinators, Dragon Fruit will begin forming at the base of the blossoms, the fruit will ripen to a blush red, and be ready to pick in 45 days (más o menos).
Flowers so sweet…
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Science and Nature, tagged Flor de mayo, flowers, frangipani, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plumeria, popular travel destinations on July 1, 2015| 2 Comments »
The rainy season transforms the Plumeria (aka, Frangipani) in my rooftop garden. Large lush leaves sprout from naked stalks and flowers materialize, perfuming the terrace with the heady scent of the tropics. Ahhh…
“And all of us with our closed eyes smelled the frangipani blossoms in the big rectangles of open wall, flowers so sweet they conjure up sin or heaven, depending on which way you are headed.” — Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible
Late bloomers
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Science & Nature, tagged Azucenas, Cereus, flowers, garden, Mexico, night blooming flowers, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Pitahaya on June 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »
… of the night flowering variety. During the hours of darkness, they brighten the terrace with their brilliant white and perfume the air with their sweet scent.
Pitahaya
Cereus
Azucenas
A fleeting gift for the senses, by morning they gone.
Cactus flowers for Mother’s Day
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Flora, Gardens, Holidays, tagged cactus, Día de la Madre, Echinopsis eyriesii, flowers, garden, Mexico, Mother's Day, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations on May 10, 2015| 5 Comments »
Yesterday, on the terrace of my neighbor, his Echinopsis eyriesii was putting on quite a show…
Listening to the Putamayo World Music Hour’s tribute to mothers and sending mothers everywhere wishes for peace, justice, love, and much joy.
And, the librarian in me can’t resist adding a couple of Mother’s Day reference sources:
- Zinn Education Project, the origins of Mother’s Day
- BajaInsider, Mother’s Day in Mexico
¡Feliz día de la madre!
Flamboyant flamboyantes
Posted in Flora, Travel & Tourism, tagged Delonix regia, Flamboyant trees, flamboyantes, flowers, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Royal Poinciana, trees on April 29, 2015| 6 Comments »
The Flamboyant trees (aka, Delonix regia and Royal Poinciana) have outdone themselves this year. And yesterday, walking home from the market, I was captured and enraptured by their canopy. 
On Independencia below the Basilica de la Soledad.
Cereus in Oaxaca
Posted in Flora, Gardens, Science and Nature, tagged Casita Colibrí, flowers, garden, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plants on April 13, 2015| 8 Comments »
I came out one morning to find buds had appeared on my night-blooming cereus.
April 5, 2015
As the days and nights passed, the blossoms grew and swelled.
April 12, 2015
After only a week, flowers burst open for only a night.
April 13, 2015
Cereusly, I love my garden!
Orchid enchantment
Posted in Flora, Gardens, People, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged flora, flowers, gardens, La Encantada, Mexico, Oaxaca, Oaxaca Garden Club, Octavio Gabriel, orchids, Orquideario, Orquideario "La Encantada", photographs, photos, plants, popular travel destinations, San Andrés Huayapam on November 13, 2014| 7 Comments »
Yesterday, I walked through an enchanted garden…
Along with about 25+ other people from the Oaxaca Garden Club, I made my way to an orchid garden in San Andrés Huayapam.
What a treasure the privately funded, Orquideario “La Encantada” is! For owner/gardener/collector, Octavio Gabriel, it is a 40+ year old passion and labor of love — and it shows.
The earthen pathways lead one up and down, through dappled light, along the slopes of a babbling brook. The orquideario is sanctuary to about 1,200 species of orchids, along with companion epiphytes, ferns, bromeliads, and even a bamboo forest.
Orquideario “La Encantada” is located at the end of a dirt road off to the right, about 1 km beyond the presas (reservoirs), towards the village of San Andrés Huayapam.
The 100 pesos admission fee helps finance the orquideario. I plan to return! Octavio Gabriel’s book, Algunas Orquideas de Oaxaca is available to purchase for 350 pesos.
An ofrenda prepared
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Sports & Recreation, Travel & Tourism, tagged altar, baseball, Casita Colibrí, Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, flowers, Mexico, Oaxaca, ofrenda, pan de muerto, photographs, photos, San Francisco Giants, sugar skulls, World Series on October 30, 2014| 6 Comments »
Visits to mercados in the city and Tlacolula have been made. Along with mandarinas and manzanas, cempasuchil and cresta de gallo have been purchased.
Pan de muerto has been selected…
A calaverita has been chosen…
Mezcal and water have been poured, dishes of chocolate and salt prepared, candles brought out, and photos of departed family and friends and a few of their favorite things have been collected. Yesterday, it was time to prepare my ofrenda.
As dusk descended, friends gathered; the candles and copal were lit…
And we offered our silent — and sometimes not so silent — prayers to the baseball spirits to bring victory to the San Francisco Giants in game 7 of the World Series.
The spirits listened!!! Thinking of you, grandpa….
Splashes of color amidst the gray
Posted in Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged flora, flowers, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, pomegranate, Teotitlán del Valle on September 28, 2014| 6 Comments »
From this morning’s walk in Teotitlán del Valle…
Splashes of color on a gray, rainy season, Sunday.
Fruit and flowers
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged cactus, Dragon fruit, flowers, garden, Hylocereus undatus, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Pitahaya, succulents on September 4, 2014| 12 Comments »
Remember the night my Pitahaya (aka, Dragon fruit) blossom was ready for her close-up? Three months later, here she is…
Though there is fruit, flowers continue to put on their bloomin’ after-dark show.
Their beauty never ceases to enchant.
From terrace to table…
My version of “farm fresh.”
Azucenas in Oaxaca
Posted in Environment, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged Azucenas, flowers, garden, lilies, Mexico, night blooming, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on July 2, 2014| 4 Comments »
The azucena is a variety of tuberose and its name is familiar in Oaxaca. A popular boutique hotel near Casita Colibrí and a well-known restaurant at the entrance to San Martín Tilcajete are both namesakes. This must be a special flower. It is! A few evenings ago, I went out onto the terrace to soak in the view, as lights came on in the city, and discovered azucenas blooming in an old planter box on the terrace wall. Another night bloomer joins my pitahaya and night-blooming cereus.
As Judy Sedbrook at Colorado State University, Cooperative Extension, explains, flowering plants on The Night Shift take over as the sun sets. They are often white or light-colored, to better reflect the moonlight, and exhibit a heady scent, both in an effort to attract their night flying moth and bat pollinators.
I love these sweet-smelling nighttime surprises!
Ready for her close-up
Posted in Agriculture, Casita Colibrí, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged cactus, Dragon fruit, flowers, garden, Hylocereus undatus, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Pitahaya, succulents on June 4, 2014| 16 Comments »
Several mornings ago, after a day and night of rain, I went out on the terrace to check on the garden and found…
Yikes, one of my Pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus – aka, Dragon fruit) had bloomed overnight! Must be a relative of my other Night Blooming Cereus.
Two years ago, the original cuttings had been laying in the campo of a friend in San Martín Tilcajete. When Chris (Oaxaca-The Year After) asked if we could have some, the answer was, “¡Por supuesto!” Loving the wall of Pitahaya at Centro Académico y Cultural San Pablo, six months later, with the original five cuttings becoming fifteen, I could use them to begin to screen the chain link fence at the new Casita Colibrí. I kept pruning and sticking them in the planter boxes.
June 2, 2014, 8:40 AM
And now, they have begun blooming. Having missed the “night-blooming” of my first flower, I was determined not to miss the unfolding of the second blossom, seen above near the top of the pole, providing the weather cooperated. It did!
June 2, 2014, 7:20 PM
June 2, 2014, 8:40 PM
June 2, 2014, 11:00 PM
By the next day, it had closed, never to reopen again.
June 2, 2014, 2:54 PM
However, there will be fruit…
Lunacy at Casita Colibrí
Posted in Gardens, Science & Nature, tagged flowers, full moon, La Luna, lunar eclipse, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plants on April 15, 2014| 12 Comments »
Early last night, needing a break from working on the Lord of the Little Burro blog post, I wandered out onto the terrace to check out the full moon rising over the city. The night was clear, La Luna was brilliant, and she was going to be putting on quite a show in 6+ hours — a lunar eclipse.
April 14, 2014 – 7:21 PM (CDT)
There was no way I could stay up until then, though I did have fleeting thoughts of setting my alarm. When bedtime came, I decided to leave it up to the fates or Semana Santa cohetes and church bells, though I did leave the Canon on her tripod, just in case. The fates had it (probably because I didn’t eat dinner until 9:00 PM); I awoke around 2:00 AM, got up, took the camera out on the terrace, and looked up. There was La Luna dressed as the Blood Red Queen.
April 15, 2014 – 2:20 AM (CDT)
That little spec below and to the right of the moon is Spica, the brightest star in the Virgo constellation. It’s extra visible because of the eclipse. In addition, about 10 degrees west of the moon, an even tinier reddish spec could also be seen (though not in this photo) — Mars came to the party, too! And, if this weren’t enough lunacy for one night, I happened to remember, earlier in the day it looked like one of the blossoms on my Night Blooming Cereus might be ready to bloom. Sure enough…
April 15, 2014 – 3:05 AM (CDT)
What a spectacular night! Though, how I made it to my 9:00 AM breakfast appointment, I’ll never know. Definitely, early to bed tonight.
Spring is nature’s way of saying…
Posted in Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged Cabellos de Ángel, cactus, Flor de mayo, flowers, May Flower, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Primavera, Pseudobombax ellipticum, quotations, sea, Shaving Brush Tree, Spring, trees on March 20, 2014| 2 Comments »
You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming. –Pablo Neruda
Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. –Rainer Maria Rilke
Every spring is the only spring, a perpetual astonishment. –Ellis Peters
Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!‘ –Robin Williams
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