Flowers

Flower Friday – Dragon Fruit

~ laura lecce ~ 11 Comments
Dragon Fruit - Photograph by Salvatore Venuto
Dragon Fruit – Photograph by Salvatore Venuto

Todays post includes some photos taken by my dad of one of the plants he is currently growing in his garden at home. Pitahaya (more commonly known as dragon fruit) are the edible fruits which grow on several species of cactus. The particular fruit in this photo are from the species Hylocereus undatus which are red fruits with edible white flesh on the inside. The flowers of this cactus (which are in the photo below) are a brilliant white, very large and fragrant. They open mostly in the evening due to their main pollinators such as bats and moths being nocturnal, although my dad said these opened during the day and only lasted a day or so, possibly a difference in climate from their country of origin. If you’d like to see more photos from my dads garden or the gardens he looks after (as he is an amazing and truly talented gardener) you can visit his Instagram page @salvenut.

Happy weekend everyone!

Dragon Fruit Flower - Photograph by Salvatore Venuto
Dragon Fruit Flower – Photograph by Salvatore Venuto

Flower Friday – Bromeliad

~ laura lecce ~ 18 Comments
Bromeliad - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Bromeliad – Photograph by Laura Lecce

I just love this photo of a bromeliad flower. The fiery red stem, pretty purples and pinks of the flower bases against the lime green leaves, what a gorgeous display of intense colors. Bromeliads are quite a well known plant with a huge variety of colors and sizes. The smallest one being Spanish moss, and the largest one, Queen of the Andes reaches 3 meters (almost 10 feet) tall, with a flower spike of 9-10 meters (32 feet) tall! Most of you would have at some point eaten a bromeliad…the pineapple (which will no doubt appear in a future post). Have a bright and colorful weekend everyone!

Flower Friday – Euphorbia Didieriodes

~ laura lecce ~ 19 Comments
Euphorbia Didieriodes - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Euphorbia Didieriodes – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Last month at the New York botanic gardens I went to see the orchid display, when in fact these non-orchid photos turned out to be my favorites. In the dessert section was this beautiful plant native to Madagascar called Euphorbia didieriodes. The plant itself isn’t widely known, and I found little information on it, although other Euphorbias are common house/garden plants. I love these photos mainly because it surprised me that such delicate, cute little red flowers were poking out of a formidably thorny plant!

Happy weekend everyone!

Euphorbia Didieriodes Flower - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Euphorbia Didieriodes Flower – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Flower Friday – Magnolia

~ laura lecce ~ 13 Comments
Imperfect Magnolia - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Imperfect Magnolia – Photograph by Laura Lecce

I have to premise this post with the confession that I don’t really like magnolia flowers. I love seeing the trees in full bloom, like a giant cloud of pink color as in the photo below. New York springtime is at its prime at the moment, and the magnolia trees in central park really make a stunning statement.

Magnolia Tree in Full Bloom - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Magnolia Tree in Full Bloom – Photograph by Laura Lecce

However, when you get closer, there is something imperfect about each flower that disappoints me every time. Maybe its that they have no obvious order, or symmetry about them. Or that by the time the innermost petals open the others look close to dropping off. They are pretty mostly because of the color, but far from making my favorites list. Still very worthy of a photo though, happy weekend everyone!

Magnolia Flower - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Magnolia Flower – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Flower Friday – Doritaenopsis Taisuco Micky

~ laura lecce ~ 5 Comments
Doritaenopsis Taisuco Micky - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Doritaenopsis Taisuco Micky – Photograph by Laura Lecce

These cute and happy flowers belong to a beautiful little orchid that is a cross between Phalaenopsis Golden Peoker and Doritis Pulcherrima, thus the amalgamated name Doritaenopsis. Each cross will have flowers that are slightly different (more or less dark/light pink, more or less ruffling of the petals), and is an easy and welcome addition to any home orchid collection. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Flower Friday – Hibiscus

~ laura lecce ~ 15 Comments
Hibiscus - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Hibiscus – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Whenever I see a hibiscus flower I immediately associate it with tropical vacations. Beautiful and large flowers, they come in a variety of stunning colors. In Australia we have a hibiscus harlequin bug (Tectocoris diopthalamus) which is also brightly colored, but a dreaded pest to the hibiscus plant. It will pierce through the stem of tender shoots and flower buds to feed on the sap, causing the buds to drop off. These bugs also feed on cotton, a few Australian natives and some fruit trees. Once a female lays her eggs she will stand guard and protect them. In Australia we call them stink bugs because when they get disturbed, they release a very bad smell which triggers mass smell production from nearby friends. Happy weekend everyone!

Hibiscus Harlequin Bug - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Hibiscus Harlequin Bug – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Flower Friday – Paphiopedilum Orchid

~ laura lecce ~ 16 Comments
Paphiopedilum - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Paphiopedilum – Photograph by Laura Lecce

I’m not sure if any of my followers are orchid fanatics, nevertheless I will tread lightly. This photograph is of a paphiopedilum orchid, and I “think” it is Paph. Lowii but I cant be sure as it was unlabeled. This very cute family of orchids has a pouch-like labellum, and are quite easy to grow, making them one of the most widely cultivated and hybridized of orchids. They come in such a huge variety of colors, and some even have very beautifully mottled leaves (although P. Lowii does not). Paphs will usually only flower from a shoot once. After using a lot of its energy to flower, the remaining energy is put towards making new shoots to replace the parent once it dies. It becomes a cycle of making a new plant, flowering and then dying, and  thus it is often possible to see multiple generations of plants in the same pot at once. Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!

Flower Friday – Serenity

~ laura lecce ~ 15 Comments
Peaceful - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Peaceful – Photograph by Laura Lecce

This week has been a hectic one at work, which will unfortunately continue all weekend. So for todays flower I felt the need to counteract the craziness with a peaceful and serene photograph. I have no idea what this plant is named, but it had only a few glorious white flowers on a giant vine. It caught my eye because of the way the light was shining on it. I hope it brings calm and peace to you all for the ending of this week. Have a lovely weekend!

Flower Friday – Dahlia

~ laura lecce ~ 9 Comments
Dahlia - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Dahlia – Photograph by Laura Lecce

When I took this photo, I never imagined this was actually a dahlia, although now that I look at the buds and leaves more closely it makes sense. The dahlias my granddad used to grow always looked like giant pompoms (which is correctly spelt pompon in French, but was misheard as pompom by the English). Anyways, back on topic… dahlias have such a large array of variations because unlike most other plants which have two sets of chromosomes, they actually have eight! This allows for a multitude of genetic combinations and contributes to the wide diversity seen amongst these lovely flowers. Have a bright and cheery weekend everyone!