A bit Click Cuckoo ...

The other day I came home and had a serious urge to take my camera outside. The day was really overcast; I didn't on getting the best shots, but sometimes you just have to go for it just the same. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I discovered most showed up in great "technicolor". These photo's were all taken in our yard. As much as I'd love to take credit for what's growing, I can't. Uber-Spouse is the one truly green thumb ... and the planner/planter, too. If you have a little time, I'd be happy to give you a close up (you can click on any image for a larger version).

This first photo is a close-up of the pistal and stamins of a hibiscus that lives in our front yard (there are three hibiscus bushes in all - all three in front):

There's something pretty amazing about them, don't you think? Here's an even closer view:

I'm pretty sure there's an alien species that looks just like that. Wild.

This next little bloom is from our mysterious Jamaica Cherry tree (also known as Strawberry Tree). We bought it at ECHO two years ago (at the same time we bought the mango and avacado trees) and didn't know very much about it. It seems to regularly bloom and fruit throughout the year. Last year all the fruits were infested by tiny critters, so I couldn't be convinced to try any ... it's said to be something of an aquired taste, too, so I'm hesitant anyway. This year we haven't seen any of the critters ... don't know how, but seems they've moved on. The small blooms are fairly delicate - sort of like tissue paper:

When the blooms die, they dry out before dropping:

I don't understand why some call it a strawberry tree as the tiny fruits look way more like cherries than any strawberry I have ever seen. They start out like little green pods, elongate and then round before turning from gree to red:

Here's another bloom:

Can you guess what this next image is?

It's a decaying Rubber Tree Plant leaf. The rubber tree use to live on our lanai, but was getting really pot bound & we'd been talking about moving it to the yard for some time. The day after it was moved, we got some crazy windy/rainy weather which didn't make for a super smooth transition from sheltered to exposed. I was so facinated by the decaying process - I'm sure I took more than a dozen shots from different angles. (Don't worry, this rubber tree plant is a fighter ... you'll see ...)

Here's one of Uber-Spouces newest ... a PAPAYA tree! We've only had it a few months and it is already bearing fruit. This little tree isn't more than 4 ft high right now. It's really quite cool. I had no idea what papaya trees looked like ... let alone the fruit (with the exception of the pieces found in tropical dried fruit mixes ... I know, pretty pathetic). The tree has a really neat way of growing. The trunk (at least this one) is fairly straight and sturdy with branches coming out parallel to the ground and evenly spaced/spread. The leaves and fruit are huge:

Here's a look under the leaf canopy and above the largest fruits (you can see a newer smaller one poking it's little nose above the third branch from the bottom on the right). The leaves are an incredibly bright green:

Here's a close-up of the big papayas:

OH! ... I was so into snapping pics of the tree that I NEVER even noticed this little guy - he just happened to be in one of the photographs ... isn't he a doll?!?

see ... big leaves:

and they have really cool yellow/white veins:

and gnarly monster toe roots:

here's a close-up of the little papaya:

Remember that decaying rubber tree plant leaf? This is the plant it's from:

A few of the leaves closer to the ground didn't make it (and yes, I did remove the dead/dying leaves from the plant after snapping the pictures). Most of the other leaves look really healthy and are getting their shine back ... plus, check out the new shoot ...if you aren't familiar with the rubber tree plant, that long skinny red thing is a new leaf. Plants seriously amaze me. I hope you enjoyed the little exploration through the yard.

Be well, breathe well. ~M~

Pink Hybiscus - Macro Shots

Living in southwest Florida allows for extremely long blooming seasons. There are a wide variety of tropical plants and trees (plus veggies, herbs, etc.) to choose from. Our yard always seems to be a work in progress with the green-thumb-spouse doing 95% of the labor - I know, I suck. The latest addition is a hybiscus (the third) - this one is a bush (hasn't been trained into a decorative tree) and the blooms are pink. Yesterday I was out in the yard taking snaps of different things. Below are some of the more artsy versions of the hybiscus - I would have included a shot of the whole bloom, but I wasn't paying attention and got a bit of shadow crossing the bloom and I didn't feel like going out again for another shot. Besides, this was pretty much an "exercise" in macros.

The above focus zoomed in on the stamem (as it should have), but I really like the vibrant colors coming from the center of the bloom out into their feathery little fans.

In this one (above) I was trying to get a clear shot of the stamen - I am amazed by the brightness of the stamen ... and then I saw the shadow ...

Here's the close-up of the shadow (above). It might just be me, but something about it reminds me of something one might see in a Dr. Seuss story book. hehe.

Here we have a fairly nice shot of the stamin and the brght, feathery center. Even with the bit of stem shadow, I like the composition of this one. I do think that it's a little odd that the focus is on the little yellow pieces and that the orange parts are still slightly out of focus, but I did make one more attempt at a clear shot of the orange bulbus thingies:

Feel free to click on any of the photo's for a larger version. There really is some pretty cool detail on most of the photos.

In case anyone is wondering, I've been using a Canon PowerShot A95. It has up to 5.0 mega pixels and uses compact flash memory cards. The camera has served me well, but lately it has been suffering from some sort of internal confusion - it sometimes shuts off on its own (and I am sure it's not the batteries) and once in a while it makes some pretty creepy grindy sounds. To fix it would cost more than to replace it, so I am asking for a new one for my birthday. Keep your fingers crossed.

One last note - the mango tree and avacado tree have tiny little fruits on them - this is the first year since planted that we just might get some fruit. Pretty exciting.