Friday, October 22, 2010

Skywatch Friday: October 22, 2010







Note:  Please look at the lonely white cow at the lowest right side of the last photo, watching the sunset! Do you know if cows really love sunsets?

I would love to dedicate this post to my friend Edna, for her birthday at the end of this month.
For more Skywatch Friday posts please visit here

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Saturday, October 16, 2010

University of the Philippines Los Baños Garden Show@101010

The University of the Philippines Los Baños Flower and Garden Show is celebrated twice a year. The show lasts for 1 week and always coincide with two major celebrations of the university, in April for the university graduation and in October simultaneously with the Loyalty Day Celebration. This year it coincided with Oct 10, 2010 or 10-10-10. We love to say we sent and received 101,010 blessings! Professional societies, college batchmates, and other organizations had reunions and those who have not seen each other for decades finally met.

The garden show serves also as meeting place for friends. There are 4 main sections: the center for lectures, areas around it for landscape designs, the commercial booths for ornamental plants and another commercial area for native plants, fruits and vegetables planting materials. Another area functioned as the restaurant. The show now, however coincided with rainy season and somehow it is not enjoyable to be walking on wet grounds and sometimes carrying an open umbrella.

But rain or shine, we showed up to watch whatever is in store.

The back of the center stage, wasn't able to get photo of front because of a lecture going on there. The design is Nativity with lifesize figures of the manger setting, with lots of sheeps and shepherds. Lights are provided by the Filipino traditional Christmas lanterns.


These booths expressed the Christmas spirit with their designs
It rained so hard that we just took shelter under the center roof. It was more difficult later to walk on wet grounds with open umbrellas in tow.
This is judged as the best variegated  plant


Two more designs showing Christmas scenes. Left is the nipa hut porch, while right displayed a red Christmas lantern on the back left corner. The focus here is the bird's nest fern to provide contrast with the colorful species of orchids.

Marigold was exhibited as a hedge, lovely isn't it. It gives repellant properties with some insects


At the left is a blue salvia, while at the right is a blooming  Hoya spp.

                                 Two native orchid species from the wild and domesticated at the owner's garden, the colors are very unique.

Phalaenopsis hybrids with lovely colors

Terete Vanda being sold as cuttings. Shoots which already have viable 2-3 shoots can be cut and be grown on its own, separated from the old plant. Those standing below the inverted cuttings are planted in driftwoods. For beginners not very familiar yet with growing Vanda it is easier to buy these already stable and flowering stands.

Note: I enlisted this post to GBBD for October, thanks to May Dreams Gardens

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Plants and Gardening Finds plus more

We were in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato in Mindanao, Philippines for a photography workshop and be away from the city, Metro Manila, where most of us are working. It was a four-day escapade. Each has his/her reason to get away, have some space and be with like-minded friends. We also visited the famous T'boli community of people who are the weavers of the T'nalak, an abaca fiber weave made into clothes and decors. From these cultural group are the Dreamweavers, who materialize the T'nalak patterns from sleep.

It is quite a group: two professional photographers, two lawyers, two scientists-a plant scientist and an engineer scientist,  and one medical staff.  When someone has a question, someone will have an educated reply. Enmeshed in all our immersions and photo workshops, our laughters, eating and jokes are of course...my love for plants. And here are some of my findings, i would like to share with you.

 Who will not be inspired to eat when at the centerpiece with condiments are lovely flowers!


 Kapa-kapa (Medinilla magnifica) with profuse flowers at different stages of maturity. The blue at the right is unidentified.


 Do you like my composition? This is a big crafted cement basin with floating plants. I would like to convince you that the red and orange flowers (Impatiens balsamina) were not intentionally introduced to make a composition, it was a serendipitous find! Do you believe me?


 A vine is purposely allowed to climb this nipa hut facing the Lake Sebu, which will eventually destroy the roof but certainly will be more beautiful. Tree ferns are planted on both sides.

 These are inside the Tiboli Museum, the parent pots with their offsprings!


 The cactus above is unidentified, the plant scientist was at the end of her memory. The doggie is the guard of the T'boli Museum housed in these bamboo-walled edifice.
  
These patterns are from the trunks of the Travelers' palms (Ravenala madagascariensis)

Can you guess what the garden table and chair are made of???? Exactly yes...from old discarded truck tires.

 The leaf pattens are beautiful, especially those colors at the tips. They are symptoms of nitrogen defficiency in these buri palm leaves (Corypha elata). The area receives high rainfall leaching nitrogen from the soil, making these palms defficient for it.  
 

Young frond of a tree fern looks like a face of some young animal. Can you picture what animal looks like that? The floating plant at the right is a common water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), whose stalks when already mature can be made into bags, slippers, mats and some other decors.


Now, what about this? A very common sight around the world. But this one is in Gumasa Beach, Glan, Sarangani Province.

Fom the Lake Sebu mountains we go down, to find this Gumasa Beach, which our group owned at least for this time. It is a bit secluded and occupied with vacationers only during summer months. Meanwhile, it is exclusively ours!
 We clamored for the Gumasa Beach Sunset!

 A later photo of the sunset taken at the same beach.

Would you say it was a fulfilling vacation? Yes, of course, it really was. And i invite you to come and experience all these, come rain come shine!

Post Script: Thanks to Tatyana of My Secret Garden for the cactus ID. It is a Schlumbergera or Zygocactus, commonly called Christmas cactus. It may be called that because days are shorter during Christmas season, which trigger this cactus to flower. This cactus is thermo-photoperiodic, which means it is not only a short day plant but also triggered by cold temperature. No wonder, the photo is not flowering yet, because August still have long days, when we were in Lake Sebu.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Now let's change topic!

I've always been posting tropical flowers, choosing the almost unusual ones. I have also the propensity to post orchids because they are always favorites and fabulous! Everybody loves them. Then i also posted swarms of tropical butterflies, which might also excite some of you. Once-in-a while i post some landscapes from my travels, choosing some beautiful views and sights. Many times my blogger friends inspire me when i see them post beautiful subjects, reminding me that i have some photos of those also in my files. Then it is also nice to link my posts with them. We have done that often with Autumn Belle of My Nice Garden, and sometimes Stephanie of Steph's Green Space. Last time we linked insects with One .

Sometimes, i ran out of ideas which to post next. If i get bored with my usual postings, maybe the more my visitors will be. So, think and think, or i just stop blogging for a while. Also when there are very few visitors who commented on my post, i somehow get sad and i also stop posting, to get momentum again. Now, i am at my moments. Whether you comment or not, i will be posting my landscape photos! hahaha, but i am thankful if you will join me.
 


 Lakes Sebu & Seloton, South Cotabato Philippines.

 We travelled uphill to reach this place, and tilapia is raised in fish cages on this lake

This is Falls No. 1 in a series of seven falls, and the highest and tallest zipline in Asia is built along this expanse, to specifically view the beautiful dense vegetation and the magnificent falls.

This is Falls No. 2, which in strength profusely produce mist in the area.

 

 




The steep cliff at the right has been the result of constant water activity
Lake Seloton is almost half an hour by car from Lake Sebu,  which is also the name of the municipality
There are at least 3 small islands in the expanse of Lake Sebu
Only our motorized boat destroyed the homogeneity of the waters
Tranquil waters of Lake Sebu in early morning

For more information and better photos please visit Mr. Ferdz Decena's site.


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