Neomarica longifolia - Yellow Walking Iris

Neomarica longifolia have yellow flowers with mottled brown markings. It can be propagated by rhizomes or from the offsets formed from the flowering stem. It can be planted in partial shade, but for showy blooms, it is best to locate under full sun.

The leaves are sword like and upright and can extend up to 2-3 feet.

FROM BUD TO BLOOM

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Fully extended petals  

The centre is mottled with brown markings.

At the end of the day, the petal closes and drop off the next day. Each flower last only one day, but the following day, another one will takes its place, ensuring that the clump is always adorned with blooms.

When flowering is done, little plantlets "pups"developed next to the spent blooms. These can be harvested and planted elsewhere. 

If nothing is done about it, the flowering stem gets weighted down to the ground allowing the plantlets to get rooted and replant themselves. Over time, the clumps will continue in all directions, änd literally walked" to a new spot.

  

However when planted in a container, the "walking" will somehow be restrained. I started planting the pups not too long ago. Now here it is rewarding me with blooms.

The denuded petiole is one of the dragonflies' favourite holding post.

The purple and red Dawn dropwing dragonfly adds another layer of colours to the image.

 

Golden dragonflies are also commonly seen on the clumps. 

A Thunbergia Erecta flower is seen in the background.

The flower fly however prefer the leaf blade 

 

 

The Flamboyant Bougainvillea 'Mrs Eva'

It is a witheringly hot, searing season with rainless days for almost two months now.  Thankfully there's enough stored water in the huge roof-top tanks to drench the plants once in a while. However, my bougainvilleas are not complaining. In actual fact they flourish while we fumed through heavy perspiration and pray for the sky to open up.

The almost leafless Bougainvillea 'Mrs Eva' in full glory. The green leaves are those of the orange Bauhenia kockiana.

This is the whole plant at the height of flowering.

The young bracts are slowly forming. The white-pink-red terminal flowers of Quisqualis indica (Rangoon creeper) also claim some vertical space in this massive  floral display.

 
Another view at another time.
 

A carpenter bee clutcthing on to a faded bract.

 

It was rather late in the evening, thus this blurred image of a hummingbird moth with its proboscis dipped into nectar.

At dusk, dragonflies returned to repose on trimmed stems and branches.

A container-planted B. Mrs Eva with a periwinkle sprouting from its trunk. A random seed found its niche in its crevice and grew as a parasite. The red flowers of Carphalea kirondron and the yellow-orange Codiaeum variegatum (Variegated Croton) add layers of colours.

Thunbergia Erecta - The King's Mantle and Bush Clock Vine

 I'm partial to purple-blue flowers as these hues are not as common as reds or yellows. So on this consideration, Thunbergia Erecta fits the bill perfectly. with light pruning, I've shaped this naturally sprawling plant into a single-stem compact shrub.  Some gardens have them as a low hedge.

The deep purple-blue blooms have a startling yellow throat which is a beacon to insects to move into its sweet interior. The 2-inch wide, tubular blooms  hang downwards from its many branches. 

The emerging bud to full bloom.


At times, depending on the amount of light, it appears more blue. It has  small, dark green leaves. 


A pair of flowers to double the delight.


Under the full glare of the sun, it appears velvety with a touch of deep pink.

View from posterior.

Against the blue sky.

Under diffused sunlight.

 
 With the sun overhead the flowers are under dappled light created from the canopy of its own foliage.

This plant in a container is staked so that it achieve the potential of its full height.

At dusk, a golden dragonfly perched on the tip of a leaf blade of walking iris, with a single thunbergia ereta flower in the background.

Tortosei, the pet tortoise finds bliss in this giant clam shell.

But, it is still curious of the world beyond.

Gathering of a single purple Thunbergia Erecta, a pair of yellow Allamanda cathartica and a raceme of Pseuderanthemum reticulatum in a ceramic bowl.