Green

Snapshot of a green small shrub and plants on pots. We are now in the middle of the rainy season and the color green is everywhere. This shot was taken in our back yard. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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The Fiji Fan Palm Tree

It’s impossible to think about the tropics without mentioning palm trees.  Today I’ll cover the Fiji Fan Palm Tree that looks like a fan, thus its name.  Its botanical name is Pritchardia pacifica, and is original from islands of Fiji, off the coast of Australia.

This palm tree is a great indoor or outdoor palm which can bring the enchantment of the Fiji Islands directly to you.  I enjoyed the intensity of its dark green color when I saw it on a small park on top of Ancon Hill in Panama City, Panama.

Below is a picture of this enticing tropical plant.

Snapshot of a lovely palm tree on a small park on top of Ancon Hill in Panama City, Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Tropical Flowers in Panama

As a land bridge between North and South America, Panama is a paradise for exotic flora and fauna followers.  In this narrow isthmus, you can find species of plants that are exclusive to this geographical area.

“Plant lovers will find an incredible biodiversity in a country smaller than South Carolina, barely 30,000 square miles. Scientists estimate that over 10,000 species of vascular plants exist in Panama.

But there is more than rainforest in Panama. Dense mangrove thickets fringe large portions of both coastlines, slowly changing into riparian forests, bordering the bodies of water land inwards. The foothills of the central highlands hold tall, broadleaf forests which with increasing altitude, fade into the deep blue-green cloud forests of the upper ranges.

The country’s highest areas receive frost regularly during the dry season. and there is even a report of snow on the summit of Volcan Chiriqui.   The vast flora covering Panama arose from this broad range of altitude and climatic conditions, combined with a very rich hydrography.” (Panama – Flora & Fauna)

For today’s post I’ve reserved several photographs of a bright plant which I found growing in my neighbor’s front yard.  The bright explosive red leaves of this tropical plant is absolutely amazing.  I have never seen such a blazing red color before.  I’m sure there are many more examples of the diversity of tropical flowers in Panama.

Now let’s take a look at this fascinating tropical plant.  Here we go.

Photograph of a brightly colored plant in front of my neighbor's yard in Panama City, Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

An artistic version of previous photograph obtained with PhotoFlexer software. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

A close-up picture of a tropical plant in Panama City, Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

The upper leaves of this tropical plant seem to jump right out of the screen. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

If you are an enthusiast of tropical flora and fauna, Panama is your perfect destination.  No doubt about it.  Good Day.

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Unexpected Vegetable Garden

Since we moved to our house back on July 1980, we always planted seeds of products we could eat, like vegetables or fruits.  But no joy.  The soil was so bad, not even earth worms made it their home.  Only weeds and bad grass grew in our back yard.

Miraculously something happened about three months ago.  In a small patch of soil beside our front porch, my wife threw several seeds of avocados and red and green sweet peppers just for fun.  Little did we know, three months later, we would have a bitty avocado tree and a small sweet pepper plant.  We couldn’t believe our eyes.  After almost thirty years, we unexpectedly have our very own vegetable garden.

Below are several photographs of the small sweet pepper plant.  You can see the sweet peppers growing on the plant.  Here we go.

Photograph of the red and green sweet pepper plant growing in front of our house. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

You can easily notice the small sweet peppers growing on the plant. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

Even though we have added nothing to help the plant, it looks green and healthy. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

A closer view of the sweet pepper plant growing beside our front porch. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

This is the first time I've seen a sweet pepper plant. What a pleasant surprise for both of us. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

I can see that the sweet pepper harvest promises to be abundant from the number of sweet peppers growing on the plant. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

Just for fun, yesterday we flung several papaya seeds into the improvised garden.  Who knows if we will be enjoying a delicious papaya in the future.  Good Day.

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Tropical White and Purple Flowers

Everyday when I drive my wife to work, I say to myself that I would take photographs of a beautifully-trimmed park located in the neighborhood of Hato Pintado. Days have passed by and I still whisper to myself—mañana I’ll do it.  Of course “mañana” never came until today.

Today I took my car keys, and with firm determination told my wife, “Mañana es hoy”.  (Tomorrow is today.)  She had no idea what I was talking about.  I explained and drove over to the park.  I must have taken about 60 photographs of this well-cared for park.  On the way out, I saw a large dark-green plant loaded with purple flowers.  (I’m not good with flower’s names.)  It was an irresistible scene to leave alone.  I took a couple of pictures to share with you today.

Mañana I will include a photo gallery with several pictures of the park.  If you enjoy tropical foliage, you will love the photo gallery.  Meanwhile, these are the two flower pictures I shot this morning.

Photograph of a large plant loaded with white and purple flowers at the Hato Pintado Park. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

A close-up view of the white and purple flowers at the Hato Pintado Park. I love flowers; they are a gift of God free of charge. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

Mañana’s post will be about the Hato Pintado Forest Park and its spectacular lush tropical foliage.  Until then, have a Good Day.

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Inside the University of Panama

When I visited the University of Panama last Saturday, I immediately noticed how clean and well kept its installations were.  The floor, walls, chairs, corridors…everything was spic and span.

The hallways were flanked with attractive green plants, and in some corners, there were large tropical plants with typical Panama ornaments.  I felt proud of my Alma Mater.

In Panama, many people feel that the Government doesn’t take good care of its assets, and it’s true most of the time.  However, this doesn’t apply at all to the University of Panama which looked like an upper middle class private college.

Of course I took several pictures to proudly share with you today.  Here we go.

Picture of one of the corridors of the University of Panama adorned with tropical plants in attractive clay pots. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

Another view of a well-decorated corridor at the entrance of the building. (Omar Upegui R.)

An artistic version of previous photograph which I thought was cute. As you can see, I like to play with images. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

Picture of an attractive large tropical plant inside a basket with a nice pottery ornament beside it. This plant was located on one of the corners at the entrance of the library. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

An artistic creation of previous photograph. I can't help playing with images, please bear with me. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

One last picture of this aesthetic plant setting at the entrance of the library. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

I’m sure somebody from the Administration Staff is inclined toward plants, flowers and gardening.  It is so refreshing to walk through the corridors of this elegant building—my beloved Alma Mater.  Good Day!

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The Lipstick Palm on our Front Yard

Please don’t get me wrong, this has nothing to do with the makeup tool women use to seduce men into their nets—lipsticks.  The real name of the Lipstick Palm is Cyrtostachys Renda (Lakka).  It is also known as the Red Sealing Wax Palm. The name of Lipstick Palm is due to its rich red color.

Its scientific name is derived from the Greek “Kyrtos” meaning “curved” and “stachys” meaning “ear of grain” to describe the curved inflorescence.  The Red Sealing Wax Palm is native to Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Borneo and the island of Sumatra),  Australia and the East Indies.  Many say—me included—that  this palm is among the most beautiful in the world.

The main attraction is the deep red leaf sheaths of this clustering palm.  Mature wood is a typical gray color.  The name Red Sealing Wax Palm comes from Chinese sealing wax which is a very similar red color.

Medium sized, slow-growing and slender palm to 30 feet in its native range, often only to 10-15 feet elsewhere. Its best known feature is its brightly red colored trunk and fronds, making it instantly recognizable from other palms.

Twenty-nine years ago, Feliciano (our all time gardener), planted a “palma roja” in our front yard.  After all these years it has only grown to approximately 10 feet.  My wife and I think this palm is the crown jewel of all our plants.

Yesterday I took several photographs of our palm tree to share with you today.  This is how the Lipstick Palm looked yesterday about 4:00 p.m.  (-5 GMT).  Here we go.

The youngster was obtained from the mother palm and planted by my wife when it was very small. It's gradually growing. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

View of the upper section of the palm sprout showing its beautiful red trunk and fronds. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

This is the mother palm planted by Feliciano 29 years ago. It's approximately 10 feet tall. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

An artistic version (Fresco) of the previous photograph. I'm getting naughty with image editing. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

This is Feliciano who planted the palm for us almost three decades ago. We are most grateful to him for that. (Credit: Omar Upegui R./Michael Moore)

One of the many benefits in living in Panama, is that you can grow all kinds of exotic plants in your back or front yard.  We don’t have to worry about bad weather bothering our babies.  Good Day.

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Tropical Plants in Panama

Panama is a narrow isthmus which connects North and South America and is considered a paradise for a wide variety of plants and animals.  It has one of the richest collections of birds in the world.

Panama is blessed to have a tropical climate, which means it enjoys a permanent Spring all year round.  There are no problems of tropical storms, blizzards, deep droughts or other meteorological phenomenon found in other parts of the world.

Panama has a lush tropical vegetation, and in some places, there are plant species that have not been even discovered deep in the tropical jungles of Darien or Bocas del Toro.

My wife love plants, but because she has to go out to work every day, her plant collection is not that big.  However, she manages to keep some plants around the house.  Yesterday I decided to take a few shots of three plants that my wife keeps at our front porch where they receive direct sunlight.

Below is an example of some of the tropical plants you will find in this neck of the woods.  Here we go.

Photographs of three samples of tropical plants found in our front porch in Panama City, Panama. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

A closer view of two plants displayed at our front porch. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

(Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

An artistic version of previous photograph created with FotoFlexer image editor. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

Notice the dark pattern on the rich green leaves. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

An artistic grainy version of previous photograph. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

An interesting picture of one of our plants in a version that looks like a Paul Gaugin or Vincent Van Gogh's paintings. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

And now you know what types of plants we keep around our houses in Panama, a land that is well known for its rich lush vegetation.  Good Day.

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Photograph of the Day: Followers of the Sun

(Credit: Pixdaus.com)

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Photograph: Streams of Color

Flowers on a wall in Malta. (Credit: Pizdaus, The House of Pics We Like)

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