Category: Flowers

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Corteza Amarilla

Corteza Amarilla, Yellow Cortez Tree, Tabebuia ochracea, (Wikipedia link) is visible almost everywhere in Costa Rica this time of year, but only for a very few days or weeks, then the bright yellow, flowers-only trees become another beautiful green tree, blending in with the landscape they now contrast with. This week I’ve snapped a few shots of some around Atenas and you can see more of my past photos of them in the gallery labeled simply Yellow Trees! (which also includes Yellow-Bell Trees) 🙂 Below this one photo for the email version of this post are two galleries, one for my neighborhood and one for the central church at Central Park Atenas.

Yellow Cortez Trees at the Central Church of Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Teleus Longtail

One of the common Skippers all over Costa Rica is the Teleus Longtail (my gallery link), and he is just one of about 20 different “Longtails!” Here’s a couple of shots of one in my garden recently on a less windy day:

Teleus Longtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Teleus Longtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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The Always Here Bird

The wind has been very heavy again for many days which discourages birds or butterflies on my hillside, but the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird is always here! And they chase off any other species of hummingbirds, but don’t seem to be bothered by the few butterflies I’ve had (maybe thinking they don’t eat much?). 🙂 I had to photograph those two flying pix from a greater distance +the movement and thus not good images, but I still like the action shots as well as the “sitting portraits” like this one . . .

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Flores Suave

I usually stick with the English language in the blog, but somehow I thought this Spanish title fit better – with “suave” having many meanings in Spanish from smooth & soft to tender and mild. I use “suave” to order tender meat (carne suave) or mild salsa (la salsa suave) and to tell the doctor where my skin is tender or sensitive (piel suave). So I thought of the Spanish word when I started photographing flowers in my garden that seemed smooth, soft or tender and below this one photo is a gallery of 6 such flowers . . .

Plumbago
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Polydamas Swallowtail’s back!

I’m beginning to see some of the old “regulars” back in my garden when the wind is not too strong, but overall, butterflies are still scarce and I don’t expect a lot before May. But I’ve had at least two of these Polydamas Swallowtail, Battus polydamas (my gallery link). Here’s 3 shots of one individual in my garden recently . . .

Polydamas Swallowtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Beautiful Buds!

And these 6 little buds on the end of one stem of my Desert Rose plant will make 6 beautiful flowers, all clustered together. This plant just keeps blooming, year around. It looks like it probably needs a bigger pot, but I’m afraid to mess with it! 🙂

Desert Rose Flower Buds, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See my garden gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

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Cigar Plant Shredded by Wind

A couple of years ago my gardeners planted this Cigar Calathea, Calathea lutea (linked to Wikipedia). It has many other cigar names which I guess is because of the cigar-shaped flower, but the leaves are not used for cigars! Rather, they are used for the presentation of food in some restaurants or to wrap food to go. It was surrounded by other tall plants like the Ti Plant, but I had those removed because they blocked the sun and flowers below would not bloom without sun! Here’s a series of photos made this week, with a couple earlier showing un-shredded leaves.

The Cigar-shaped Flowers of Calathea lutea, Atenas, Costa Rica
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Between the Tree Limbs

Across the street from me, the first house is an Airbnb rental owned by a German man who comes himself about once a year. And at his entrance gate is an Oro Tree, the tree that is scattering orange splotches across the many landscapes of Costa Rica in January-February, making the hills & valleys beautiful! And it is all orange flowers, no leaves yet. They come after the flowers. Well, to see his Oro Tree from my terrace or windows I must peer through my Higueron Ficus Tree. The feature photo is from me zooming in through the tree limbs from my terrace and other photos below show how thick my Ficus tree is to try and focus through! 🙂 So I went out in the street to get a pix of the whole tree and it has lost all its flowers except on that one branch I can see through my Ficus, so not sharing that, plus it is butchered on one side by the power company to protect their lines. So just these 3 photos here . . .

Oro Tree Flowers seen through the branches of my Ficus Tree.
Oro Tree Flowers seen through the branches of my Ficus Tree.
Oro Tree Flowers seen through the branches of my Ficus Tree.

Here’s a closeup of an Oro Tree I made in Orosi Valley several years ago. It is in my Trees gallery which has other photos of Oro Trees and many other species.

¡Pura Vida!

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Parrot’s Beak

The Parrot’s Beak – Heliconia psittacorum is one of several subspecies of this one family of the many Heliconias! It is small and adds a delicate touch to any garden. Plus it is purely tropical and I like it! 🙂

Parrot’s Beak Heliconia, Atenas, Costa Rica

For more flower photos see my Flora & Forest galleries.

¡Pura Vida!

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Rare “Pale Sailor” Butterfly

This sailor (one of several “sailor” species) has been seen in my garden before and one other place in Atenas (8th Ave) plus my last previous sighting was in Cahuita National Park in Caribe Sur last October. See all my photos of this species in its own gallery: Pale Sailor, Dynamine agacles core. And yes, it seems to be a little rare with only one other person posting on butterfliesandmoths dot org and only 6 people on iNaturalist Costa Rica. So not an everyday butterfly! 🙂

Here’s three shots of one last Saturday in my garden . . .

Pale Sailor, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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