birds of summer

It's only the middle of August, but it's been a very cold one. Signs of fall are everywhere. Flocks of birds are already meeting and discussing their plans for travelling south. They swoop through our back yard in coordinated manoeuvres and then congregate on the big tree in the back yard.

But the perennials have really loved the cool temperatures and rain showers every second day, and they are doing great.

Icelandic poppy.

I have to keep snipping off the seed heads after the petals fall off to avoid finding hundreds of new plants next year.

I started these hollyhocks from seed a few years ago, and they have rewarded me with dazzling colours over a long season.

This butterfly flower was a mail-order buy this spring, and it's already blooming beautifully.

giving up the fight

The lily beetles have won.
This spring, I had a brain wave. Why not try sprinkling spent coffee grounds on my emerging lilies to kep the beetles at bay? And it worked. Numbers went down about 90 percent.
But then I went away on vacation, and when I got back, this is what I found. The plants were totally devastated. Every green leaf was grey and dry, and the flower buds obviously were never going to open.
So - I give up. Even though I hate punishing the victim, I pulled out all the lilies, and I won't be growing any more in the future. I've been told that everything is cyclical, and that any population will swell and then crash. Let's hope that happens with this red menace.

Wild Hawaiian life

Chickens are everywhere on Hawaii. From a car rental parking lot (like the picture) to the deepest jungle to just outside the hotel room, chickens go about their business. Roosters start to crow at 4 in the morning, and it's common to see hens scurry around with their chicks. These chickens are said to be escapees from back yard chicken coops, and they have spread far and wide. A few years ago, a hurricane blue them even further afield.

A praying mantis entertained us while we were enjoying a shave ice, a most delicious treat we had every day. Finely shaved ice sprinkeled with exotic flavours such as coconut, passion fruit, lichee, "shark's blood" and lots of others I can't pronounce.

Big green sea turtles nibble on algae growing on rocks in shallow water.

While we were hiking along the Wailua River in Kawaii, we lost the trail but found lots of frogs.

The birds are amazingly tame. They come very close, love handouts while we ate outside or in an open-air restaurant. This is a Brazilian Cardinal.

Why would anyone go to Hawaii in the summer? That's a question I get a lot. Since it took 20 hours to get there, you need to stay a while, and I don't have time off work during the winter. Plus, the waves are much higher and rougher in the winter, and it can be dangerous to swim. It was not too hot, there was always a breeze, and every day was an adventure.

flowers from far away

tree hugger

anthurium

I think this is a Ti plant, which was very important to the original Hawaiians





no idea what this is, but the combination of lavender and hot pink caught my eye.

banana flower with tiny new bananas underneath

hibiscus

I haven't posted anything for a while - life got in the way. In July, my husband and I spent 18 glorious days exploring three islands in Hawaii: Oahu, Kawaii, and Maui. The landscape was so dramatic - lush green wrinkled mountains on every horizon. And the flowers were like something beyond my imagination. These pictures are a small sample of paradise.