Monday Macro -- Bird of Paradise

Bird of Paradise

Despite visiting Florida many times over the years as a child and as an adult, I never noticed the blooms of the Bird of Paradise plant until the first trip we made to Hawaii in 1986.  I came back with an appreciation for them, the hibiscus and the plumeria.

We moved to Florida in 1992 and bought our home of the last 20 years on July 1, 1993.  The only flowering plants in our yard when we bought it were azaleas -- my favorite bloom (along with dogwood) when we lived in Virginia.  We have planted plumeria trees and hibiscus in the ensuing years and our daughter, Angie and her husband, Barry gave us a Bird of Paradise plant on their first trip to visit us after we moved down.  Barry even dug the hole and planted it for us.  

Our Bird of Paradise is blooming profusely right now.  Probably because of the tropical weather we have been experiencing.  Occasionally, I will cut a stalk with a bloom like that in the picture and bring it inside to place in a tall vase. It is such an unusual flower.  The plant itself is not much to look at -- in fact it is downright UGLY -- when there are no blooms.  But the colors of these blooms are all the more spectacular against that drab backdrop.  The bush is right outside our bedroom windows so it is the first thing I see when I open the blinds in the morning.

Makes me smile.