Winter at Casa Ono

    I believe that here in Kona we enjoy a monsoon climate.  It has certainly been that this year.    We suffered through a brutally hot wet season that ended in November.  As a result of the large amount of rain,

Honey Bees in the Palm Inflorescence

many things bloomed that we had never seen blooming before.  One would stop in their tracks and say, "So that's what that tree looks like when it blooms."

    For the past month, starting a week or so before Christmas, we have been enjoying a cool dry season.  Neither Sandra nor I can remember the last time it rained... at least three weeks ago.  Every morning I'm out before 7 AM, watering and pruning.  With selective watering, the weeds have essentially died away.  But as you can see from the pictures, we are still enjoying some lovely flowers through the winter.

   Yesterday I went outside and it was a beautiful morning.  One of our palm trees had an infloresence that was full of honey bees.  The dengue fever epidemic is ongoing and a month ago the state was spraying for mosquitoes.  Obviously there is no such thing as an insecticide specific for mosquitoes and,

Tigridia blossom taken with the macro

as a consequence,up until a couple weeks ago we were seeing lots of dying honey bees.  With the dry weather, they must be doing less spraying, hence our tree full of healthy bees.  What a treat!

    Below the palm trees and the avocado, our tigridia plants had gone crazy; there must have been a dozen fabulous blossoms.  As you can see, this flower, which we believe to be a variety of South American iris, is really fancy.  Usually we get only one or two on a given day.  The blossoms last only a single day, so if you are not out in the garden that day yu miss out.

  The avocado and mango are blooming along with the giant heliconia.  There is a variety of begonia that grows on a tall bamboo-like stalk, which lives behind the heliconia and it continues to throw out its pretty pink blossoms. 

Begonia on a Tall stalk.  This one is bent over.

   I love color and so I have planted bougainvillea here and there.  For an encore I'm showing you some that I have growing with the passion fruit on the arbor.

   Hope your day is colorful and full of joy.

jeff

Giant Heliconia

Bougainvillea Growing in the Lilikoi

Ganesha Thanks You for Looking at Our Garden