Archive for the ‘Wild flowers’ Category
Friday, July 16th, 2010
Papaya trees come in one of three sexual forms: male, female and hermaphrodite and the photo above is of a male flowering papaya.
The Papaya tree or Paw Paw is found growing wild throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands and we have several here at Harbour Club. Presently, Barry and I are juicing these wild papayas almost every day as we have so many that are ready to eat right now.
Male flowers are formed in clusters and grow on a branched drooping stalk
Male Papaya flowers have no ovaries and therefore do not produce any fruit. Female flowers have an ovary and are borne on the stem of the plant where the leaf is attached.
Beautiful yellow flowers of the female gender have five petals and are rather waxy looking.
Some papaya bear only short stalked female flowers while others bear male clusters of flowers and pollination is done by the wind.
The bright yellow petals start to wilt and turn brown as the fruit starts growing
A small papaya fruit appears and starts to grow
The ovary of a female Papaya plant must receive pollen from either a male or hermaphrodite plant before it can be fertilized and produce a fruit bearing viable seeds. Insects and or the wind will carry the pollen.
A small baby papaya starts to grow as the yellow petals die off.
Harbour Club's papaya trees are loaded with small fruits ready to be picked.
Papaya trees can grow from 6 to 20 feet tall and have a head of foliage much like a palm tree up at the top. The trunk is soft wooded, never developes a bark and is ringed with scars from previous leaf stems that have dropped off.
Tall papaya trees reaching to the skies laden with fruits
Wild papaya fruits aren’t really that large but they are favoured by the birds so long as Barry doesn’t get to them first. They are delicious served up as a smoothie or eaten with lots of fresh lime juice.
If you throw out these seeds they'll be sure to grow more trees.
Papain from the papaya is used by the locals and applied topically for the treatment of cuts, rashes, stings and burns. It is said that Christopher Columbus named the papaya or paw–paw, ‘the fruit of the angels’. Try some papaya with fresh lime juice for a tasty treat…….it is ripe and soft and has a sweet and delightfully vibrant orange flesh much like the consistency of a peach.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Fruit, papain, Papaya, papaya flowers, papaya fruit, Papaya tree, Papayas, Paw Paw, wild papaya, wild papaya flowers
Posted in Bush Medicine, Flora and Fauna, Flowers, Fruit, Providenciales, Trees and Shrubs, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wild flowers | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
A beautiful Jamaican Caper Tree with a mass of exotic looking blooms that turn from white to pink
I was up at a friends house and happened to notice a beautiful Caper Tree that was in full bloom. This particular tree seems to stand out when you look in the bush because it has very dense and full looking foliage with green leaves the undersides of which are a reddish brown.
The white flowers look like fireworks because of the long filaments coming from the centre of the flower
Jamaica Caper flowers have very showy, two-inch-long, purple stamens and white anthers and white petals. When the flower first opens usually at night it is white and they turn purple when the morning light hits them.
The pinkish purple flowers have numerous long deep purple stamens that burst out of the centre like fireworks
This cluster of flowers looked like pinwheel fireworks
The Caper flower has long two inch stamens that are a purple colour and the flower itself has four petals
The Caper Tree has very fragrant flowers that are loved by nectar loving birds and butterflies
Caper Trees are found growing throughout Provo and keeps all its foliage even when we have drought conditions.
Take a look as you are driving around and see if you can spot these trees. With all the flowers, they shouldn’t be too hard to find.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Caper Tree, Jamaican Caper Tree, tree, trees, Wild flowers
Posted in Flora and Fauna, Flowers, Providenciales, Trees and Shrubs, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wild flowers | No Comments »
Friday, June 18th, 2010
A beautiful miniature Passion Flower vine started growing under one of our palm trees
I was doing some weeding the other day and came across the most beautiful miniature Passion Flower vine complete with tiny fruits the size of peas. The flowers were a pale yellow and smaller than a dime. I don’t really know what kind of Passiflora it is but it could be a Passiflora suberosa according to some of the books.
You can see how tiny the fruit is as I hold them on my fingers.
My fingers are quite small………my middle finger is 2 1/2 inches long so that gives you an idea of the size. This mini Passion Flower Vine was growing very happily under one of our Palm Trees.
Beautiful and tiny this wild passion flower bloom was just resting on some gravel.
Here's a couple of passion fruits hanging from the vine
When the fruits turn a dark purple-black colour, they are favoured by the birds
This pretty, small passionflower vine often creeps along the ground throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands. You really have to look closely for it !!
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Passiflora, passion fruit, passionflower, passionflower vine, passionflowers, Wild flowers
Posted in Flora and Fauna, Flowers, Fruit, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wild flowers | No Comments »
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
- And finally the rains came…………..over 5 inches recorded
Today, we woke up to overcast skies and RAIN. We’ve had no rain for so long that even the local bushes and shrubs had withered up leaves. Our large mahogany tree dropped all its leaves and had just started to produce new ones. First time this has happened ever since we’ve been here. We received over 5 inches of rain and unfortunately many places were flooded.
Marta
Tags: beach, Beaches, Grace Bay beach, Grace Baya, Sea Oats
Posted in Beaches, Flora and Fauna, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wild flowers | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
Every child planted a mangrove sapling along Flamingo Lake by Harbour Club Villas
A few weeks ago, I ran down to the road and there was a group of children from Holy Family Academy Catholic School busy planting Mangrove saplings. Officers of the DECR were there to show them how as they worked their way along Flamingo Lake and the road by our villas at Harbour Club.
Students and teacher plant a mangrove beside the lake waters
Eric from the DECR is about to show this young student how to plant her seedling.
Time out for a real squishy mud dance !
- I would say that at least 30 mangrove saplings were planted this day.
I can’t say how great it is to see new mangrove saplings along this stretch of the lake. The kids and everyone worked so hard…………..WELL DONE and a big thankyou to all.
Marta
Tags: DECR, Harbour Club Villas, Mangrove, Mangroves
Posted in Flora and Fauna, Odds and Ends, Providenciales, Trees and Shrubs, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wild flowers | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
The beautiful Bay Bean grows and flowers along the shoreline
A big THANKYOU to my wonderfully caring family and friends that have supported me these past few months.
I love you all !!!
My experience these last few months with breast cancer has really thrown me for a loop and been a true wake up call. It showed me the strength in having a loving family and just how lucky I am. All those tough days back and forth from Provo to Miami……tests and more tests and my breasts feeling like pin cushions. Barry was unable to come with me but kept a great sense of humour by reminding me that I was getting a two for one deal. He coped so brilliantly here at Harbour Club although it was really rough going and very busy with guests. My sister Eve and our three kids Tina, Mike and Ania rallied around and took turns staying with me in the hotel so I wouldn’t have to face things alone. They sat in on every appointment, asked questions and absorbed all the information so that they could explain things to me as well as to Barry and they waited patiently while I went through all the tests, surgery and radiation. My sister Anna (a breast cancer survivor) sent me encouraging emails every day and suffered along with me having been through it all herself.
It is soooooooo good to be back home and everyone now realizes that we all need to make the most of every day…..enjoy life to the fullest and worry less.
SO, TO ALL THE LADIES OUT THERE ……… PLEASE GO AND HAVE THAT MAMMOGRAM DONE TODAY.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: breast cancer, cancer, flower, Flowers
Posted in Flora and Fauna, Flowers, Odds and Ends, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wild flowers | No Comments »
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Beautiful spider's web catches the light at the pirate's cave at Osprey Rock.
We headed out early today towards Osprey Rock as we knew it would be sheltered a little from the wind. We anchored the boat just off the pirate’s cave and since I hadn’t been up ontop of the bluff for a while, I decided to climb up the ladder to get some photos. Just inside the cave were some beautiful spiders’ webs.
Spider's web with the ladder in the background to climb up ontop of the bluff.
What a view from the top as the water was a little churned up and showed off that amazing turquoise colour.
I took a photo of the boat anchored below me just off the cave
This beautiful ground cover with little white flowers was growing out of a small pocket of dirt in the rocks
We were in about two feet of water so it was easy to wade back to the boat
Malaika is just starting to walk and loves playing in the sand.
Here she is on the beach at South West Bluff close to Osprey Rock
Make sure you have a rental vehicle ( Scooter and Amos at Scooter Bob’s will be happy to help you out) and then you can explore the whole island which is full of unique and wonderful more remote places to see.
See you there!!
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: beach, Beaches, car rental, cave, Osprey Rock, Pirate's cave, Scooter Bob's, South West Bluff, spider's web, web, Wild flowers
Posted in Beaches, Flora and Fauna, Flowers, Insects, Places to go, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wild flowers | No Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Orchids blooming with the marina entrance in the background.
This Tall Encyclia orchid was growing on the rock ridge overlooking the entrance to our marina. The days have been so gloomy and so I decided to see if the rain had made our local plants bloom. The Encyclia Altissima orchids are growing all over and flowering at this time of year. This one was quite showy with vivid purple striped lines on its petals.
The Marina channel and Cooper Jack Bight were perfectly calm creating a pastel backdrop of colours as the sun tried to break through the clouds.
We have been waiting for days to see the sunshine and today was the day……….and it lasted all day!
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Encyclia, Encyclia Altissima, flower, Flowers, Marina, orchid, Orchids
Posted in Flora and Fauna, Flowers, Orchids, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wild flowers | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Every year before Christmas, I watch for the Ipomoea vine growing in the bush.
Finally, after weeks of looking I spotted this showy, red flowering vine on my neighbour’s property. I’ve been watching out for the Ipomoea vine also known as the Christmas vine and or Wild Potato. I’m thinking this last week has been rainy and cool and all of a sudden, I’ve noticed bright splashes of red adorning the tree tops and in this case, on a Poisonwood tree. Perhaps the rains coaxed the blossoms to open.
A brilliant red flower and a mass of buds on this Ipomoea vine.
Usually, the Ipomoea blooms for the holiday season starting in October but as I said, I saw my first one only the other day while travelling down Venetian Road. I wandered over onto my neighbour’s property this afternoon to take pictures of orchids and found this Wild Potato growing on a tall poison wood……a little difficult to photograph as I didn’t want to touch the poisonwood.
The Ipomoea grows throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands and is one of the prettiest with brilliant red flowers.
Watch for these flowering vines as you travel the roads of Provo…….it’s impossible to miss with those bright red flowers that stand out amongst the green foliage.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Christmas vine, flower, Flowers, Ipomoea, vines, Wild flowers, wild potato
Posted in Flora and Fauna, Flowers, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wild flowers | No Comments »
Saturday, December 19th, 2009
Wild Poinsettias grow throughout the islands and we're fortunate to be able to see them growing wild.
The wild poinsettia is found throughout our islands. It has leaves that are shaped like a lance and are often tipped with a deep red towards the centre. This cluster of red leaves gives the impression of a flower but the actual flower is found at the centre and in the photo the flowers have grown into green seed pods. Poinsettias are a favourite at Christmas time and many will buy the cultivated variety.
A floral bouquet of wild poinsettias and wild plumeria or frangipani in the gardens of Harbour Club Villas.
These beautiful wild flowers are found growing wild almost everywhere you go. The milky sap from the poinsettia is used as bush medicine and is a remedy for warts and corns.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Bush Medicine, Christmas wild poinsettia, flower, Flowers, frangipani, plumeria, poinsettia, Wild flowers, wild poinsettia
Posted in Bush Medicine, Flora and Fauna, Flowers, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wild flowers | No Comments »