Vesak Day flower

Lotus, Singapore Botanical Gardens

For harmony and peace in the world.

Spider Lilies

These are not common types of Spider Lilies. I photographed them in the Singapore Orchid Garden and have not seen them anywhere else. Notice that the petals are twisted giving the appearance of ribbons.

Etlingera elatior - Torch Ginger

A lotus-like pose but this is the flower of the Torch Ginger plant. Unless you have these plants in your garden, it is not possible to see how they look in different stages of their flowering. Most of my previous shots of this flower had them in the wilting stage. This is the first time that I came across such a bloom as fresh as this one here:An old Malaysian stamp featuring the Torch Ginger flower. A postcard I bought at the Singapore Art Museum some years back.
This year's calendar published by the National Parks Board. The month of February has a painting of the torch ginger.

Etlingera elatior belonging to the Zingiberaceae family

Hibiscus

In the morning, the flower burst forth in the sunshine. What a beautiful day. Just a day and it gave its best. Tomorrow it will begin to wilt. At least it had today.

Hibiscus

The rains have dampened the mood for flowering for my hibiscus plant. This single bud looks determined to beat the weather conditions.

Young leaves proliferate and unlike the flowers, they are springing up nicely showing that the plant is in good health. oOther types of hibiscus flowers:

Callerya atropurpurea, Millettia atropurpurea

I've often seen the fruits of this particular tree strewn on the ground but I have never seen the flowers before.

When I noticed that the ground below the tree was covered with deep red flowers I looked up at the tree to be rewarded with several clusters of flowers that were almost imperceptible in the muted sunlight of the particular morning.

On the ground, the flowers that had fallen off were in various stages of development.

I have not found out the name of this tree yet and since I am in no hurry to do so, I decided to experiment with the photoshop elements software that I was given on the photos I took of the flowers and the fruits. Not the best efforts but I picked up some skills through trial and error.

Bauhinia blakeana

The flower on this 1997 Hong Kong stamp belongs to that of the Hong Kong Orchid tree.

The real flower looks like this:

These trees were laden with flowers that were still fresh with several still in the budding stages when I saw them over the weekend at a park. The leaves are butterfly-shaped and the flowers looked like another specie of butterflies fluttering amongst them. The photos have been digitally enhanced to emphasise the brillance of these blooms in the strong morning light.

A rose for mum

Happy Mother's Day

The right timing

Waiting time can be boring. Not if you have a camera and manage to catch the sun's rays lighting up this flowering foxtail palm for just a few precious moments. Says the Foxtail to the Sealing Wax palm, "I glow, I glow, oh don't you know this feeling?"

Renanthera storiei

Orchids named after an Emperor for all to admire in the Singapore Orchid Garden.

May flower - Water Canna

Nature's jewellery. Click on picture to examine the details.

Thalia geniculata

Family: Marantaceae

Origin: Tropical America

Orchid

This flower is an orchid. It was growing on the tree trunk at eye level and while most people were looking at the bigger and more attractive orchids on the flowerbeds, this particular flower that makes me think of a harmonica caught my eye. I do not know the name or the names of all the beautiful orchids in the Singapore Orchid Garden but I was really taken in by what the Orchid Garden had within its premises. More photos on my website here.