Red flowers

These flowers make me recall a movie "Raise the Red Lantern" by Zhang Yimou and it had Gong Li in the lead role. The story told of a young concubine who led a life of misery in the household of a rich man. Every night, a red lantern would be raised on the front door of the wife or concubine that the rich man chose to spend the night with. The lantern signified favouritism and power to the woman who was the chosen especially if it was raised more often than it was over the doors of others. There are of course modern-day versions of this drama both in the USA and at home. All I can say is that red lanterns belong to red-light districts and there is no pride in having it raised at all.

Flowers growing in the wild
that I have never seen before
People passing by were curious like me
they stopped and took photos
Souvenirs of their walk
a good thing to do
to take without taking away
what others may enjoy after you leave
(Dairy Farm Nature Park)

Hortpark Flowers - Colour Series (White)

These flowers were not growing in the HortPark. They were flower arrangements that were probably used for some function held earlier, perhaps a wedding. What attracted me to them was the lovely fragrance that they exude. My friend told me that she bought stalks of these flowers during Chinese New Year and combined them with large Chrysanthemum flowers to form a bouquet and placed mandarin oranges round them. It was a centrepiece in her dining area and was much admired by visitors to her house. She did not know the name of these flowers and I reckon that they must have been imported for my friend said that they lasted only about 4 days.

HortPark Flowers - The Colour Series (Purple)

These plants grow in water, not the swimming pool but they were planted in a small trench filled with water. I have not time to look for the name.

Unknown flowers in the Hortpark

Fairy steps that take you where you want to go

where the stars carpet your dreams

and where some dreams can still come true

where you meet others like you in fields of white

that turn mellow as time passes through

and in the end there is just me and you lost amongst othersthere are no fairy steps back and no return journey
no indication of life beyond death,
no turning back, nobody...

Flowers for today

I have this hibiscus specie in my garden but alas it is not thriving as beautifully as this one in someone else's garden. One day perhaps when I am more inclined towards gardening, I will have blooms as fresh and exciting as these flowers in my own backyard.

These yellow flowers are actually very small - the size of a one-dollar coin. I found them growing in a flower-bed outside someone's house looking rather neglected.

Then by the fence of another gardener, I saw these flowers.

That's all folks!

Related to the Lagerstroemia speciosa?

My car came to a halt near a traffic-light junction alongside this small tree with flowers that looked familiar. I have seen flowers like these in West Coast Park. What struck me as odd were the leaves for they were dark green with a tint of burgundy. I remember the flowers but somehow they seemed out of place on this tree. The seconds ticked by and I expected the light to turn green any moment. I waited reaching for my camera in my handbag on the back seat. Despite fumbling for the camera with eyes on the lights and foot on the brake pedal I managed to point the camera in the general direction of the tree and snapped two photos. I did not have time to focus. This is where the point-and-shoot camera got its name - after users like me.

Unknown flowers and fruits

These bunches of fruits were way above my head and in the poor lighting without using a flash, these are the best preservations of what I saw on Fraser's Hill in Malaysia. The leaf formation is familiar but not the flowers and fruits.