Hello Friends
If youve ever walked around Cagayan de Oro, youve definitely seen these flowers everywhere right. They are literally all over the place in peoples front yards along the streets even in little pots outside sari-sari stores.
First up are the santan plants you know those bunches of tiny red orange or white flowers that grow super tight together.
My lola has a whole row of them by her gate and she says they are easy peasy to take care of.
You just water them every couple days and they wll keep blooming nonstop. Kids even pick the little flowers sometimes to make bracelets or necklaces I used to do that all the time when I was small!
Then theres bougainvillea those bright pink and magenta ones are impossible to miss.
People usually grow them on fences or let them climb up walls, and when they are in full bloom it looks like the whole place is covered in color.
The funny thing is those pretty petals aren’t actually petals at all they are just colored leaves called bracts. The real flowers are tiny little things in the middle, but nobody really cares about those because the bracts are so eye-catching.
And can we talk about vanda orchids? These ones are a bit fancier but you still see them around a lot here.
They have these big flat flowers in soft pink or purple shades and they grow without needing soil usually hanging from trees or in special baskets. My neighbor has a bunch hanging outside their porch, and whenever it rains the flowers get all shiny and look even more gorgeous. They say orchids are hard to grow but honestly the ones here seem to do just fine with all our sunshine and rain.
Whats cool is that all these plants love our Northern Mindanao weather hot days occasional heavy rains lots of humidity. They dont need much fuss which is probably why everyone loves them so much. They make our neighborhoods feel alive and happy, and you cant help but smile when you pass by a spot where all three are blooming at the same time.