In the Philippines, there are only two seasons: the dry season (most Filipinos call it Summer)and the wet season. During the dry season, the Philippines has so many beautiful flowering plants. The captivating hue when it blooms adds the balmy, exotic fragrance of the summer breeze. Today, I came across some photos that my Mom has kept in our family album. It's nice to reminisce about my yesteryears in the province when my brothers and I climbed up those flowering trees and smelled their fragrance or just played around their branches or played hide and seek around the bush. Jumping from one branch to the other and playing till we get tired or simply admire those stunning blooms that we cannot climb. Let me take you to those beautiful dry-season (summer) blooms:
Orange Jessamine or Bridal Posie
This beautiful bloom of "Orange Jessamine or Bridal Posie" (I do not know why this is called "Orange" Jessamine) is a medium-sized tree that bears masses of Creamy White perfumed flowers in summer. The “Orange Jessamine or Bridal Posie” (Murraya paniculata) breaks into bloom after a hard, dry summer when the rain showers begin. The plant is related to the citrus. Its sweet fragrance is intensified by the high humidity of the rainy season. Blooms, however, fall easily under moderate rain and strong wind, but new buds form quickly, so the flowering is non-stop. The "Orange Jessamine or Bridal Posie" when under the sunlight in an enclosed garden, blooms arrive and surround the area with a concentrated and wonderful fragrance. Bear in mind, however, that its lookalike growing as a bush has no scent.
I did not plant this flowering tree. Would you believe that a flock of birds brought the seeds of this plant to our garden? It was simply a heaven-sent. There are a lot of these flowering plants in our backyard. I am glad that those flocks brought it here as it adds beauty to our surroundings and every time it blossoms, the fragrance spreads all over the garden and inside the house, especially when the fiery heat of the sun is intense, and then it rains cats and dogs afterward. Hmmm...I love the citrus scent of these lovely tiny flowers.
Orchid or Butterfly Tree
The commonly called orchid tree for its flowers and leaves resemble a butterfly. These trees were planted along the paveway of the subdivision where I live before it was cut off. The blossoms with showy masses of large, sweetly scented, 5-inch-wide purple, pink, magenta, white, or lavender blooms, each delicately resembling an orchid. Flowers are followed by slender, brown, flat seedpods that ripen after the flowering season has passed. The orchid tree is one of the most popular flowering trees for warm-weather climates. It blends well into almost any landscape and can provide welcome shade during the summer.
My brothers and I love to play around the branches as it is pliable, and you won't be scared that they will break and you fall. We hold the branches and let them sway till they kiss the ground. You will also love the subtle fragrance of these flowers but be careful when smelling them as there are black ants at the filament.
Golden Shower Tree or Casia Fistula
These bright yellow flowers are spectacular clusters of subtle fragrance. This is a different variety from the long drooping clusters. A very attractive garden tree has an upright base with a beautiful spreading canopy and bluish-green foliage. A great choice for use as a single specimen or a group planting. They are gorgeous when you see them in real in full bloom, it seems the tree is laden with golden flowers. They bloom during summer, April-May. The flowers dominate the tree until no leaves are almost left. But the flowers are easily lost in one strong rain, so when the rainy season comes in June or July, the spectacular show of yellow is gone.
The most beautiful flowers bloom, and in some places, churches and altars are decorated with many flowers. People congregate in churches to present flowers to the Blessed Virgin Mary. I picked those flowers that fell on the ground, put them in my basket together with other kinds of flowers, and spread them along the aisle going to the altar during Flores de Mayo. Sometimes I cut a stem of the flower as an offering.
The Fire Tree
The Fire tree (Xanthorrhoea press) is an aromatic wood so loaded with essential oil that the bushmen use it as matches to light their fires. It has a very sweet and strong fruity head smell, like apricot and myrtle. This note goes on unchanged in the heart of the fragrance, and it settles down after a day in a delicate and persistent woody fruity bottom smell. It blooms during the summer months of April to May in the Philippines. The last week of May, though, is also the start of the rainy season, and those bright blooms find themselves scattered on the ground, not for long. But for a few weeks, it put on a delightful display.
I only began to notice it and its bright red-orange blooms when I was in college when I traveled back to Los Baños, Laguna, where I go home every weekend, and the bus would pass by a winding road with these fire trees hovering us on my commute from Manila to Laguna, these trees are in relative abundance. It proudly displays its cheery color amidst a blanket of green in June. Simply like the Golden Shower Flowers that fell to the ground were being picked by kids to put in their baskets to spread along the altar aisles during Flores de Mayo, it never fails to make me smile as I recollect my childhood memories.
Sunflower
Sunflower turns their faces to follow the sun in the sky, from east to west, thus earning their monicker. The Sunflower is a tall, fast-growing annual with broad, hairy leaves. In summer, it produces enormous flowers, up to 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter, with yellow petals and a dark chocolate-colored central disk. Bees are attracted to the blooms, and they later develop into sunflower seeds, providing food for birds. These striking flowers are great for cut arrangements and add beauty to garden beds and borders. This variety is planted as seeds in January, so by April, they are in their best blooms. Being sun lovers, sunflowers start to die out when the rains come in May.
When I had this plant last year in my garden, neighbors, and customers from the adjacent cafe-resto bar would ask if they could take pictures of them with the sunflower garden, and I happily shared with them. I also used to cut the flowers and put them on the altar. Sunflowers add a charming, bright color to your living room and look beautiful when placed in a crystal glass vase. No summer garden is complete without these cheerful giants. Sunflowers, known for their large, showy blooms, thrive in full sun and are drought-tolerant. Expect them to grace your garden from early to late summer, adding a touch of sunshine.
Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea is a tower of strength of drought tolerance and boasts showy blooms in stunning shades of pink, white, orange, magenta, fuschia, red, and yellow. Plant it in direct sunlight with well-drained soil and enjoy its dazzling display throughout the year. Bougainvillea is a vibrant, evergreen climbing shrub adorned with colorful bracts surrounding small, tubular flowers. The vibrant colors are not flowers but modified leaves called bracts that surround the small, inconspicuous flowers. Its thorny stems make it an excellent choice for hedges, fences, and privacy screen low-maintenance escapes, and its fast-growing, low-maintenance nature captivates with its vivid blooms and cascading beauty.
When the road was not yet widened in our area, we made a fence out of bougainvilleas. The different colors and varieties bring beauty to the surroundings. Everyone passing by would take pictures of it or take selfies/groupies. They were sad to see the Bougainvilleas being bulldozed. Now, there are only two varieties left in the garden. Planted next to the greenhouse and used as shade for the anthurium plants is what they call Yani's Delight, a light pink tinge with white and the one that looks like plastic if you don't touch it is the color fuschia; it has glossy leaves and sometimes called "paper flower."
That's all for now #Hivers. I am hoping that you enjoy the array of stunning flowers that I shared with you. How about you, guys? Do you have a favorite summer blooms?
