Showy Medinilla

 Medinilla magnifica, Rose Grape, Malaysian Orchid, Chandelier Tree

A native to the Philippines, blooming Medinillas are very pretty.  Medinilla thrives in shaded conditions and moist soil, growing lush tropical foliage and cluster after cluster of orchid-like pink blooms.  The buds are baby pink, the flowers turn to a deeper pink, then magenta and finally dark red like sweet ripe cherries.

No one wants flowers to blush unseen or waste their sweetness.  

~ Barbara Cheney

Linking to Floral Friday Fotos

Today's Flowers

Lemon Squares/Monday Mellow Yellow

Central Azucarera de Tarlac, a 112-year old sugar mill located in a 50-hectare land inside the Hacienda Luisita in San Miguel, Tarlac.

Linking to Monday Mellow Yellows

Pink Morning Glory

The pink morning glory, Ipomoea carnea or canudo-de-pita in Brazil,  is the genus in the flowering plant family Convolvulaceae, with over 500 species.  Ipomoea carnea is a shrub, and the stem can be used in making paper.  The plant contains a component used in sedatives and anticonvulsant, it also has anticarconogenic and  oxytoxic properties.  Attractive to bees, butterflies and birds but the seeds are hazardous to cattle.  The genus grows throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.  

It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Took these photos around noon---the flowers were beginning to wilt.

Behind the 30-foot statue of the Risen Christ at the Monasterio de Tarlac.

 

Linking to Floral Friday Fotos

Today's Flowers

Tarlac Capitol/Signs

Staff at the Tarlac Capitol building was bringing down the flags and banner when we visited on June 1st.  The National Flag Day was on May 28th.

Spotted this plaque by the door of the Capitol.

Linking to Signs, Signs

Caged/Monday Mellow Yellows

"What do you fear, lady?" Aragorn asked.

"A cage," Eowyn said.  "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire."

~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

Linking to Monday Mellow Yellows

Am I blue?

How do you know, when you think blue---when you say blue---that you are talking about the same blue as anyone else?

You cannot get a grip on blue.

Blue is the sky, the sea, a god's eye, a devil's tail, a birth, a strangulation, a virgin's cloak, a monkey's ass.  It's a butterfly, a bird, a spicy joke, the saddest song, the brightest day.

Blue is sly, slick, it slides into the room sideways, a slippery trickster.

This is a story about the color blue, and like blue, there's nothing true about it.  Blue is beauty, not truth."True blue" is a ruse, a rhyme; it's there, then it's not.  Blue is a deeply sneaky color.

~ Christopher Moore, Sacre Bleu:  A Comedy d'Art

Linking to Floral Friday Fotos

Today's Flowers

Monasterio de Tarlac/Signs

These are some of the signs at the Monasterio de Tarlac, a Catholic monastery and hermitage along the mountain ranges of San Jose, Tarlac province and within the eco-tourism park.  There is a 30-foot statue of the Risen Christ perched on the mountain.  There is also a small chapel that houses the relic of the True Cross of Jesus Christ.  The relic, the only one in Asia, arrived here in 2007.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see it---and taking a photo of the relic is not allowed.

I was with a group of shutterbugs who visited the monastery last Saturday.  It was a 3-hour drive from Manila.

Linking to Signs, Signs

U/ABC Wednesday

I was at the Luisita Golf & Country Club over the weekend with a group of shutterbugs.  This 18-hole golf course sits on a 70-hectare area bounded on the east by a sugar central and by a mountain chain on the west.  I noticed these patio umbrellas as soon as we walked towards the clubhouse.  Wouldn't it be nice to sit here undisturbed by city noise and pollution, under the canopy of ancient acacia trees?

The clubhouse is a 2-storey classic Spanish architecture with a huge patio offering an unobstructed view of the golf course.  The golf course is part of Hacienda Luisita, a 6,400-hectare sugar plantation estate owned by the Cojuangco family, which includes the late former President Cory Aquino and her son, incumbent President Benigno Aquino III.

This visit was part of the local government's efforts to uplift tourism in the province of Tarlac.  Unfortunately, we only stayed here for about 30 minutes to keep up with another group enroute to the national shrine.

Linking to ABC Wednesday