April Blooms - The Mundane the Bad and the Ugly

What flowers have you not seen on this blog? What flowers might you never have seen? What would be new and different? What will I post for April Garden Bloggers Bloom Day?

What is blooming in my garden in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii on April 15th, the American Procrastinators Day of Reckoning?

Ilex x attenuata 'East Palatka'. This is the male tree in bloom. It is much more floriferous than the female tree on the other side of the house and unfortunately it blooms a little prematurely for the female tree to set a good berry crop. They arrived in my garden as seeds from a tree in Florida at the house where I grew up. There are not likely to be any other male suitors on the entire island of Maui for my female tree. It was sheer luck that I got one of each.















I am trying not to get hysterical about the disappearing bees. There are still plenty here. A gentleman from the Big Island left a comment on one of my bee posts saying a beekeeper neighbor there had lost a third of his hives.

The action on this Holly Tree has always been a sight to behold when it is in bloom. Bees, wasps, flies and moths would flock to this tree in droves. The Anoles would move in by the dozens to feast on the flying creatures. It was a veritable feeding frenzy in miniature with an accompanying audible buzz and rustle.

This year it seems much more subdued. I will watch over it the next few days and weeks to see if it is discovered and the action begins. I have been waiting to film this event for the Tube.

The few bees and big flies that were there today were less than co-operative in posing, but I managed to capture a natural pair of red eye, no flash was used in this shot.















This is the White Shrimp Plant, Justicia betonica. The green veining on white is quite interesting. I like using this as a white filler in flower arrangements. I collected this from the side of the road on the North Shore.


















The weeds are always blooming and attract their share of pollinators.




















An evil Bougainvillea that captured me with its white and pink blended blush. I have never treated it well and it has stabbed me repeatedly in return.















A verbena I also collected on the side of the highway in a section of mowed grass. It may be a form of Verbena tenuisecta. I am not sure. It is kind of a wild thing in my garden now, having been used as a groundcover for a bit.















Your standard Pentas lanceolata. These grow as weeds in my garden now too.
















Galphimia glauca, a nice small shrub with brittle stems that blooms almost year round.















Ever seen a Manila Palm tree in bloom?















I think I will let you guess what this ugly bloom might be. A hint, there are male and female individual plants. This is the bloom of one of the sexes.















More Ugly, these are the feet that wander through the garden in the evening light carrying form weary eyes trying to take nice pictures for cyber consumption.


















Congratulations to all the nominees for the first annual Mouse and Trowel awards!