15 October 2010

Firespike in Heaven!




My sister Luchie calls this plant with a different name and I forgot what it is. We're really pretty clueless about names. But somebody from TodaysFlowers told me it is called Firespike. This plant is very prolific that Luchie would plant it everywhere in our house Heaven because they thrive (even with the dogs *O*), loves the sun and rain, and has gorgeous variegated leaves and magenta flowers! When Luchie trimmed the leaves in the front yard (Luchie said this will encourage the plant to grow lush again), I cried and protested that if she trim them to almost bare again, I will not water them anymore! Pretty childish attitude really (my bad!) plus I really have no heart not to water the plants so it's an empty threat. Below is a sequence of photographs from stalk to leaves. It only takes 2 months for the leaves to reach a meter high which is why Luchie trims them so often! And it takes a really good sunny day (practically the whole year in the Philippines!) for their dainty flowers to come out and greet you every day! I share our Firespike plants for Maia's MacroFlowers and for TodayFlowers hosted by Santilli, Denise, Pupo and Sandy.

We are having a threat of a coming super typhoon Megi (locally named Juan) to reach landfall on Sunday in Northern Luzon (I live just south of Manila). The last time the weather bureau predicted a storm heading north the storm changed its course and hit us directly at dawn! So today we are preparing for it by bringing down all hanging plants, tying up our trees, covering the dog's houses, posting early in case of brownouts and praying for everyone's safety. I hope everybody will have a safe flowery weekend . . .

14 comments:

Icy BC said...

They are very pretty, Lui! Firespike seems like a really good name for it! I would love to have a wall of these flowers too!

Joanne Olivieri said...

I love these fall leave shots and especially the first one. You did a great job photographing these. Hope that storm is not to fierce. Keep safe.

Kelli said...

beautiful flowers, they look like a type of orchid.

Maia said...

The flowers of this Firespike are very beautiful. I like its colorful foliage too.
I hope the storm will not hit you (or anyone else) and you'll have a safe weekend too. It must be terrible to live with this fear, all the time but as a compensation, you live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world.
Hang in there Lui!

Judy said...

Those are such beautiful flowers!! And the leaves are great, too! I hope the worst of the storm stays out in the ocean, so no one is hurt!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

hope the typhoon won't hit too bad,

Maia said...

The flowers are very beautiful.
It's Sunday by us, I hope you are safe and healthy at this hour.

Unknown said...

i've seen this flower around but didn't know the name either. lovely photos.

i hope we'd wake to a regular morning tomorrow.

eileeninmd said...

The name Firespike is fitting. Lovely flowers and photos.

Larry said...

Nice progression on this plant! L

Chubskulit Rose said...

Oh so beautiful!

Flower shots

SquirrelQueen said...

Firespike fits the plant very well. Both the leaves and flowers are beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful.. A Firespike. Is that some kind of orchid? It looks beautiful. Thanks for sharing. =)

Please check out mine, too. I'd really appreciate it if you could also drop a comment. =)

http://neneleah30.blogspot.com/2010/10/flowers-mellow-monday.html

nonizamboni said...

Leave it to you to have such wonderful captures surrounding one flower type. Always a treat to visit your blog!