Garden Photo of the Day

Flowers at the equator

Photo/Illustration: All photos courtesy of Maria Fleming

Lucky Maria Fleming (Quiltingmamma). She’s someplace warm. While we’ve visited her Ottawa, Ontario, garden and her travels to Montreal and France before (HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE), she’s nowhere near those places now.

Maria says, “I am in Ecuador for a few weeks, and though my current focus is birdwatching, I have occasionally been distracted by plants and flowers. I thought you might like some blooms from here. Not a garden, but some you will see are natural versions of what we garden with. There are blooms and bromiliad shots from the rain forest, fushia and lupines from the high alto hills, and vanilla orchids from the cloud forests of Mindo. Enjoy.”

Sigh. So nice, Maria.

***So sorry about yesterday’s repeat post, everyone. We made some changes to the website that made some things a little wonky, so I wasn’t able to publish a fresh post. Hopefully we’re back to normal now.***

I’ve been getting feedback that, while all the snow pics lately are nice, everyone’s feeling the need for more GREEN pics in the GPOD these days. I think we’re all getting a bit winter-weary…. so I need your help! Send in photos of your gardens from last summer! ([email protected]) Be sure to tell me a bit about yourself and your garden when you send in your pics. You’re much more likely to be featured if I have all that stuff at hand. Thanks, everyone!

The Gunnera is about five feet across.

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Comments

  1. flowerladydi 02/21/2014

    Lovley Maria!,,,,, so nice to see such vibrant color,,,, and can only imagine what a nice time you must be having!,,, Yes,,, Warmth!!!
    Love the Gunnera!,, how cool !!!! Thanks for sending !

  2. greengenes 02/21/2014

    Wow! I would love to grow the plant in the first picture in Ecuador! They are all so beautiful! I went back to see the earlier pics of the Montreal Botanical Gardens and oh my! Those sculptures are totally awesome! Thanks so much for the new inspirations, Maria! Happy travels!

  3. user-7006902 02/21/2014

    Oh my, so refreshing this morning! I am already booked/reserved for DEC/JAN next winter somewhere SOUTH. I wish I could breathe in that warm tropical air. Truly eye candy for us "Northeners." Thank you so much!

  4. User avater
    meander_michaele 02/21/2014

    The flowers are literally all such exotic beauties to this set of eyes. It's fascinating that these are just what grow so easily on their own. Sounds like a fun and interesting vacation. Thanks for the pics.

  5. User avater
    Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 02/21/2014

    seems understandable to me that plant explorers risked their lives in eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to bring these treasures back home. I might be mistaken, but I think the red-flowering shrub in the first photo is our taken-for-granted red poinsettia.

  6. tractor1 02/21/2014

    Oh, my... some of the flowers in those photos look so other worldly; I'm intrigued by the configuration of the yellow in the 2nd down on the right, and the 5th down on the left is so salacious... I wish they were labeled. I love that house, what a great tropical color... it appears to have a balcony over the front door too, and it's obviously jacked up off the ground to prevent flooding, that path in front looks more like a stream, probably a river during a rain. Thank you, Maria, enjoy your visit, and bring us lots more photos.

  7. pattyspencer 02/21/2014

    Really unique looking flowers - they are so pretty.

  8. Quiltingmamma 02/21/2014

    Glad you are enjoying some of the plants of Ecuador's constant spring. It is a lovely country with so many ecosystems.
    As I am working off a tablet, I haven't had a lot of success labelling photos, sorry. Also, not easy to identify the plants other than to sometimes group them into families.
    Yes, the first is a massive pointsetta. My lodgings in the cloud forests of Mindo was 'the Yellow House' which inclided a few little cabins the same colour. The photographed one was the hostel, and yes, all had balconies and hammocks. It rained.....a lot, so no hammock for me. I had a separate cabin but walked through their lovely garden and by this pointsetta every day.
    I think the fifth bloom on left might actually be similar to passion flower. Last of right is gunnera anf the three before that are orchids, the two largerbeing vanilla orchid. The scent is fabulous.
    The yellow one was pretty interesting with its look that reminded me of a sequoia cone. This one held rain water, but some have massive amounts of goopy sap that attract bugs, but not photos.
    With over 15,000 native species, there seems to be no on line resource for identification either.
    I may well visit the botanical gardens in Quito next few days, so will try better to id if there are appealing photos.

  9. toweringpines 02/21/2014

    Don't need the labels, I am pretty sure these plants won't grow here with our snowy winters and hot dry summers.LOL
    It is so nice to get a chance to see what grows in other parts of the world.Thanks for taking the time to post.

  10. janeeliz 02/21/2014

    On a dreary winter day, it's fun seeing such uniquely different plants. Love the shapes and textures as well as the colors, and I'm trying to imagine the heavenly scents. Hope your bird-watching and the rest of your trip exploring a new country is equally wonderful.

  11. GrannyMay 02/21/2014

    How lovely to see these plants that we covet growing happily where they originated. No special care for these orchids! Even our ubiquitous lupine is there. Thank you for sharing these Maria!

  12. annek 02/21/2014

    Exotic is the word of the day! Lovely photos of some spectacular flowers. I was in Ecuador two years ago and fell in love with the country. Enjoy your travels and keep sending photos. They brighten our cold, wintry days.

  13. AnneinQC 02/21/2014

    Lovely Maria! Lucky you, we have rain and freezing rain in Ottawa / Gatineau today. I meant to ask you before what part of Ottawa you live in, looking at your pics it looks like Barhaven (where I used to live) but not sure. Anyway, enjoy the rest of your trip, it would be nice to see some bird pics too!

  14. quinquek 02/21/2014

    Oh how lovely, and I can almost feel the warmth! So nice to see these plants "at home".

  15. Quiltingmamma 02/21/2014

    AnnieinQC, no, I live in Orleans.

  16. GrannyCC 02/21/2014

    Gorgeous flowers. Some of them look like they are made of wax. Enjoy your vacation and thanks for sending the pictures.

  17. sheila_schultz 02/22/2014

    I am so late to respond... but thank you, Maria, for sending photos from one of my favorite countries. Ecuador is truly beautiful and you are allowing us to see it thru your eyes. Enjoy every moment.

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