A Cloud of Dragonflies

I live in a two-storey building, and there’s a huge tree about 50 feet behind my home - I think it’s taller than my building now. Anyhow, this morning as I’m sitting on the deck enjoying my breakfast, I see this cloud of dragonflies (I don’t know what you call a large number of dragonflies collected together) about equidistant between my home and the tree.

I’ve seen them there before - I guess that air funnels between the building and the tree and there must be something particularly appealing about it to dragonflies. Every few minutes some from the front drop back and others take up the lead - much as in a bicycle peloton. 

The dragonfly cloud will be there for hours from morning until well into the afternoon. If I’m really lucky, sometimes one will come really close and I can see the iridescent reds or greens or blues from just a few feet away. They really are quite lovely. I feel quite privileged when I am lucky enough to see them at such close quarters.

If you’d like to read more about Barbados, please visit my other blog, Things Barbados.

Christmas Blooms

One of the things associated with Christmas in Barbados (and other parts of the world) are the flowers - certain things bloom at this time of year and add to the Christmas feeling.

It's easy to see how the Christmas Candle pictured above gets its name.

Everyone knows Poinsettia (show above). This is the common red one that grows in many gardens around the island.

Snow-on-the-Mountain pictured above. It's easy to see how this shrub gets its name.

I call this Christmas Vine - I don't know it's really name but it grows wild all over the island, and at this time of year the vines flower profusely and, from a distance, a whole field covered in these delicate little flowers give the impression of a snow covered field.

If you'd like to read more about Barbados, please visit my other blog, Things Barbados.

Immortelle Trees

I absolutely love Immortelle Trees. They are so easy to grow - break off a small branch, stick it in a hole in the ground, prop if necessary, water, and voila, in a short period of time you’ll have a mature Immortelle Tree growing in your garden.

In my childhood years I first heard of these trees in relation to Trinidad and Grenada as we didn’t have them here in Barbados. They were everywhere on these islands, and a drive around the countryside revealed these stunning trees with variegated leaves and bright red flowers interspersed with the verdant green of the rainforest and the bright yellow flowers of poui trees.

Now Immortelle Trees are found all over Barbados, but sadly, there is a moth infecting them so many aren’t looking very healthy. The moth causes the leaves to shrivel and turn brown before falling off.

There are two such trees on the street where I live that are in close proximity to each other. I hope they recover. There is a third tree on the street which was cut back severely and, as you can see from the pics, it looks very healthy now. Unfortunately none are flowering at this time of year.

If you’d like to read more about Barbados, please visit my other blog, Things Barbados.