Yellow Mandevilla Vine

A flourishing Mandevilla plant is truly spectacular. The one pictured here almost entirely covers a substantial wall, and even started to climb up the Casuarina Tree behind. The flowers are very similar to those of the Allamanda plant, but slightly smaller.

Mandevilla has little to no fragrance, but it is very attractive to hummingbirds, some moths and butterflies. The vine grows really easily, and if it likes the spot, it will gradually take over everything in sight, so it’s great as a wall or pergola cover and adds great privacy.

The vine does not seem bothered by close proximity to the sea and therefore salty air, but it does need a bit of water periodically. As with most vines, Mandevilla is very hardy. It makes a lovely splash of colour in any garden, and for me, the fact that it attracts birds, butterflies and other insects, is a huge plus.

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

Texas Sage

Texas Sage is a hardy shrub that doesn’t require much watering, trimming or tending generally, so long as it is sheltered from the wind. Every so often you will be rewarded with a stunning display of tiny purple flowers.

Texas Sage has tiny grey leaves not unlike those of Silver Dollar, just much much smaller, and they make good borders or small hedges, but the one shown here has been allowed to grow unrestricted.

The flowering stage is over in a few days, but I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to see this spectacle. A covering of purple flowers seemingly draped over the grey bush.

Blight is the only thing that may cause this shrub to falter. The one pictured here is in a very windy location but is completely sheltered by a building, otherwise it is exposed to a dry and salty environment.

Absolutely spectacular.

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

Purple Patrea

I remember seeing a lot of these when I was a child, and we had a huge plant growing in our yard, that would put out this splendid covering of purple flowers. Then they seemed to disappear   - I think they just went out of favor as tastes changed.

Now, these magnificent plants are coming back in again. I don’t know if they’re easy to grow or not, or how quickly, but they certainly turn heads when the flowers come out.

The leaves are quite coarse, and I don’t think the flowers do particularly well in a vase, but oh my, they do add a splash of colour to the garden.

Bees and wasps love them, so be warned if you’re planning to get up and personal with a specimen. There no particular fragrance from the flowers either, it’s just colour colour colour.

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

So Many Butterflies!

There is an abundance of butterflies all over Barbados right now. So many in fact, that people are actually talking about it. The official reason is that because there is so much more bush around the island and less agricultural crops, that the butterflies that thrive on wild vegetation have exploded. Makes sense.

It seems to be mainly the Cabbage White, a similar sized yellow butterfly and a bigger orange one similar in appearance to a Monarch. But I’ve also seen some tiny little yellow ones and a bunch of others that I can’t identify. As one would expect with a lot of butterflies, there’s also a lot of moths around too. It’s kind of cool.

We’ve always had butterflies, but just a few. Now, if you go outside, there are clouds of them, literally. It’s quite spectacular. Hope you can spot the one in the photo.

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

Cassia & The Bumble Bees

There is a fabulous pink cassia tree on the street on which I live, and this year it bore magnificent pink flowers profusely for weeks. Every morning as I had my daily walk, I passed under this tree, and for several weeks it was buzzing … literally.

I know the sound too well and thought there must have been a hive somewhere in the tree, but I could never see one. The buzzing continued. Then I realized that it was hundreds of bumble bees feeding on the nectar of the cassia flowers. The canopy was thick with bumble bees for weeks.

Now, they’re all gone. There are still flowers on the tree, but I guess they are past the stage that appeals to the bees. I’ve lived on this street for thirteen years, and never noticed this before. Perhaps the weather conditions this year were right for producing a proliferation of flowers that attracted bees from all over the island. Kinda cool!

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

Where Do the Birds Go In a Storm?

We are anticipating the arrival of Tropical Storm Bertha later today (Friday) - the breeze has dropped completely (read “disappeared”) and it’s all very quiet and still. So my question is where do the birds and other creatures go?

A few birds are tweeting and one or two might fly by as I sit outside on my deck, but where will they go for shelter? I know that they know where is the safe place to be, because things in nature know that instinctively, but I want to know too.

Living on a small island like Barbados they can’t exactly just fly to another island that’s outside of the range of the storm. Insects and frogs and lizards will just hunker down under rocks and in cracks and crevices that provide shelter. The monkeys probably go into caves and places like that. But where do the birds go? I shall keep watch this afternoon to see if I notice anything that offers a clue.

Update - TS Bertha missed us, so I still don’t know the answer.

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

What Is Happening with the Blackbirds in Barbados?

Have I been missing it all these years and just suddenly noticed in the last six months or so that blackbirds fight? I don’t know, but all of a sudden I am seeing them fighting everywhere. And it’s vicious.

Perhaps I just didn’t notice, or I saw them fighting and didn’t realize what was happening. But they certainly seem to be doing it a lot now. Blackbirds always tend to be very noisy birds, so with dozens together in one area, it can be quite a cacophony of sound. And it’s not usually a nice melodic bird call, it’s more like squawking.

But it’s this fighting business that has me puzzled. I must just have been missing it, right? But what if I wasn’t, and they really are more aggressive now. What’s going on? Why’s it happening. More competition for food and nesting areas perhaps, and simple posturing is no longer enough to be the big chief? Hmmm.

I shall continue to observe the blackbirds, and perhaps other birds too, just in case there are any other changes in behavior that come to light. On the plus side, I did see a flock of at least fifty parrots yesterday, which was heartening and an unusual sight here in Barbados.

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