Saturday 14 June 2008

Petrea Season

Petrea is still one of my favourite flowers. There are three varieties available locally. The older, light lilac one, a new vibrant purple (the one below) and a white one. In Guatemala, petrea are everywhere. Because of the combination of the dip in temperature and the volcanic soil, both petrea and jacaranda really put on spectacular shows. It's been years since I visited Guatemala but I still think of it as a purple country. The petreas are just coming in. Blooming usually follows heavy rain after a protracted dry spell.
The ones in North Eastern Trinidad have come in before their Western counterparts- strange- but I am hoping that my own will soon follow suit.

I was able to shoot these lovely blooms at Wendy Lee Yuen's farm where we are finishing up our advanced landscaping course. I really like horticulture. Could I do it as a business? The jury is still out on that one. But chances are that I will continue to write about gardening and see where that takes me. Whichever way, it allows me the exquisite pleasure of coming face to face with natural beauty on a daily basis.

15 comments:

Aiyana said...

Wonderful photos and informative post!
Aiyana

Chrissy said...

Wow I've never seen these before. They are absolutely beautiful. Best of luck with your landscaping business :o)

Anonymous said...

Hiya

Great blogs....love the content and the pictures...makes me miss home even more. Have you read this one ....http://themanicoureport.com A really great trini blogges -manicou also has a long list of other trini bloggers.

Keep up the excellent work.

Anonymous said...

I have this plant in my garden here in India. My children and I simply call it the 'helicopter flower'(because you can hold the dry flower upside down and spin it like the blades of a helicopter : )
Its nice to think of gardens so far away from mine growing the same plants and enjoying the same flowers.

garden girl said...

really beautiful. I just love blue flowers.

It seems to me when you do what you love, things tend to fall into place. I've been pleased with the growth of my gardening business started this spring. Even in a recession, I've had as much business as I can handle simply by putting my business card at the cash register at the nursery where I work. From my first clients I've received referrals, and the business is growing well.

Good luck with your developing career! I think seeing where your writing takes you is an excellent approach.

Green thumb said...

Hi Sharon, lovely pictures of Petrea! I love this flower and off late I have been searching it for my garden.
I too want to convert my passion for gardening into business, but have no idea how to do it. Medicine is paying me well and its satisfying too, but my heart lies in my plants. I want to do something related to gardening as a part time business, as I cannot forego my work as a Doctor.Any ideas how to do that???

Nan Sheppard said...

Our petreas are outrageous, too, and when you stand in them they hummmmmmmm with busy bees!

Just a reminder/nag to email me a frog photo and description before Sunday!

Millie said...

Sharon - I think you have great talent with both your writing & photography. Could you combine both into a photo-journalism role? I know that there are many magazines who are always on the look-out for good pieces by Freelancers. Most generally have submission details on their websites. Just a thought!
Millie ^_^

My Chutney Garden said...

Hi All,
Thanks so much for all your posts- it's always lovely to think of people the world over experiencing the same things-
No Rain- Thank you, we are not like you tonight. We are full of rain. :)
Chriss- I'm not sure where petreas come form origially- but they are beautiful. My own are now in, a
full week after the ones in the East of the island.
Anonymous- Yes, Manicou's blog is great- Thanks for visiting and giving all your positive feedback.
Sunita- We do the same thing here- and the children call them the helicopter plant as well. We really are a global village
Garden girl- Congrats!
Green Thumb: Maybe try planting and propagating on a small scale and see if you can sell small thins like lavender baskets, or mango chutney. Small cottage industry things-ifnot write a column for your newspaper
Nan- Frogs on their way to Miss Frog
Millie: Thank you- that's so sweet of you- I do actually write and will have my websigte up soon so I can start to bid for business outside of the region.
Thanks everyone!

Nan Sheppard said...

Chutney Garden, where ARE you? No frog pics, nothing new on your blog. Is Blink on the blink? Is Flow not flowing?

My Chutney Garden said...

Nan,
I'm back.
It's been a long week. :(
sharon

Carolyn said...

as always, i love to see those lovely pix. Too bad i lived in an apartment..but seeing your photos at least makes me feel i have E-garden :-)

Nidhi Jain said...

Hey Sharon, nice blog..n nicer pics of these purple flowers...I specially liked what u've written as ur profile!N ofcourse ur blog name has this "Chutney" to it...which all Indians adore!!! : )

Anonymous said...

Hi Sharon, your blog is very impressive. I am a blogging newbie and really have no clue how to make a blog this pretty!!

I want to thank you for the Petrea pictures. A neighbor of mine who speaks no English has a very lovely Petrea vine. I was dying to find out its scientific name, but the language barrier made that impossible.

I am happy to finally have a solved mystery! :)

Cheers,
Grovespirit

Anonymous said...

Hi Sharon,

What incredible pictures!
I am always amazed at your content.
Life at it's best!
Simply beautiful.
I feel like I have traveled along with you, experiencing the new and unknown. Such clarity in your pictures! wow! what's your secret?
I have added your site to my new reading list. So if you see (bessye) listed, it's me...now I can keep updated more frequent.