Survivors

Today didn't go as planned but they rarely do these days. It was going to be a day of what Americans call yard work, what the British call gardening and what I call working in the sweat-bucket. I hate labouring in mid-80s temperatures and 80% humidity. I just don't see how this is fun yet many people do.

Anyway, I'd planned to work the morning in the yard trying to figure out what needs to be done after the year we've had here - I described a bit of the problem in "Dust bowl". After that I'd drive to Hilo to see what Home Depot had that might help and then end the day weed whacking the yard. I got the last thing done, but not completely.

The problem was that I woke up earlier than usual and in a mood to take photographs, and the plan went tits-up after that. So the morning was spent taking a few photos, watching college football and then realising I was out of toilet paper and propane - oh, and food for the next week. So after showering off I went to the shops and by the time I got back there was just enough time to get the weed whacker out and do a really quick hack job on the property. Not one of my better pieces of work either, but the smell of freshly cut moss made up for it...

Now for the picture show - despite my garden having a hell of a time in the last few months from flooding and extreme drought, some things have survived. Here they are during my tri-annual exercise of trying to remember or work out what all the plants are called:

A pink hibiscus, and if you look closely, a welcome visitor inside.

A red hibiscus which aren't quite as common in my yard, but there are a few still around. Unfortunately, I don't have any yellow hibiscus flowers which is the State's flower, but apparently they're quite rare these days.

A yellow flower. I have no idea what it is - allamanda?

They grow on vines which is why I thought of allamanda, but I really don't know. Here's me looking as if I know something about flowers, and I only know the name allamanda because I found it in a book this evening...


No need to look this one up in a book, it's an orchid. This island is also known as the Orchid Isle so no intellect needed from me to work it out. It's way out of season though.


This is soul-destroying, it's the front yard. A year ago this was a lawn, now it's dirt, exposed roots, a bit of grass and some plants that managed to live through the floods and drought. This is where I plan to turn things around in the next few months - if only I had some idea of what to do. I'm not sure I should bring in new soil yet because if we get rains like last winter, and the long range forecast is that we might in the new year, then it'll all get washed away again.


One part of the yard that's been thriving is the part fronting the road, although thanks to the subdivision authorities' decision to re-surface the road, my little bit of lawn out there has disappeared under gravel. The result is that when I try and weed whack the stuff that is growing through the surface it turns into a tornado of grass, weeds and stones - my shin is full of cuts and bruises this evening! The debris from my work today can be seen on the road.

Finally, a picture taken this morning, before those weeds were removed, of the mystery fruit tree described in "Your starter for ten". The pink/purple stuff belongs to something else growing in the same place, a crimson bougainvillea I believe, and yes, I had to look that up as well. I'm hoping this might help Hilary of "The Smitten Image" who was kind enough to try and help identify my mystery fruit (Hilary's blog is superb and well worth a read!). We're both still at a bit of a loss though.

Oh, and as usual I forgot the toilet paper.