Ypê (eepay) is Brasil´s National Tree and it blooms in Winter in three colours. The White is very rare and the pink is quite common, however, the yellow can be seen everywhere.
This is a pink Ypê blossoming in front of our house in early July.
There were many blossoms this winter in early July.
The blossom clusters are about 8 to 10 inches across.
They are beautiful but last just a couple weeks.
Then, in mid August, the streets are paved with gold. Yellow Ypê!
This is a group of Ypê in the square one block from our house.
There are several Ypê growing here in various states of blossoming.
The blossoms fall all over and the winter wind carries them all over the square.
Some Ypê are already almost completely bare!
They start to look scragly.
But some are in their full glory!
The cluster blossoms in this Ypê are huge and plentiful. They are gorgeous!
There is even one small pink Ypê with blossoms left in the square.
The Ypê is a beautiful tree. Notice in some cases there are blossoms and no leaves.
The pinks in front of our house now look like trees in Toronto in winter!
New leaves will start to come out in a couple of weeks.
Photos by Urso Branco
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Ypê in Winter, 2009
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Areca Bambú in Summer
In December the coconuts begin to flourish in the Areca Bambú. They grow so many, so fast, that the birds begin to eat the tiny ones.
You can see many branches of them in the Areca Bambú all over town. There were nine branches altogether in our tree.
By the end of February six of the branches had been stripped. But these three were the biggest and the best.
These three branches are full of small coconuts now.
Verey small birds come along to sample the juice from these nuts. But they are usually too timid to wait until we get a camera to photograph them.
You can see here many of the little branches have already been stripped bare.
But look at how many there are left.
I finally got a few pics of a very tiny bird checking out the little coconuts.
He spent a lot of time checking out all the coconuts.
The coconuts are about 1 to 1.5 cm long. Therefore this bird is only about 5 or 6 cm long.
Now the next step is for the Green Parrots to arrive and get their fill of their favourite treat. One day soon there will be a very loud racket as they come to get the ripe coconuts.
Photos by Urso Branco
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Flamboyant in Spring
This is a collection of the beautiful Flamboyant Tree in spring. There are many of them growing around Águas da Prata. Some are just starting to bloom and others are a putting on a really flamboyant show, as the name suggests.
Scroll down and see all these trees near our home.
Photos by Urso Branco
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Beautiful Colours of Hibiscus
Here is a beautiful selection of many colours of Hibiscus, all grown in one garden in Poços de Caldas.
Hibiscus, or rosemallow, is a large genus of about 200–220 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae, native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. The genus includes both annual and perennial plants, and woody shrubs and small trees.
Each blossom here is different either in colour or petal shape or pistols and stamens.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Malvaceae Genus: Hibiscus 
All these beauties were growing in this well maintained private garden.
Hibiscus is a favourite among artists. Here are four samples of wood carving by Ed Lucas of Águas da Prata. The first is a bed head. The others are rustic coat hangers.
As the seasons progress the Hibiscus trees in Águas da Prata will be in full bloom. We will show them as they mature.
Photos by Urso Branco
