Flowers In Almost Everybody's Backyard

We call this fuschia colored flower - Bangkok. It is hardy, loves the sun, and does not demand too much attention. Blooms all year round too.

There was a time when everybody went gaga over this rose cactus. There are actually several colors for this variety but the most common or popular is red. It is thorny and needs cool shade. I wondered why I have no success in growing them. Eventually I lost interest in it.

Oh I love this one. I even made my own name for it - grass flowers! They only bloom in the morning and wilts around 11:00 in the morning. But on the the following day new batches will open their flowers once again. They can grow anywhere. However mine demanded to be watered everyday.

These yellow flowers are actually of the vine family which can be draped around trellises or posts. One of my cousins had them and they look pretty on her porch. They just need to be trimmed constantly to avoid over crowding. Hers almost covered her door.

Nanay used to have a shrub of these peach colored double gumamela. Both of us used to love it dearly. Unfortunately we never saw the ants that were building their homes around it's roots. When the aphids attacked the shrub, it gave up and died. My mother and I both mourned its loss.

These gumamela here and the one below are actually not the local variety. One of my auntie has shrubs of these varieties and they can grow as high as the roof tops. But they are really very pretty.

I remember back when I was still in elementary school, we were always asked to bring a gumamela whenever we study the parts of a flower. I wonder if the students today are still asked the same...

Photo Credits: My Best Homes Realty