Strelitzia

Strelitzia is species of perennial plants native to South Africa. The genus is named after the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, birth place of Queen Charlotte of Great Britain.
Doble_Strelitzia_10May09(comp)The leaves are large and similar to a banana leaf they are arranged strictly in two ranks to form a fan-like crown of evergreen foliage. The stunning flowers, because of their supposed resemblance, gives the plant it’s common name of bird of paradise flower, especially the orange coloured Strelitzia reginae. Here is an image of our Strelitzia reginae, which flowered earlier in the year.

Below: Strelitzia Augusta (Alba) which has a less impressive flower, but the plant grows taller and gives superb foliage.

 

Carobs

Ceratonia siliqua – carob, Algarrobo in Spanish. A Mediterranean evergreen tree that grows in heat and drought. Flowering in the autumn Carobs23Jun09the green pods turn brown and ripen the following autumn and are used for animal feed and also processed to make a gum used as a thickening agent. History says that the word Carob is related to Carat and the bean was a measure which became the standard for measuring the weight/quality of gold and gemstones. The tree has other names such as locust bean and St John’s bread which tradition says, refer to St John the Baptist eating honey and locusts, the bean rather than the insects. In Luke 15 v 16 the pods that the swine ate could have been carobs!

Barn Swallows

On the 30th May we have a pair of swallows, (Hirundo rustica, Golondrinas in Spanish) intent on building a nest platform on a ceramic lamp in our front courtyard, we have tried to give them alternatives and when they decided to build on something totally unsuitable we gave in and let them continue on the lamp.
They are insectivores, so that might be useful, however they are noisy and I fear messy. It will give us an opportunity to photograph them and any chicks they have.

The featured image was captured 16th June 2009 – 10 days old.