. . . to all my readers in 2014.
I’m also happy to welcome some new visitors thanks to Fine Gardening’s blog, Garden Photo of the Day, which has featured our Kigali garden for December 30 and 31 (and New Year’s Day).
We’re down to our last week in Rwanda; next stop: Germany — where it’s been snowing for the last four days.
Happy New Year to you all!
I have done relatively little work in the garden since October, when we returned from our home leave in the U.S. — so finding these bird of paradise or Strelitzia reginae blooms this morning was a nice surprise.
I will keep this post quite short because our internet speed has taken a nosedive today (descending to brink-of-tears level), and I just need to get on and off and go decorate the tree.
This is my last Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day report from Rwanda. Next month, we are moving to Stuttgart, Germany. We are very excited about living in Europe for the first time. Please stay tuned. . . . and send me recommendations of German gardens to visit.
To see what’s blooming today for other garden bloggers, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
And have a wonderful holiday season!
. . . an occasional large and dramatic avian visitor to our garden — about 30′ up, climbing around in one of our several Grevillea robusta trees.
Also known as Lady Ross Turacos, the birds are about 18″ long with mostly dark blue feathers. I got a very quick look at the ends of this one’s wings — bright red and only visible in flight.
I have seen them in different tall trees around the garden before — the last time in a pair. The males and females look exactly alike.
Today, this one was making only a noisy, repetitive croak, which drew me to look for it. But, previously, I have also heard them make a more melodious call, which I remember as sort of a loud cooing sound (a contradictory description, I know).
My soul into the boughs does glide;
There like a bird it sits and sings,
Then whets, and combs its silver wings;
And, till prepar’d for longer flight,
Waves in its plumes the various light.— Andrew Marvell, from “The Garden“
Raindrops on the Graptopetalum leaves yesterday morning.
It had rained the night before, for the third time in two weeks. Maybe the summer dry season is ending early?
(I would normally look for consistent heavy showers to start in early to mid September and last until late December.)
I have been hoping for an early fall rainy season, since we only have a few more months in the country, and I would like to see the garden in high growth mode one more time.
ADDENDUM: 6:27 p.m. — raining.
U.S. Embassy-Rwanda LGBT Pride chalk graffiti mural, created June 24, 2014.
enclos*ure 