Thursday, January 12, 2012

Sakura (桜) and Red Flowers (花) in Okinawa (Photo Essay)


Day two of the Cherry Blossom (桜) search proved to be much better than yesterday's encounter with the pink and red flowers (花) the island of Okinawa is supposed to be showing-off this time of year.

 Here are a few photos of the Sakura spotted on Mt. Yadake this morning.  They are starting to bloom.


Every year, I like to take some close up shots, along with a few wide angle photos to show the scenery.  
But, there were only a few trees starting to blossom.  
Wait another week, or two would be my recommendation.  
Over 90% of the trees haven't even got the little red buds that produce the flowers, yet.

 Not one to let a good day of camera shooting go to waste, I left Mt. Yaedake and looked around the rest of the hills in Motobu and Nakajin.  That's where I came across these bright red flowers.

 Somebody will have to help me identify these characters because I have no clue what they might be named.  UPDATE: Red Powderpuff

Next, I found these Poinsettia Plants growing alongside the road.  There was nobody around to assist me so, I set the camera timer for 12 seconds and ran over to point up at one of the things.  That's just in case someone thought I was exaggerating about how humongous these plants get.  Huge !

It has been a long, busy day for me and I still have a few hundred photos left to process so, I'm going to hurry and post this for all those anxious to know how the Sakura are looking up north in Okinawa, Japan.  
The hills should burst out in bright pink and red colors, any day nowStandby...


 






13 comments:

Denise said...

I used to buy a Poinsettia plant every Christmas...it always died around three weeks later.

Muza-chan said...

Great pictures, Mike :)

Laurel said...

I love cherry blossoms. I have no idea what the red flowers are, but they're beautiful.

InsideJourneys said...

Your flowers are beautiful. Love the red theme. Those poinsettias are huge! Those here are just beginning to bloom but they're definitely not as tall.

Average Traveller said...

It's always nice to human-size things in pictures. I have a friend who is a landscape architect and his wife didn't understand why she always had to be in his travel pictures of lamps and garbage cans until he told her it was for scale!

Leigh said...

I'll look forward to seeing some blossoms in about...3 months time. Love those red flowers and prefer poinsettias in the wild to the Christmas ones that I can't stand the sight of on December 26th.

Michael Figueiredo said...

Beautiful photos!

Sophie said...

Those are poinsettias? Must be excellent climate for them there. Nice, colourful shots, Mike.

Nancie said...

Beautiful colors! I think that the unscientific name for the one that you don't know is a bottle brush. I have seen these in Taiwan, and love them.

Mary said...

Beautiful floral pictures! I'm looking forward to seeing your Sakura posts when they are in full bloom. Those are some huge poinsettias indeed.

RyukyuMike said...

Denise, Muza-chan, Laurel, InsideJourneys, Average Traveller, Leigh, Michael Figueriredo, Sophie, Nancy and Mary, WOW !
Hope I didn't miss anybody. Thank you all for stopping by and commenting.

Unknown said...

Hi Mike, thanks for posting these nice photos. Did you by now identify these bright red flowers. I have been on Okinawa a few month ago and have seen them also. So, I am just curious to know what these flowers are.

Best regards,

August

RyukyuMike said...

August, Red Powderpuff, I believe
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2313/