Flowers make me give my best smile :)

Jill of all trades, that's what some would always tell me.  I would say, I am not.  I am just a person with so many interests that consequently, negatively affect my life.  Hahah!

It's frustrating when you  enjoy "so much" of many things that the tendency is losing  focus.  Until now, I don't know which among my interests is the most appealing for me.  LOL.

Anyway, here's one of the many things that I love to do.  I think only a few people knows that I love flowers, thus I got to like flower arrangement.  I even had a seminar workshop about 7 or 8 years ago with Pancho Pantig, a famous florist in Pampanga just to gain knowledge of this field.

In the years that passed, I was able to apply what I have learned during a wedding of a friend's friend where I made corsages and bouquets for the entourage and the bride, on a wedding of my uncle where I became the official florist/make-up artist/cook/photographer (what more can you ask for? hehehe!), during one Halloween party at work where I made headdresses for my teammates and on All Saint's Day.

Recently, I was tasked to arrange three pots of flowers on All Saint's Day.  It has been a long time since I arranged one and I was glad I still remembered a few principles.  The arrangement was not that spectacular but I was proud of the outcome given the limited resources.  :)

Fire Trees = Flame Trees

Even if the sun's heat is deeply hurting  our skin these days,  there are still a lot of things to enjoy during summer days.  I know that beach and swimming  are the first few things that come to our to mind since summer will not be complete without having a trip to the best beaches in our county. 

Oh! I am getting off-topic. LOL.  Actually, not really since I've been meaning to post these beautiful trees with flowers covering their branches as they make my summer days refreshing. 

I've been working in Clark  Field, Pampanga for almost 11 years now and these trees never cease to impress me.  Just looking at them while I travel daily, 5 days a week on a very hot afternoon shift,  brightens my day.  They remind me of a folklore on the evolution of the these trees that I read in a Reading textbook in Grade 4.  It was a love story that  at a  young age taught me about loving and losing.  Hahah! 

Look at how high the sun is from this picture.   It was almost 2 PM when I took this picture.  Can you see the leaves and the flowers? 

I remember these trees were named as Fire Trees in the book . Until today, I use that term when I refer to them.   But now, while searching for that folklore I read, I discovered on different sites that they are called FLAME  TREES and not fire trees.   Whenever I share to my friends what their names are, they would just say, "OH or Really?"!  I guess they really never catch their attention. 

Let me tour you to the beautiful roads on my way to work where the flame trees make my trip shorter and enjoyable.

The first set of trees welcoming you on the not-so-busy and clean roads of Clark. 

Getting closer....

And closer...

Yay! I was able to capture one that was a little bit close-up.  Don't they just look like cherry blossoms in a different color?  ;-)

 Oh! Here's another close-up pic that is located at the entrance of Philexcel.

 

 Btw, the flowers are not just red-orange in colors.  The picture below shows a different variety -  a yellow one but of a same specie.  The picture was taken in Minalin, Pampanga.  I have observed yesterday that Clark also has a few of them but the flowers are not as vibrant yet as the one below. 

 

Flame trees are actually Delonix regiao.  They are also known to some as arbol de fuego.  Wikipedia says that "Delonix regia is a species of flowering plant from the Fabaceae family, noted for its fern-like leaves and flamboyant display of flowers. Often grown as an ornamental tree and given the name Royal Poinciana or Flamboyant, it is also known as Gulmohar (Hindi and Urdu), KrishnachuRa (Bengali), Malinche, and Tabachine^[1], and one of several named the Flame tree. The species was previously placed in a genus Poinciana, named for Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy who is credited with introducing the plant to the Americas."

So, if you weren't able to have a beach outing, don't despair for there are ways to do it.  Enjoy the beauty of our nature!