Mutant Hibiscus
We have several hibiscus plants growing on the side of the house, and they produce some spectacular blooms. I'm planning to move the plants to the front of the house, because at the moment the best view of the hibiscus is from the neighbor's yard.
One of the plants has huge sturdy yellow hibiscus with a red center, and it blooms a lot. I went out to photograph the flowers one day, and I noticed that one was very odd.



At first glance, it seems usual, but then I noticed that the top of the stamen actually had a set of petals! Tiny, but misplaced. I've never seem that before, and I don't know if this is a one-time anomaly or a genetic change. Here's a closeup of the stamen with its extra petals.


Now if I could just get a good picture of the giant red double hibiscus...it is so full and fluffy you can't see the stamen and it looks like an enormous rose!

This post is all about pictures; the plants that grow around our new house, and the geckos that live in the rock wall.

Purple flowers and heart shaped leaves


The waterfall without the water


Leaf about to unfurl


Ferns and vines


Gecko one


Gecko two


Gecko three - look at those long toes!

New house!

I'm moving again - we bought a house...it's open and airy and surrounded by palms and helicona and hibiscus. We have to paint some of the inside - we can't live with the super-bright yellow and green, though the slate blue is nice.
Here's a few pictures...

Front of the house.


My bedroom with the shutters closed.


The view from my bedroom window.
More pictures as we move in and make it our own.

50 Years of Fashion

I volunteered at a costume exhibit celebrating 50 years of statehood and 50 years of Ala Moana Center. It was a tiny portion of the University of Hawai'i Costume History collection, just 50 pieces from more than 20,000.
Part of the exhibit was a very abbreviated history of aloha shirts and mu'umu'u, from the late 50s to the present. Also included were some antique mu'umu'u dating back to the 19th century, illustrating the origins of the mu'umu'u.

This white muslin gown, based on the "tea gown" that western women wore at home, called a holoku, is the forerunner of the modern mu'umu'u. When missionary women arrived in Hawai'i in 1820, they were shocked at the hawaiian women's general way of dressing in a kapa skirt and little else. Hawaiian women were no doubt fascinated by the missionary women's elaborate dress. They had never seen white women before, and the white women wore corsets and layers of petticoats, and carefully sewn and embellished dresses. Those first mu'umu'u were a simple adaptation of western dress to a looser style that would fit the more robust Hawaiians.

The detail shows the lace and embroidered decoration. This style was worn for nearly a century, usually in white but sometimes in black, possibly for mourning.
Not until the 20th century did the modern concept of the mu'umu'u begin to form. As the world opened up and travelers arrived not to do business or to preach, but simply to enjoy the weather and the beauty of islands, bright cotton prints featuring local flowers and scenes were used to make clothes suitable for relaxing and being a tourist.

A Third Lizard?

As Anna Maria suggested, I may have a lizard farm in my bedroom. Today I found another lizard - this is a tiny one, but not Fluffy. She doesn't have the same markings, and she couldn't be the offspring of the big fat one I saw, because eggs take 50-60 days to hatch. She seems to be the exploring type, because I saw her in the hallway, then on the wall inside the door, and just now in the bathroom. She was climbing up the wall above the sink, so I was able to get a good shot of her. I feel like I should give them all names, or maybe just call them all Fluffy. I don't know why they seem to like my room so much, maybe Fluffy put out the word that it's a lizard-friendly environment.
By the way, these geckos have gold eyes...amazing if you get a chance to see them up close.

I have TWO lizards!

I thought I saw another lizard in my bedroom, and today I got a good look at her. She was on the window, and didn't run away immediately even though I was close. She's very pale and fat, with no dark markings like Fluffy, and I can see she has eggs inside her ready to lay. I often hear her "chirping" late at night.
Fluffy is still around; I saw her on the ceiling the other night, and the other morning I was awakened early by machine noises outside and reached over to the bedside table to get my earplugs. Fluffy ran right over my fingers! I looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of her running to hide. The spot where she ran over my fingers was right where she hatched!

Mango Season

Mangos2, originally uploaded by tarazara.

I can't eat mangos, but I love the way they look on the tree. These are not quite ripe - the red will slowly take over the green, the purple will take over the red, and there might be flecks of yellow; then they will be ready to eat (but not by me).