TURQUOISE PUYA...

You are quite welcome my friend, I'm really glad you like them! I love this color of turquoise, I'd never seen a flower with this color before until I happened across this pic! Have a great day my good friend!...Hugs

Stunning and breath-taking. Nature never ceases to surprise me. Thank you so much for posting.

Ann, the tiny mantises definitely sound much cuter than the adult ones! I'm trying REALLY hard not to picture in my mind, an adult mantis eating a poor newly-hatched baby hummingbird! :((( UGH! I can just picture you out there with your paper 'lasso' whipping it in the air at them screaming "heeaaww, heeaaww, git along there little mantises". Hee, hee! Your neighbors must have thought you'd lost your mind! Haw, haw!
I hope we have much better luck with our new trees too! I sure hope your the praying kind, cause we could sure use all the prayers we can get right now that those gosh-awful beetles don't come back and kill off the new trees we plan on planting real soon! We still have our two giant ash trees in the back yard, thank the Lord those icky beetles didn't get to them! My husband planted those almost 40 years ago! I sure hope your planning on asking someone with some muscles to help you plant your new trees, I don't want to have to worry about you getting out there all by yourself to do it! Sure do wish I could see your beautiful parkland, sounds like you've put a lot of hard labor and money into it to make it what it is today! Wow! I'm sure glad we don't get tornado"s, I'd be scared out of my mind, and wouldn't know the first thing to do to be safe in one! It's so sad about it taking out your little Sportscar and doing all that damage to your propery, but it's a good thing you were smart enough to buy ins. on all of it! Some people just don't think about that until it's way too late! Your Isuzu Turbo Impulse sounds like it was a real sweet ride, in fact, I'm trying to picture you driving around in a sweet little sports car like that in the first place! Tell me Ann, are you going through your second childhood? Haw, haw! That sounds like something I would do, I could definitely see myself in 10 to 20 years from now driving around in a sweet little ride like yours! L.O.L. So sorry, I don't mean to poke fun at you, especially when your still hurting from the pain of losing your beloved sportscar! I know that must have been just plain awful for you! You know, I can't even imagine staying in a motel with a tiny kitchenette for as long as you did! I would go absolutely batty! It's very good that Allstate paid for everything, I'm so happy for you that they did! Your premiums must be astronomical for them to have done that for you! Even boarding your two dogs for you, I think that's just wonderful! Well guess what, now I've written another book, I suppose I'd better get off too before jigidi starts charging me a fee also! I wonder, can they really do that? L.O.L. Take care my friend! Be safe tomorrow while you are planting your new trees!...Hugs

Monica, those tiny mantises WERE so cute! They went scurrying all over my windshield. I felt like a cowhand herding them all with my paper 'lasso'! :-) Many of them did stop & defy me on the way, with their tiny, tiny pincers up in the air. Just precious! I was so glad I got almost all of them onto the azalea. Realistically, I know the majority never survived to adulthood, but I feel that none would have had I swooshed them with the wipers or just driven off & let them blow onto the roadway. The adults, at 2 1/2" or 3" tall are NOT so cute---especially when you see them holding onto a bug & eating it alive! UGH! They have even been known to snatch new-hatched hummingbirds! But all the other bugs they eat make them so worthwhile (just like snakes are!).
I hope you have good luck with your new trees. I just cannot imagine myself living without trees. I have planted so many in the 25years I've had my little piece of heaven. And I'm still planting! Just got my two larger variety nandinas for the Wild Place today---will plant them tomorrow. And I have three more trees coming. The whole back half of my property, except for the small 'seed' of an area that became the Wild Place, was treeless & had been a mini 'farm' when I bought, but not anymore!! I've turned it into a parkland--- with trees.
That tornado put me in a motel with kitchenette for 3 1/2 months while everything was being rebuilt. My biggest tear-producer, though, was my car---an Isuzu Turbo Impulse Sportscar. I never saw another one like it. It was the only one like it in the whole Southeast (so I was told!) & I loved it dearly. It was totaled! My pickup only 2' away had a broken windshield & small dent at the edge of roof. Go figure--- The car was irreplaceable; the truck--- a dime a dozen. And Isuzu had quit making anything but trucks. I've always said that the One Above was just showing me who was boss & teaching me to value the important concepts of life more than the 'things'--- I was safe & unharmed, as were my dogs. Oh, but I loved that car ;~(-------- But all these thousands & thousands of dollars were not taken from my pocket, other than the premiums I had paid. I was "In Good Hands" and Allstate paid for EVERYTHING, bless 'em. Rebuilding, removal of trees & all debris, repairing downed fences, my motel, even boarding my two dogs. I was so thankful for them.
Well, I see I've written another book, LOL, so I'd better get off before Stefan & the other Jigidi bosses start charging me a fee. Take care..................

Hi Ann. I sure wish we had Ladybugs all the time in our gardens, then I wouldn't have to go out and buy the little buggers! That's a wonderful idea about releasing the Ladybugs in my neighbors yard on a windy day, the only problem with that is my luck they would all fly to the neighbors behind our house! L.O.L. We don't have Praying Mantises at all, I wish we did as yours sound so very cute, especially the baby ones! I can just picture that baby Mantis sitting there with it's tiny arms raised in the air ready to take you out! L.M.A.O. Such a brave little Mantis, protecting all of his other siblings like that! Hee, hee! I'm so happy you were able to save the little buggers and put them in a very safe place! I guess you and I are definitely a lot a like as I would have done exactly the same thing! We are good people you and me, too bad there's not a lot more of us out there! I have seen your puzzle of your huge live oaks and they are truly beautiful, I wish we could grow them out here in Vegas but they just don't do very well at all! It's too bad about the tornado taking out your trees like that, it always breaks my heart too to see that happen! We had a really bad storm a few years ago that took out most of my neighbors biggest and oldest most beautiful trees and it just totally broke my heart to see them go! :( Our trees that we lost were native to our area, so that's why I was so surprised that they didn't come back from all of the damage from those awful bugs! I guess the bugs were just too much for our trees to handle! :( We'll probably try replanting new trees of the same kind and keep our fingers crossed that those bugs don't come back and kill them too! I was so sorry to hear about that tornado doing so much damage to your property like that, especially your house and car, that's just plain awful! It must have been very costly to repair all of that damage, so I sure hope you had great insurance to take care of it! Well, gotta go for now as my hubby has been jumping up and down screaming for his dinner as I sit here writing this long letter to you! He gets very grumpy when he's not fed on time! L.O.L. I've been slow-cooking a chicken stew all day in my crock pot and it smells so heavenly! So I guess I better go feed the grumpy hungry bear before he bites my head off and starts chewing on that instead! :))) Hugs to you my friend, have a great day/evening!

Hi Monica. Yes, we have bugs but for some reason they aren't a problem at my house. Plenty of ladybugs to eat the aphids; plenty of praying mantis & birds, etc., to eat most everything else. A couple of years ago I pulled out of my garage and there were probably 100+ newly hatched mantises on my windshield. I was SO glad it wasn't raining--the wipers would have wreaked havoc because I couldn't see them at first. They must have been layed on the rafter & fell to the car. They were the cutest, tiniest things. And feisty! I poked my finger towards one & it raised up like it would take my finger off---all 3/16" of him! It was so cute! So I slowly backed down the drive & pulled up under an azalea. I got a piece of paper from the car & herded them into the bush, where they belonged. I don't know how many would have died in the garage. Maybe there would have been enough skeeters & gnats for some of them but probably not all. I spent quite a bit of time with them that day & enjoyed them thoroughly. They were perfect little miniatures of their parents---only cuter. I have so many experiences that I forget about until someone or something triggers the memory. Thanks for this one, Monica.
It's a shame about your trees. Losing a tree breaks my heart. Have you seen the puzzle of my huge live oaks? I have three now but there were five---until a tornado took out two AND the top of my house AND two pecan trees AND part of my maple(see a recent puzzle of the maple). Much, much more damage, too (car, garage, more). But bugs haven't been a problem so far. Were your trees native to your area? Those kind seem to withstand most anything so they're the best kind to plant.
I can picture you now, hopping up & down & yelling at ladybugs!! so funny! And it sounds like just the kind of thing I would do---I guess we ARE a lot alike. Maybe you should get some more ladybugs & one day when the wind is strong coming FROM your neighbor's direction just go over there & release them. Maybe you folks have ornery ladybugs & this batch will fly, with help from the wind, into your yard just to be contrary. ;-D .................

Oh Ann, you wouldn't believe the bugs we get here in Nevada! Tons of them, and they are all awful each in their own way! You don't get spider mites or aphids on your rose bushes? Or those horrible giant water beetles? I can go on and on about the bugs we get here that are a constant problem with our flowers and trees! Some really icky beetles came through here once and completely killed off all of our trees in the front yard, all of our neighbors trees got hit with them too! We had planted those trees 14 years ago, so, so very sad to see them go like that! Right now, Garden of Eden sounds terrific, before, not after of course! I wish we had lots of butterflies in our gardens, that would be so sweet! Last year I went to the Nursery and bought two containers of Ladybugs to release in my back yard so that they would eat all of those horrible aphids we get on our roses, and guess what, when I released them they all took off and killed all the aphids on my neighbors roses instead! What a waste of money that was, I'll tell you I was sooooo mad! You should have seen me out there screaming at the top of my lungs, "Nooooooooo, you get back here you stinking Ladybugs! Ha, ha, ha! I wish the birds would eat all of these bugs, that would be wonderful, especially since I feed those very ungrateful birds every day!

I think we are both talking about the Garden of Eden---before, not after! If we had that I'm sure we, being human, would do something to bugger it up! Hawhaw!
I can hardly believe Nevada has more bugs than Florida, especially the plant-eating kind. I must be really fortunate--I don't seem to have a problem like yours. A kazillion butterflies, but I don't know where they lay their eggs. The caterpillars are not a problem. Oh, I see a few now & then but they don't do much damage. They're eating something, though, because I get a lot of 'flutterbys'. Maybe all the birds that hang around my place keep most other bugs in check..............

Your forgetting never having to worry about insects either, wouldn't that be a joy too! I hate those pesky things that are always bugging my flowers, plants, bushes and trees! Their always killing something or making my garden unsightly! UUURRRRRGH!!! That has always been my greatest gardening wish too my friend, everything you said and more! "Sigh" Wouldn't that just be soooooo wonderful, ohhhhhh how beautiful our gardens would be! Yes, the perfect gardener's world, I agree!

My great gardening wish has always been that every plant & tree I plant would live & grow quickly to the exact size & condition I want it to be----and then stop and stay that size & condition forever without my having to do a thing to keep it that way!! Oh, sigh.......... No pruning, and of course no weeds interfering with it that you have to get rid of, only enjoyment; a perfect gardener's world! Oh, sigh, siiiighhhh............

Hello there Ann, how are you doing today? I think it would be absolutely wonderful if we all could have any flowers in our gardens that we wanted and that we'd never have any problems with them, such as bugs and diseases! Yes, that would be fabulous wouldn't it? Thanks again for stopping by my good friend!...Hugs

This is gorgeous, Monica. Of course, turquoise and/or baby blue are about my most favorite colors in the whole world! Wouldn't it be great if we all could have such beautiful flowers in our gardens? Thanks so much for showing this to us.............

:D

U are very welcome :))))

Hello again gnt! You make me feel so good about what I'm doing with this flower series! I must be doing something right! L.O.L. Thanks again my friend, for commenting.

Well I must thank U also monica as I have never seen a flower like that one and it is just plain beautiful....thanks for posting it for me to see it......... :))))

Sandy- You are quite welcome my friend! This is a very unusual color to me too! So happy you liked it, thanks so much! Have a great weekend!

Pinknblack- You are very welcome pnb, I'm really glad that you are enjoying them! Yes, it is quite an unusual color I really like it myself! You have a wonderful weekend too my friend! Be safe!

Emerald-Turquoise, that is a new colour of flower for me. Quite amazing, unusual and appreciated. Thanks for finding these unique treasures of nature to share with all of us. have a great weekend.

Wow! I have never seen a flower this color. And they look as soft as butter. Thanks for your unusual flower postings Monica. Sandy

Your quite welcome my friend, so happy that you liked it! Would love to see pics of your Bromeliads in Australia!

What an amazing colour Monica!!! We have bright Bromeliads here in Australia but nothing like this giant. Thanks.