Torch Ginger (Photos And Video)

Torch ginger flowers are very unusual looking and remind me of fake or silk flowers.  They are also known as Philippine Waxflower and they do look like they could be made of wax.   They grow up to 20 feet tall and are native to Java, Indonesia.   The flower shown above is a peach or salmon color.   Below are some other photos of mine you might enjoy.

Torch ginger does well in Hawaii, but you don't see it as often as the other varieties of ginger.  There is also a beautiful and very rare white Torch ginger that is found in southern Thailand and it grows from 6 to 12 feet tall.  Below is a video (not mine) which has great shots of the white Torch ginger.

Here is a painting of mine of pink Torch ginger.

"Pink Torch Ginger 2"

12" x 16" acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

My reference photo for the above painting is shown below.  Torch ginger and other tropical flowers are sold locally as cut flowers at various florists as well as many lei shops, especially in Chinatown in Honolulu.

There are other types of ginger which I need to photograph first before I can post them here. For instance, there is a yellow ginger and a pine cone ginger which I have not yet seen but I know they grow in Hawaii.  Much information may be found on the Internet about various ginger plants if you are interested.   

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Makapu'u Point Lighthouse Trail - Oahu, Hawaii

This scene is found at the beginning of the trail to Makapu'u Point Lighthouse.   That mountain to the far right is Koko Crater.  This area is the eastern most point on the island of Oahu; the southeast coast or windward side of the island.   This area is hot and dry and more desert like than the rest of the island.   There were a lot of cactus along the trail.

Here we are at a higher level,  and I rather like this photo for a reference for a future painting.

The trail is paved all the way to the lighthouse, so it is really more of a walk than a hike.  People of all ages come here (with their dogs sometimes) and it is an easy walk; it is a two mile distance and uphill all the way to the lighthouse.  It took us about an hour to reach the lighthouse, but we stopped along the way to take photos.   

As we reached closer to the lighthouse and at a very high elevation, down the cliff many feet below were people enjoying the tide pools; they looked like tiny dots to us from up high, but I zoomed in with my camera and took a few shots of them.   

Makapu'u lighthouse itself is not a very tall structure, but it sits on a 600 foot sea cliff and it has the largest lens in the United States; the lens is 12 feet tall and has over 1000 prisms and the light can be seen over 19 miles out to sea.   The lighthouse was built in 1909 and automated in 1974 and is now owned by the coast guard.   Below is a video (not mine) showing views along the hike.

Below are a couple of photos of mine taken from Makapu'u Beach Park looking towards the lighthouse.  They will give you an idea of the height of the cliff where we walked.  

There is so much beauty found on Oahu as well as the other Hawaiian Islands.   I feel blessed to live here and I am constantly inspired to paint and photograph all the wonders of this paradise.

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Various Ginger Plants In Hawaii

Red And Pink Ginger

Red Ginger is a popular ornamental perennial plant seen positively everywhere in Hawaii.  It was introduced to the Islands sometime before 1930 and is native to New Caledonia, British Solomon Island Protectorate as well as various other locations.   It and the pink ginger are popular as an ornamental and cut flower.   Its Hawaiian name is 'Awapuhi 'ula 'ula .   

This dark pink ginger bract has the buds of its true white flowers.  Many mistake the various colored ginger bracts to be the real flower.  Below is a beautiful variegated variety known as "Polynesian Princess" which I photographed at a vendors display; I have not yet seen them growing as a landscape plant here to photograph them outside.  

There is also a pale pink variety shown below at a small city park at Nuuanu Stream in Honolulu.

The above photo will be a great reference for me to paint from one of these days.  

Blue Ginger

 

Blue ginger is not really a ginger at all but belongs to the Spiderwort family and is native to Brazil.  It is used in the Hawaiian islands as an ornamental garden plant and is a perennial as I believe is true of all the various ginger plants found here.   It grows to about 6 feet tall.  I love the sapphire blue to blue-purple color of this plant and in a weird way it reminds me of Texas bluebonnets.   

Shell Ginger

Shell ginger is named so because its long flower panicles resemble mussels with pink and white shells.  It is quite lovely when fresh, but as the flowers fade they turn an ugly brown.  

There are other ginger flowers to write about, but I will save that for another post real soon.   

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Mount Waialeale, Kauai - The Wettest Spot In USA

This is the trail I took to get closer to Mount Waialeale on the island of Kauai.   Those two post on either side of the trail were where the gate was in a scene from the movie "Jurassic Park".   Parts of Jurassic Park were also filmed on the island of Oahu.   But I digress.  This area at Mount Waialeale is often called the wettest spot on earth, but there are actually two peaks in India that rival it for that description.  The volcanic mountain has an elevation of 5,148 feet and averages more than 452 inches of rain a year or up to 350 rainy days per year.   I was there in the month of February and there was no rain to speak of that day.  

We took a tour that met us at our resort and drove as far as the road would allow and then we hiked for awhile to the following area.

All of these photographs are excellent references for future paintings.   It was quite pleasant to visit this area and I highly recommend it .   The tour guide gave interesting information on the plants as well .   Below are a couple of photos of flowers on Kauai.   Yes , there are plenty of Hibiscus there and poinsetta plants grow year round on all the islands.   

Below is an excellent video you might enjoy (not my video).   There are other You Tube videos as well about Mount Waialeale you can check out. 

Thank you for visiting !

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Oahu's Foster Botanical Gardens' Orchids And Cannonball Tree

These orchids stand a little over 5' 3" in height.  If anyone happens to know the name of this particular plant, please leave a comment on this post or email me.   The volunteer at Foster Botanical Gardens in Honolulu did not know the name of this orchid and it had no name plate near it.  Below is a close up of the flower.

It is not a spectacularly beautiful orchid, but it was my first time to see this type and I am curious as to its name and where it is native to....what country.  Below are some more orchids at Foster Botanical Gardens.

I intend to paint from the above two photographs one of these days.  I have about 5000 reference photos I have taken.... think I will ever paint from them all??  :-)

Below are some images of the cannonball tree and its flowers and fruit.   It is called "Cannonball Tree" because of its large, brown cannon-ball-like fruits.  When mature, the fruit falls to the ground (and hopefully not on someone's head) and splits open often causing the sound of a small explosion.    This tree is native to Northeastern South America and also the Southern Caribbean.   It has been growing for the past two or three thousand years in India, so it may be a native there as well.

Thank you for stopping by to visit !

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Diamond Head Beach - Oahu, Hawaii

Diamond Head Lighthouse at Diamond Head Beach, Oahu

Diamond Head Beach is about a half mile walk from the Southeast end of the beach at Waikiki.  The lighthouse is still functioning.  It is built on the cliff of  the extinct Diamond Head Volcano.  The original Diamond Head lighthouse was built in 1899, and today's structure in 1917.   It stands 55 feet tall and is about 147 feet above sea level.   You can see from this photo that the beach is very narrow.

This is another narrow beach section opposite from the lighthouse.   It is not as rocky in this area.   The swimming here is pretty good; it is less crowded than Waikiki beaches and many surfers frequent this area and snorkeling is popular here as well at Diamond Head Beach.   Below are some photographs taken above the beach along the main road, where there is also limited parking.

The photo directly above with the surfboard was perfect timing.  As I was walking along taking photographs, a surfer walked from his car nearby and temporarily laid his board in the perfect spot just as I walked up.   I quickly took a few shots and felt like it would make a great painting.  Later I did a small acrylic study from the photograph and hope to do a larger painting of this scene in the future.

"Anticipation"

6" x 6" Acrylic on panel

Available

Please return again soon for more inspiring photographs.  I hope I have inspired you to visit Hawaii soon !

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Red-Crested Cardinal (Video and Photos)

The Red-crested Cardinal, or Brazil Cardinal, was first introduced to Hawaii around 1930 from South America. It is native to Southern Brazil, Northern Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.  Personally, I think it is a more striking bird than the solid red Northern Cardinal of the mainland USA (which has also been introduced to Hawaii).   But the Brazilian Cardinal is in reality not closely related to the true cardinals, but instead is a member of the tanager family.  Below are more of my photos of this beautiful bird.

I definitely intend to paint from the bottom photo of the Red-crested Cardinal with the coconut.  He was at Bellows Beach on Oahu and was quite content pecking away at whatever tidbits were in the coconut shell.  

Here is a video (not mine) that you might enjoy of these birds on the island of Kauai :

The brown-headed "Cardinals" in the video are juvenile birds.   The adult birds are about 7.5 inches in length and the sexes are similar.   They feed on seeds and insects, as well as fruit. 

Sometimes I wish there were more time in a day so I could paint everything I photograph !   But I enjoy photography almost as much as my time spent painting.   I hope you enjoy these photographs as well.