Blue Sky Flowers

As the northern temperate zone edges into spring it is the blisteringly hot season here in Thailand. There is hardly a cloud in the sky with the highest temperatures of the year coming in the next few weeks. It's a time to seek shade and drink a lot of water. But it is also a time for plants to bloom, particularly trees, and that combination of high flowers against a blue sky is irresistible (and, of course, very photogenic).

Our garden is six years old now having started life as a disused paddyfield. The trees are starting to look like trees and their annual flower show is improving every year. All these photographs were taken in the last week and are of the trees we planted in our garden when we moved in. This means I get the extra pleasure of having played a part in their creation.

Yellow trumpetbush

Pink shower tree

Frangipani

Golden shower tree

But the power of the sun gets them in the end. The flowers drop and carpet the ground in a final brief show of beauty before shrivelling to brown and getting recycled by the termites. If this heat keeps up that may well be the way I end up as well!