flowers – Page 3 – Postcards from Barton Springs

Postcard from Rome, Italy: Springtime

May 1, 2018 postcardsfromsanantonio1 Comment

“Cupid and Psyche,” ceiling fresco by Rafael (1483-1520) in the loggia of Villa Farnesina

April has been dry in Rome, meaning, for a pair of flaneurs, it approached perfection.

One would think flowers feel differently about it. Yet bright pink blossoms defiantly cover the trunk of a tree maimed by an errant trimmer, and tiny flowers force their way through seemingly inhospitable cracks and crevices of ancient walls.

May Day arrives with showers, so no telling what blossoms will spring forth tomorrow.

Perhaps, instead of wandering afar, these boulevardiers need to devote part of the drizzly holiday admiring the greening of the thirsty plants around the patio, toasting the workers’ day off with a refreshing spring dose of Campari and tonic.

Postcards from Oaxaca, Mexico: Plantscapes

October 25, 2017 postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment

In the historic center of Oaxaca, the colonial buildings abut the sidewalks. There are no frontyard gardens.

Yet rows of agave and yucca in front of Santo Domingo are dramatic in this urban setting. Showy plants that blossom, such as the tulipan tree above, make you stop in your tracks.

Threatening thorny limbs ensure protection of whatever the shocking pink bloomer with yellow center is above. And the pink flowers profiled against the blue sky above the patio of La Biznaga probably make those best-in-the-world margaritas taste even better.