Hana Highway Maui Hawaii

May 9th.  I really like looking at colorful peacocks, although the birds are actually quite obnoxious at times.  So when we had the chance to photograph some, I took quite a few shots.

I spotted this gardenia.  The ones in my garden at home never look this good!  It helped that it had been raining earlier, so you can see some raindrops on the petals.

                  Gardenia

Often leis are made from the white and yellow plumeria or frangipani flower.  There are also many other colors, but I've mostly seen white and dark pink ones in Hawaii.  The flower has many other names, depending on their location in the world and they smell heavenly.  

For more information, I enjoyed looking at this website, even though it is a commercial site: http://www.allthingsfrangipani.com/frangipanis.html  I even brought back some perfume made from the blooms.

            Plumeria

The Hana highway has some gorgeous waterfalls.  These were photographed with a slow shutter and a tripod to create a dreamy look.

                   Puohokamoa Falls

Flowers from the local Garden Center in St. Mary's County

I enjoyed photographing more flowers at The Greenery in Hollywood MD and Meadow Farms in Leonardtown when I was looking for an anniversary gift for my husband.  They both have quite a variety of lovely flowers this time of year to enhance your garden.  There were many flowers to pick from both perennials and annuals.  I especially liked the white gardenias bushes (that smell heavenly) and the red zinnias at the Greenery.  I think the last flower may be a red dahlia, but I'm not sure.  If you know,  please comment.