Caper Flower – click for full size image
Our very first caper flower, on a caper bush we grew from seeds collected in the wild! It bloomed last night and these are shots from throughout the day today. The unopened flower buds that you see are what are harvested and sold as “capers”. Hopefully next year, we’ll have enough to harvest a handful or two, but this year we’ll wait for the fruit!
A collage of desert blooms seen on a morning walk through Wadi Digla – a protected area near Ma’adi, Cairo. Like Sinai, the wadis around Cairo also received some rains early this year.
Imported from flickr.com
Click image for full size
Oleander (Nerium oleander) is a very popular decorative plant for both private and public gardens in Egypt. The flowers grow in a range of colors – pink, white, yellow, rose, or deep red. Here in Dahab it is one of the only plants grown alongside streets because the wandering goats, camels, and sheep won’t devour them like they would anything else. That’s because all parts of the oleander bush are poisonous! So if you choose to grow this is in your garden, do so with care – especially if you have young children or pets.
C is for the Camel Hoof Tree
Bauhinia variegata is known in Arabic as “Khuff el-Gamal“, or the Camel Hoof. Notice the shape of the leaves resembles a camel’s hoof. Common names in English include Orchid Tree and Mountain Ebony. According to the book The Street Trees of Egypt, “the tree is native of India and China, and is used for food, medicine, dyeing, tanning, gum, and for farm implements.”
F is for Flame Tree…or R, this time, for Royal Poinciana 
Yes, it’s another flame tree post - this time up close. These beautiful flowers are growing in Dahab, South Sinai. Apparently, there is a myriad of common names in English for this tree. Here’s what I learned about it’s scientific name, Delonix regia, from the World Agroforestry Centre:
“The generic name, ‘Delonix’, is derived from a Greek delos (visible), and onyx (claw), in allusion to the conspicuously clawed petals. The specific name, ‘regia’, is from the Latin word ‘regis’ (royal, regal, magnificent). Most of its common names are derived from its large, flame-red flowers.”
J is for Jacaranda
Jacaranda trees are not native to Egypt but a very popular decorative plant…and one of my favorite things about springtime in Ma’adi.
H is for Hibiscus
Hibiscus sabdariffa is a common flowering plant in Egypt. The petals of this flower are used to make karkade, a popular – and delicious! – infusion sweetened with sugar and consumed either hot or cold. This particular flower was growing in Azhar Park, Cairo.
Although not native to Egypt, Bougainvillea is a very popular decorative plant here – in private gardens, hotel gardens, and along some roads. The plants grow well in our warm climate and I love their vibrant colors. I do wish, however, that the goats would stay out of my garden and stop munching my vines!
J is for Jasmine
This was one of the first blooms on our new jasmine plant in our desert garden in Dahab, South Sinai.
C is for Caper
This is an up-close shot of a flower of a caper plant, Capparis spinosa. Taken on a hike through Wadi Degla, near Ma’adi – south of Cairo.
