Royal Poincianas Everywhere!

Royal poinciana trees or delonix regia are one of my favorite things about living in south Florida. I'm always awe struck when I see these trees in bloom! To give you an example, I had an errand to run a couple of days ago and this is what I saw as I left my house:

Driving through my neighborhood, I encountered this:

And this:

And this:



And coming home to this:
And this is not even the time of year when they're in full bloom! It comes later on in the summer, usually. So maybe now you understand why I have an obsession with painting Royal Poinciana trees-lol!

Deering Estate at Cutler

We spent a wonderful day in Deering Estate off Old Cutler Road today.
This was the estate of Charles Deering, chairman of International Harvester Company who lived here until his death in 1927.
He was an avid art collector and patron of the arts. His estate today, (which became a state and county run park in 1985), includes the "Richmond Cottage" which the Deerings used as their winter home, the Carriage House, and a lovely artist village, showcasing local artist’s paintings. They even have weddings on the grounds overlooking the bay, as you can see from the setup of chairs in the middle of the lawn.

Very inspirational and just a lovely day!

Royal Poinciana "Caminito"

Royal Poinciana
If you live anywhere near south Florida, you may have noticed, as your driving around our roads, how the Royal Poinciana trees in our area are beginning to show a few flowers here and there. It’s too early for the full blown show they put on since they usually start blooming in earnest around June. But, the signs are there. A gentle reminder of what we can expect in a few weeks with their riotous color and spectacular beauty.

If you’ve never seen this tree in full bloom, you’ve missed the showy flowers that range from shades of bright orange to deep red-orange tones. When seen from afar, a tree in full bloom looks like it has hundreds of orangey cluster bouquets but from up close the flower resembles a speckled orange orchid. They're a beautiful sight!
As an artist, I love to paint these trees and it's flowers. I'm lucky to have one of these huge trees in front of my house and will often use this one as my subject. This year however, my tree looks pretty sad, not one bloom yet. Hopefully that’ll change soon!
Have a great week!