Flowers In Bahrain

Flowers are a passion for me.  I just love any kind of blossom. However as my friends and family know, my favorites are orchids. Someday I hope to have a garden of orchids.

These are my orchids in my Virginia kitchen right before we left for Bahrain.

Sometimes when I look at a flower I think it has a face with an expression. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright. Each one with it's many working parts and beauty in all of them. They all function together to create a work of art - true natural beauty.

One of my fondest memories of Bahrain was walking at the Ritz and seeing all the beautiful flowers blooming.

 I could not help myself. I was in awe of the beauty all around me.

There was a large pond on the Ritz property. Many types of flowers surrounded the pond. 

There were pink flamingos that lived on the edge of the pond at the Ritz with a row of blossoms framing their habitat.

Quite frequently they put out new flowers at the entrance to the Ritz compound. This is a view looking back at our building, Rasfa Towers just after they planted new flowers.

Bahrain is primarily desert without a lot of natural vegetation. When you drive away from our area, the Al Seef district you see mostly hearty desert bushes except where they have planted trees along the highways.

The government plants red and yellow blooming bushes along the highway. The yellow ones always seem to thrive but the red ones struggle.

The Bahraini people love fresh flowers.  In fact, it is a tradition to take flowers to the hostess when you are invited to someone's home. I like that tradition. This is a centerpiece that was at the Embassy Bazar where I volunteered each year.

I tried growing some plants on our balcony. It was difficult because the balcony had full sun for a good part of the day. It would become quite hot out there.

The best growing flowers were definitely at the Ritz.

These are beach morning glories that lined the shore facing the Arabian sea. They bloomed each morning.

Trees filled with these soft yellow blossoms surround the outdoor bubble pool. The petals would drift gently down and land in the water at my feet while I read the morning newspaper. 

The drives surrounding the Ritz were lined with flowers that were changed about every three months.

There were many trees filled with fragrant blossoms around the Ritz and on the road leading up to the gate. 

These flowers were only the size of your thumb nail. 

The parking lots were lined with bougainvillea in several colors.

Bougainvillea bloomed everywhere - around the pool, down the walks, on the island, and in the parking lot.

Inside the entrance to the health club was a large table always filled with flowers.

These flowers were on some shrubs planted at the base of palm trees.

Even the palm trees bloomed occasionally.

The roads were lined with these flowers in the Bahraini National colors, red and white.

I hope you enjoy these images. I GREATLY enjoyed taking the pictures and putting them into this visual blog. 

While I was working on them I came across this quote.

"A flower's appeal is in its contradictions — so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect." ~Terri Guillemetsqe

I am not sure why I enjoy flowers so much, but I am forever grateful that I do. Indeed they have a wonderful and lasting effect on me.

Cheers,

Brenda