I have taken a few pictures in the past several days, but am just getting around to posting them. I have admired these bushes with the multi-colored leaves in front of Dave and Teresa’s trailer for several years, but this is the first time we’ve been here to see them bloom.  Surprise!  They are hibiscus and have beautiful red blooms.

The papaya tree is bigger every day.  Here, my scale model Andy is standing next to it for, well, scale. This is at about six months, from a seed.

It is blooming!  And, it’s a girl.

The blooms of the female papaya come right out of the trunk (or maybe it is a stem).  It makes sense.  Those huge, heavy fruits would break off a branch.

I found some male papaya flowers on line for comparison.

The papaya that my neighbor Curtis pulled out of the ground for seems to be surviving. I hope it is a boy (or both male and female) so I can get some fruit. It is sad to be leaving with all this plant excitement, but it should still be producing when we return in the fall, if the neighbors water it when needed.

More plant excitement today!  We were packing up our outdoor furniture and screen room and then I moved the plants that are still alive from the front of the motorhome so I can drive out in the morning.  I noticed that one of the three coconuts has sprouted! I forgot to take a picture.

Don’t forget to send me an email at dinata@gmail.com if you want to get my updates from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I’ll be writing them off line and sending them out when we go out grocery shopping once a week. It is something new every day in the park.