My favourite floral displays of the year, firecracker vines, have been a little later than usual this year, and they’re fading now. And because I’m still unable to ride a bike, I’ve been restricted to areas within walking distance of our house, so I haven’t found many new sites. Consequently, I’ve decided to confine this post to a discussion of which of the many examples of firecracker vines that I’ve seen over the years is ‘the best’.
An obvious candidate is the car park on the eastern edge of Wing Ning Tsuen, which is a relatively short distance from our house but south of Sha Tau Kok Road. This is a general view of part of the surrounding hedge on the north side of the car park:
There is an alleyway behind this hedge, and the next two photos show part of the other side of the hedge:
There is also a path behind the hedge on the south side of the car park:
Finally, there is a short hedge that projects into the car park on the north side. I took this photo on 9th February:
…and this one on 15th February:
I don’t often walk through the grounds of Lung Shan Temple, mainly because it’s located at the end of Po Kak Tsai Road, which means that such a walk doesn’t lead anywhere, and I certainly hadn’t passed through during firecracker vine season before. However, I’d been exploring a new path that led into the grounds, and I took this photo next to the temple:
It doesn’t look particularly impressive, and as I was leaving, my view was obscured by the trees below the road. However, I did manage to take this telephoto shot through a gap in the foliage:
Although an unobstructed view of this vine would certainly be spectacular, and the car park vines probably have the most flowers in total, I think that the firecracker vine at the top end of the village of Fu Tei Au provides the most impressive view in a single shot. I took this photo while walking along Fu Tei Au Road on 6th February:
…and this one on 17th February:
To emphasize the quality of the display here, this is a trimmed version of the previous photo:
So that’s my nominee for ‘the best’. Next year, hopefully, I will have some new locations to photograph.
more photos of firecracker vines
Jeepers Creepers #4: Part 1
No one can miss the firecracker vines blooming around February in a year. Often they bloom close to Chinese New Year. But the Year of Rabbit started I late January and thus missing these blooming flowers.
ReplyDeleteYes, they’ve been rather late this year.
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