When our children were young, we frequently go to Baguio, the City of Pines located in the northern mountains of the archipelago. Developed by the Americans as a summer capital, where a US military base, Camp John Hay is situated. It was built as a leisure place for the American military soldiers and officers. It has many attractions that it was dubbed as "Little America", it includes a world class competition golf course designed by the golf legend, John Nicklaus.
"It is sweet", my 7-year-old younger daughter said after sucking the sap of the gumamela flower's inner core and about to pluck another. Our family of five were standing on the top level of the Baguio Cathedral grounds during a family vacation. The flower box bordering the edge was full of single-petal red gumamela in bloom.
Yes, the gumamela flowers and leaves are edible, I learned that Hawaiians put the flowers in salads to aide in digestion and the Chinese pickle and eat them. The leaves and roots made into tea maybe used as herbal medicine as expectorant, diuretic, emollient, anti-pyretic, anti- infectious and anti-inflammatory.
The gumamela, also known as hibiscus or Chinese Rose is a common ornamental plant in the Philippines. Information I gathered claim that it originated from India and eventually found its way to the Asia Pacific. Today, work to come up with more colors of gumamela flowers is still going on.
BTW, it maybe interesting to know about a Tahitian lore where a gumamela is worn over the right ear shows that a person is looking for a mate; over the left ear means that a mate has been found.
When we were kids, we mash or pulp the flowers and leaves, add a little soap and water to make a mixture. Using a hallow papaya stalk, dip it in the mixture and blow bubbles in the air. What fun that was.
In our hometown and probably in all provinces, the gumamela plant is everywhere, some houses and establishments allowed it to grow into a hedge to conceal a part of a yard or garden. In school we were taught the basic parts of a flower using the single-petal gumamela as specimen. The center of the flower where everything is connected has a sweet sap that bees and butterflies like.
I am a gumamela fancier, I find joy in its colorful flowers that bloom all year round. I fancy more the double-petal ones, though they only last a day while the single-petal variety lasts longer.
I've always envied houses with gumamela flowers blooming in their yards; so when we moved to our new home a year ago, I initially bought two gumamela plants with yellow-orange flowers. I had them planted in our front yard along with several cuttings in different colors I gathered from neighbors.
This is how far my gumamela have grown.
Some cuttings I planted in pots.
Take a look at this rare red double-petal, the single red is the most common.
I observed that when the plant is still small, the flowers are small as well, in other words, the size of the flowers are proportionate to the plants that bear them.
This flower has tiny leaves still to develop. I posted it on Facebook and a friend said that it looks like a painting. As I look longer at this picture, I'm convinced that indeed, it is like a painting.
I'm still collecting other colors, a relative in the US said that she used to have a black one back home in the Philippines. Here are close-ups of some I have, I'm missing the peach here.
Nowadays, I'm so happy with the continuous flowers these plants provide. Early in the morning, Jim would often call me outside to look at several flowers that opened. Just admiring the vibrant colors sets our day, definitely adds a lot to our home's curve appeal.
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