Pumpkin Flowers

It was last year or so that I was in actual curious manner to find out more about pumpkin flowers and looking at the flowers at close range. Like before, after enjoying the short lived blooming of St. John’s wort this late spring or early summer, I was already anticipating to see the blooming of pumpkin flowers again. The St. John’s wort was short lived this year due to the then all too frequent heavy rain that came smashing up the fragile beauty of the abundant bloom.

It was only a few weeks ago that I started to see some creeping pumpkin vines with smaller green leaves that later grew to be bigger and bigger. These leaves were springing up again; however, I was not seeing any of the flowers as yet. Sure enough, after these weeks of patient anticipation with daily desirable intention to walk by the neighbor’s garden grove, the pumpkins flower are there now but not as many.

One after another, almost in slow motion enticing ways that these flowers begin to bloom while the green leaves continue to vigorously creep and crawl all over the neighbor’s shrubs and ground covers. They creep along the apartment wall and following the telephone lines. Should they vibrantly grow, I am sure they will take over anywhere and everywhere they move along. And I do not mind that at all for I always wish the neighborhood to be greener than ever.

Only after all these years of knowing pumpkins being useful to be turned into various kinds of consumable products, together with seeing kids enjoying their Halloween nights when living in the United States, that I found out more about the pumpkin and its flowers. Over here in China, and closest to my apartment blocks, then and now I can actually see the pumpkin flowers although few pumpkin fruits are still seen grown to be that dramatically large as in the pictures or movies.

The pumpkin flowers are indeed some beautiful flowers; they are also of the same golden yellow of the St. John’s wort.

Yes, the Americans will soon be celebrating their Halloween while the Jack O Lantern will grace the center of media attention. The annual Halloween will be celebrated at the end of October in USA.

At this mid-September, the day is still hot. Although windy at night but the temperature is gradually dropping from day to day or from night to night. October will be cooler. After the end of October, the cold shall set in soon after. This signifies the end of summer and autumn and the beginning of winter only if the cold arrives sooner.


Jeremy
Shanghai upon the Sea
September 9, 2010