Way below the popularity of the rose, orchids, and other flowers, the gumamela (hibiscus of the Mallow family), seems to be ignored as a gift on Valentine’s Day. It is rarely seen in a bouquet for weddings and other occasions, or as an accent in floral arrangements in public places.
I ignored it, too, when I was growing up in the province.
My playmates and I would rave over the scent of rosal, sampaguita, or ilang-ilang. Gumamela? Odorless, it occupied too many spaces—gardens, sidewalk, and fences of homes and buildings. It was so common that it became an ordinary sight, like grass and weeds.
It wasn’t until the birth of the PINK Wednesday that the gumamela made its presence felt on the Net. I googled PINK in nature for my Wednesday posts and out came all the PINK of everything—including gumamela—from all over the world! I was overwhelmed by how many varieties this unpopular flower has and how beautiful it actually each one is!
PINK Wednesday, for me, did not stop when Atty. Leni was not proclaimed the president of the Philippines by the Commission on Elections. The PINK things keep popping up on my screen.
So last Wednesday, I finally gave gumamela the recognition it deserves—on center stage.
The kind we have in our garden (left) is a combination of pale PINK and magenta. The rest of the PINK ones are courtesy of the Net. Lovely, aren’t they all?
And I was wrong about the gumamela not being used for bouquets. Here is a stunning one! In all its PINK splendor.
Beyond PINK, there are hundreds more. These are just some of those I gathered.
Gumamela is grace—special and extraordinary after all.
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