Saturday, October 31, 2009

Coffee trees in bloom

Look at these flowers! Ain't they beautiful? Our coffee trees are in bloom! If I'm not mistaken, we have 10 coffee trees (I'm too lazy going outside to count them!), and when they all are in bloom it is to be admired. The trees were in bloom last year too, but far from the intensity as this year. I didn't know the flowers have such a sweet scent - it reminds me of oleanders. The flowers - the way they are placed on the branches, reminds me of snow! :)

Don't believe I'm the new Karen Blixen - a Danish woman who settled in Kenya to grow coffee... I guess you all know the film "Out of Africa" (Meryl Streep / Robert Redford). My forever favorite film - don't know how many times I've seen it! :) We have the trees in our garden, because as coming from Norway - I find coffee trees very exotic! :)

Coffee is grown in small scale in the Chamarel area, because the trees flowers during the risky cyclone season. The trees are grown in sheltered places by the ridges of the hillsides. There are three types of coffee growing here; Arabica, Liberica (smaller version of Arabica) and Robusta. Coffee is not endemic to the island, it was imported from Brazil, via Madagascar and Thailand. The coffee beans are roasted, ground and packed by hand in a small factory at the tiny village Case Noyale.

A few green coffee beans.

6 comments:

Janet C said...

Didn't know coffee tree has such nice flowers!
I love that movie too "Out of Africa!"

Jackie's Stitches said...

I had no idea that coffee plants were so beautiful!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I like that movie too! The coffee tree blossoms are so pretty - do you grind the beans that you do get on your tree or is it too little to do anything with?
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

erinrizz said...

Beautiful flowers...

Astrid said...

Thanks to all of you for the comments! Yes, the flowers are really beautiful - I didn't know either, until I settled here.
Karen, the trees are still young, not more than 4 years - I think. Last year there were only a few beans, not enough for a cup of coffee. MIL knows how to roast and grind coffee, she did it as a kid, when it was common to have your own coffee plants in your garden. She's 72 now. Had been so fun doing coffee the old way!

Nettie said...

What a beautiful tree with wonderful flowers, at first look they remind me of jasmine, but then I see they grow along the branch in a different way. I love scented flowers, we have a Dombeya tree in our garden here which is lovely.