Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
QUINTESSENCE
Insights into signature aspects of the world’s most spectacular places
The Flowers of Cartagena
By David Raezer
You expect certain things when entering the walls of UNESCO World Heritage Cartagena de Indias for the first time: cobbled alleys, massive fortifications, Spanish colonial architecture and Caribbean flavors. And it certainly has all that … and then some. But what struck us more than anything was its striking array of vine-based flowers climbing seemingly over every wall, tree and stately facade.
Here are three ubiquitous flower varieties to be on the lookout for.
Bougainvillea
The small flowers of this see-it-everywhere climbing plant are generally white, each cluster of three surrounded by three or six bright, paper-thin petals in a range of colors: magenta, purple, red, orange, white and yellow.
Morning Glory
True beauties, Morning Glories have funnel- or cone-shaped blossoms in white, red, blue, purple and yellow. Each leaf — having a similar paper-thin consistency as Bougainvillea — has a heart-shaped profile.
Hibiscus
Hibiscus flowers stand out for their large size. They are large and trumpet shaped with five or more petals. Colors come in a range of hues: white, pink, purple, red, orange, peach and yellow.
Diego Delso CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cataratas_Victoria,_Zambia-Zimbabue,_2018-07-27,_DD_05.jpg