Maybe because the town was near a volcano – which last erupted in 2002, and its effects are still everywhere in the black stones and dust everywhere – that splashes of colour from the flowers were few and far in between. Or maybe because it was the dry season, and everything so dusty, but it seemed to me that the town was dark and dusty and brown everywhere.
There were a few plants and flowers in between, but not enough for me. I took photos but they didn’t turn out the way I wanted it, and I didn’t have enough time to spend on fiddling with the camera and settings.
Here’s one that I wanted to spend more time on, but couldn’t.
Look at the textures on those leaves!
Maybe next time – if I get there again, and if these are still in bloom – I can study it some more.
A little bit of this and that ... 
Since I don’t know exactly what you saw, I think these pix are absolutely beautiful. Especially since I can imagine them as the only color in an otherwise stark landscape.
Thank you! I will also be posting on regular life there, as fast as I can organize the photos. It’s not really a stark landscape, but I did find it dark and gloomy because of the black and brown dust everywhere.