Spring Time in my Garden-5

These are the chrysanthemums I have in my garden. Now since day temperatures are quite high, these are not blooming. 

 This is the button or miniateure mum.

I also have purple ones. I forgot to take a pic before cutting the blooms. 

These plants which have bloomed were cut to almost ground level and left in the pots. Now I have put them all under shade till monsoons arrive. The mother plant will give out many shoots which can be replanted to get the blooms. But it is really difficult to save them during summer. No matter how careful I am, I always loose some of these plants.

Have  to see how the summers will be this year. It is already quite hot here...

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Friends in My Garden-Wasps

I like to spend as much time as possible in my garden. No doubt, it requires lot of time and energy, in maintenance. But the result is that we have fresh air, greenery around us, it supplies us with, flowers, fruits and vegetables now and then. 

It is a pleasure sitting in the garden, any time of the day or season. In spring or in summer, monsoon or in winter, lot of activity can be seen. Watching, bugs and bees, birds and butterflies, caterpillars and many other creatures is meditative.

Well here is one of the visitors, who became a resident of my garden:

These are very small wasps, constructing their home with white substance. They make tube like hollow structures, lay their egs and seal it.

 You can see here the sealed ones.

We have so many of these colonies in our garden.

Well their sting is very uncomfortable. It feels like a small shock at first and then you feel as if burnt by the fire in the area where stung. This lasts for two to three days. So even though their size is small their sting is quite something. I have experienced it once.

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Sring Time in my Garden - 4

Here are the Magnolia flowers known as Champka in Sanskrit and Hindi and Sampengi in Telugu.

This is the white coloured one. This gives a very light fragrance. It does not flower profusely; may be my plant is too young.

This is the green one known as Aaku Sampengi meaning leaf Champaka. This blooms frequently and every new shoot will have lots of flowers. The fragrance of this flower is different from the white one. Earlier days this plant used to be there in many homes  and gardens in Andhra. Even today these flowers are sold in the markets and one cannot miss their fragrance. This reminds me of my childhood at my granny's place.

I never knew this plant gave fruits like the one above until recently. 

This is the yellow variety, known as Simhachalam Sampengi, as Lord Narasimha Swami at Simhachalam in Andhra Pradesh is said to be found of these flowers. So these flowers are offered to Him. 

The fragrance of these flowers is different from the above two. I planted this tree twice and both times lost them to termites. I will try my luck again.

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Spring time in my Garden -3

Hibiscus, also known as Rose Mallow, Shoe Flower, China rose is a very beautiful flower and quite common in India, especially in South India. These are grown for their showy and colourful flowers and also as shrubs in the garden. These are evergreen shrubs and flower through out the year. 

They require very less maintenance except for lots of pests and bugs. They also flower abundantly, hence hit with us Indians and other countries, like China, Hawaii and Korea etc....They contain many species which are both annual and perennial varieties. 

These are known as Japakusuma or Japa Pushpa in Sanskrit, Mandaaram in Telugu and GuDDhal in Hindi. These flowers are offered to Lord Ganesha, Kali or Durga, Shiva and Sun God as their favorite flowers. In general used as offering to any gos or goddess in our homes.

I prefer the local varieties to the hybrid ones. The hybrid ones give big flowers in many colours but they don't have the beauty of the local ones.

 This is only one hybrid variety I have as it was gifted to me.

 This is baby pink multi petaled one.

 This is lemon yellow multi petaled one.

This is a different shade of yellow, shade of sandal wood.

 This is lavender coloured multi petaled one.

Below are two varieties of orange colured flowers

  .

 This is tomato red coloured one

The one above is darkest red flower, which is not clear in the pic.
This one below is the single petaled local variety mostly in red, white and light pink colours. But the red one is most popular.

Here is my flower basket for Puja(daily prayers) filled with flowers form my garden.

Hibiscus, is used in ayurveda as it has medicinal properties. Tea made out of these flowers is quite popular in many countries. Paste of these flowers and its leaves, applies to hair make them long, lustrous, healthy and black colour. So women from South India use this as a hair tonic.

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Spring Time in my Garden - 2

Here are the Roses. 

 This is the climber which gives out bunches of flowers.

This is a marble shaded one, a new entrant...

Roses bloom round the year, but do well in mild winters and early summer. I have climbers, button or miniature roses as well as other varieties. Mostly these are hybrid ones and don't have fragrance or have a very mild fragrance. The local varieties of dark pink, white and pale yellow ones have strong smell.

Earlier I had nearly 25 different shades of these roses. But now, I have very few left. I am trying to build up my garden again. But in summer with water problems, it is  very difficult to save these plants.

These plants require lot of care, especially with pests. But still must in every garden. Don't you think so?

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Springtime in my Garden-1

Its flowering time in my garden. Before the summer sets in fully, we are enjoying the riot of colours in the garden. Here is a glimpse of bougainvillea. 

This is the multi petalled one in a shade ranging from pink to orange.

This one is the classic dark pink one.

This one is the single petaled, pink-orange shade.

Though growing in pots, being trained for Bonsai, they bloom at the beginning of summer. If proper care is taken, they will bloom through out the summer season. This is one hardy plant, actually vine with spikes, which can be grown in pots, or as fences or as climbers. They bloom in a variety of colours and the flowers are single, double or multi-petaled. 

They are ornamental plants because of their colourful blooms and can be trained or cut in various shapes. They are easy to grow, as they require very little water. Thier growth varies from slow to fast, depending upon the variety of the plant. With frequent fertilisation, and if grown in plenty of sun light, they bloom well. 

They can be reproduced through cuttings. There are nearly 300 varieties of these plants.

This is a good plant for novices and  beginners in gardening as well as for Bonsai enthusiasts.

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Spring In My Garden-3

Here are some more glimpses of my garden

 New shoots on Bougainvilleas. They flower during summers.

 White Chrysanthemums. 

 White Roses-small

 Yellow Button Roses

 Lemons.

This is my Puja basket with flowers from my garden..ready for my morning prayers...

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Spring In My Garden-2

Here are Hibiscus flowers in my garden- some of them:

 This is hybrid variety or Hawaii Hibiscus. It flowers profusely and regularly. 

 Here is a closeup.

These are double Hibiscus-baby pink and lemon yellow 

This is dark red flower.

This is tomato red colour.

This is another shade in Yellow which we call sandal wood shade.

 This is purple coloured flower.

 This is orange one.

This is single red local variety.

Well some more in my next posts.....

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