Thursday, September 30, 2010

A million roses... or more


With that i end the series of pictures that were taken at the Lalbagh flower show that i went to the weekend of Independence Day! It has taken a little over a month to post all the pictures i took at this show, I hope you enjoyed them as much as i did! To see all of the pictures from the flower show, click on the 'lalbagh gardens' tag below this post.
It is a pity that i missed the fruit and vegetable and bonsai display -- thankfully another Bangalore blogger, My Balcony Garden caught them in frame.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Beautiful borders- zinnia thumbelina




This is my entry t o this month's The Hot, the Loud and the Proud, the amazing round up of tropical and equatorial flora on the last day of every month. Thanks Noel, for hosting!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Snap!

Antirrhinum - snap dragons... also of the
"dog family" , like the wish bone flower, torenia indica.

Poppy

I was fascinated by the poppies at Lalbagh... this was probably my first 'sighting' of poppies in person and it set me thinking more than ever about the poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and the associated opium trade. More on that later..

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Coxscomb



This was the very first time that i was seeing coxcombs and they absolutely fascinated me. What do you think of them? Do share your comments, if any.

These need a name

Friday, September 24, 2010

Rudbeckia

Did you know this is also called (1) the black eyed susan & (2) the yellow ox eye daisy !

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Torenia Indica - The wish bone flower

 

It came as no surprise that this flower belonged to the "dog flower" family. The flowers did indeed have quite a resemblance to a dogs face!!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Phlox

Pretty, happy and sweet !




Monday, September 20, 2010

Dianthus - The "Pinks"




Cubbon Park



A quick auto ride this sunday morning took me to Cubbon Park, a 100 acre park in the middle of the city.
It was lovely! I meandered through the many walkways, lost my way, found it, photographed many wonderful trees and got a whole lot of exercise. I was surprised to learn from the web that it is smaller than Lalbagh.. i didnt think so while walking through. It appeared to cover a very vast expanse of land, with some areas beautifully maintained and others with a bit of wild growth.

After long, a tree post, and hence a contribution to that wonderous blog carnival, The Festival of the Trees. Many thanks to Kind of Curious for hosting this month's edition.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

SaY it with Flowers

What better way is there to say something, than to say it 'with flowers'? The folks at The Key Bunch certainly seem to think so... do visit them for some cool design ideas and help them celebrate their Blog Anniversary.




And I on my part, would like to use these spectacular gaillardia flowers to wish a fellow blogger @ The EverGreen Tree a speedy recovery.. and many more hours of blogging in the months to come :) Get well soon!


Thursday, September 16, 2010

Star flower (pentas lanceolata)

















It was about a year back that i first made the acquaintance of the star flower - when we brought home one of the red stars... followed by the pinks.
I've read that these, just as the lantanas are great butterfly drawers .. so if you want a butterfly garden, then do consider getting these pretty plants for yourself!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Orange bounty

Heliotrope

what better way to understand what the colour heliotrope means than by looking at the flowers?
The leaves of this plant looked incredibly familiar, though i could not place where i had seen it before. Any thoughts?

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Monday, September 13, 2010

Hydrengea

Hydrangeas are fascinating!! Did you know that the color of their flowers change according to the pH of the soil? Some more Aluminium in the soil beneath this one, and you'd be soon seeing blue flowers.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

My Manderley

Sometime in September, I set out one morning to the park along CMH/100ft road. As  I walked along the path in the park and admired the lush vegetation, I was struck in one stretch by the heady aroma of the morinda tinctoria. The path was lined with trees laden with the flowers and there was a carpet of white along the way as well. It was as if the entire air around was perfumed with the intoxicating scent.



















I was transported to happy valley in Manderley, as described in the book Rebecca --


We stood on a slope of a wooded hill, and the path wound away before us to a valley, by the side of a running stream. There were no dark trees here, no tangled undergrowth, but on either side of the narrow path stood azaleas and rhododendrons, not blood-coloured like the giants in the drive, but salmon, white, and gold, things of beauty and of grace, drooping their lovely, delicate heads in the soft summer rain.
The air was full of their scent, sweet and heady, and it seemed to me as though their very essence had mingled with the running waters of the stream, and become one with the falling rain and the dank rich moss beneath our feet. There was no sound here but the tumbling of the little stream, and the quiet rain. When Maxim spoke, his voice was hushed too, gentle and low, as if he had no wish to break upon the silence.
'We call it the Happy Valley,' he said.

 
Truely, the spell of Manderley was upon me as well.

 

Geranium



Monday, September 6, 2010

Cineraria

How many different varieties can you count?



I kept wondering why these pretty flowers looked so familiar. And then it hit me -- they form the background of the Flowers of India website! Countless are the hours i've spent on this excellant website, trying to find the name of a flower or a tree!