Grandmothers garden update

While at Chennai in April I took a few pictures of my grandmothers garden.. she does not get out much these days and it has unfortunately become quite an effort for her to go downstairs and spend some time in the garden. I thought these pictures would help her see what was blooming and how things were, to supplement what she was hearing from those who passed by.

The neighborhood park

Last August I had posted pictures of the neighborhood park.  - it seems that this time of the year is when the park has a flower display of sorts, perhaps in tune with the one at Lalbagh. This year was no different, one morning in September at my mother's prodding i took a walk to the park to take in the many flowers that were in full bloom. Pink and purple asters, yellow orange marigold, many colored zinnia and balsam, purple gomphrena, blood red salvia, powdery pink hibiscus, rows of canna, coleus, lavender plumbago and rows and rows of leafy plants danced in the sunshine. It was an absolute delight!!

I missed the lavender spider cleomes from last time. There were a few, but not as many as last year.

Lavendar flowers (plumbago) around Ulsoor Lake

The white plumbago, plumbago zeylanica is a 'rambling shrub found in scrub jungles, forest edges and fallow land.  Its tubular calyx is glandular-hairy, and sticky to the touch. Caterpillars of the Zebra Blue butterfly feed on this plant. The roots and bark are used in traditional medicine'.

Thanks once again, to Kehimkar's book for all the information.

The Lake View Temple