Hot and Proud

Strelitzia reginae, the Bird of Paradise. Named after a queen.
for mor hot loud and proud posts, please go to Noel's blog A Plant Fanatic in Hawaii.

White Wednesday

The Four o'Clock flower Mirabilis has colonized all the vacant plots in my suburb. But it is rare to find a white one.

Vinca is a native wild flower which flowers profusely with little care. Alkaloids from Vinca are used in the treatment of lukemia.

Butterfly Pea is usually found in blue. I saw this white one growing on a fence.

A white butterfly was hovering over the bright Calendula flowers.

This is the wild Jasmine which I saw last month in a campus in Mumbai. These flowers are very fragrant.

Love and Pretending

This male Common Mormon Papilio polytes was flitting from flower to flower when he saw the female.

And his thoughts turned lightly to the dance of love.

The female Common Mormon was pretending to be a Crimson Rose butterfly. But this did not deter their dance of love.

The female often mimics the Common Rose or the Crimson Rose butterfly because the Roses taste horrible and the birds avoid them. This mimicry among the butterflies has been mentioned as long ago as 1864,in an article by Alfred Russel Wallace.

Today' Flowers- Some Curiosities

The dark, blood-specked looking thing is the flower of the Bird'sNest Anthurium. It is trying to hide the Football lily.

These are the blooms of the Rattlesnake orchid Pholidata imbricata, a native of India and Southeast Asia. The plant hangs by a thread from my guava tree like an Air plant. It doesn't need any soil or nourishment other than water . It is a valuable medicinal plant used in the Indian traditional medicine systems for treating snakebite and arthritis.

The volunteer red Ruellia has found the old bark a welcome shelter from the rains.

The Transvaal Daisy is much prized for its long life. It adorns most of the bouquets made by florists here.

How much trouble I took to make this Hydrangea bloom! I'm glad it has rewarded me with one small cluster of pink flowers, while I was hoping it would give blue flowers like last year!

This is my post for Today's Flowers #99. Thanks to the team - Santilli, Denise, Pupa and Sandy Carlson. You can see flowers from all over the world at http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/ after 2 p.m. GMT.

Weekend Reflections

The Karanji Lake in Mysore has been resurrected now. After the strict laws forbidding dumping of waste sewage water into the lake, it has now become a habitat for birds.

The monsoon clouds are reflected in the lake.

Thanks to the team of Weekend Reflections for hosting the meme.

For more pictures from all over the world, please visit
http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com

Skywatch Friday

A Bird's eye view. This Kite is watching the receding monsoon clouds from its perch.

The flower view. The huge golden flowers of the Golden Chalice vine have started appearing. The monsoons have not brought enough rain, and the clouds have become lighter.

The monsoon clouds are going towards the distant hills.

"May the waters from the snowy mountains bring health and peace to all people.

May the spring water bring calm to you, and may the rains be a source of tranquility to all"

- Atharva Veda 500B.C.

Thanks to the Skywatch team for hosting .

Wild Winged Wednesday

THe butterflies wait for a sunny day and flit around in all the vacant plots with their wild growth. The Blue Tiger butterflies are attracted to this unknown wild plant.

I think this is a Monarch, but a friend said that it was a Striped Tiger.

The Common Mormon seems to like the yellow Ixora.

My lime shrub is dead, killed by the stem borers, but the Lime butterfly finds the Spathyfillum leaves inviting.

The electric blue of the Common Jay gladdens my heart. It is a rare visitor to my garden.

The Colour Purple

Purple is the colour of royalty. Some of the flowers bloomin in the gardens around here are royal! Ruellias are blooming in all sorts of corners and crevices where they have self seeded.

These flowers are not strictly purple, but they have a purplish tinge.They have started blooming now.

The plant is called Zimbabwe Creeper, and it flowers profusely in this climate. Twice a year. Its botanical name is Podranea brycei.

The Resurrection Lily has come to life again . Its mauve flowers look startling in between the dark leaves.

The Garlic Vine Cydista aequinoctialis is blooming profusely on a neighbourhood gate.

Have a nice week ahead!

Today's Flowers #98

The pink Justicia has started blooming again. It puts out its odd shaped flowers intermittetly throughout the year.

Crinum lily blooms have a long stem. They bloom during the monsoons.This is a different lily from the short stemmed Milk -and-Honey Lily which flowers constantly.

This Heliconium is upright. The flowers look like some sort of ancient weapons, but they are constantly being attacked by the squirrels.

The Pyramid Bilbergia is flowering in hidden corners of my garden. The flowers are the favourite food of snails :(

The Garlic Vine Cydista aequinoctialis has started flowering on my north side fence.
The funny thing about these flowers is that they have a pleasant scent as long as you don't touch them. But, if a leaf is rubbed, it sends out a strong smell of garlic! The plant has medicinal value, besides keeping out some of the garden pests!

My thanks to Luis Santilli Jr, Denise , Pupo and Sandy Carlson , the team of Today's Flowers #98 which opens at 2p.m.G.M.T. To view flowers which are growing all over the world, or to link your post, please go to http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com

Skywatch Friday- Monsoons' Respite

The grey monsoon clouds bring cheer to the people.

Sometimes, a respite from the rains also brings cheer!

Thanks for the Skywatch team for hosting the meme.

Wild Watery Wednesday

Last weekend, I had gone to Mysore, my hometown. One of the lakes of Mysore, the Karanji lake, has been given fresh lease of life by stopping the building activities around it , and the effluents flowing into it. Now the birds have started coming to the lake. The lone pelican is sailing majestically in the water, looking for fish.

On the way to Mysore, we passed Channapatna, with its lake 'brimming with blood-red water lilies', as it is described in innumerable folk songs. But I could see only white lilies, and I remember seeing red lilies in the lake a few years ago. I think the town municipality which 'improved' the lake, threw out all the blood-red native lilies, and planted the imported white ones.

Bloom Day -June 2010

The monsoon rains have brought relief to all, and everywhere it is green. The Milk and Honey Lily is blooming in clumps and perfuming the garden.

The Lobster Claw Heliconium is putting out more flowers. Their bright colour is very cheerful in the rainy weather.

The blue Plumbago flowers in all seasons.

The Firecracker plant has lots of pretty , unscented flowers. They complement the heady jasmine in a garland for the gods.

The Sanchezia is happily growing bigger and putting out brilliantly coloured flowers.

Everywhere in the garden, there is growth and happiness, thanks to the monsoon rains.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.
You can see flowers from all over the world at http://www.maydreamsgarden.com

Today's Flowers #97

This flower is from my friend Dechu's garden. She said it is a Rutea- a family of flowers. The orangeflowers have an interesting black lip like Sturt's desert pea.

I found these flowering plants in a park. Butterflies flock to this plant.

This orange Ixora is from my garden.

The white Musseanda is loaded with flowers. The flowers shown below are the maroon bracts of the Shrimp Plant Pachystachis Lutea.

This is my contribution to Today's Flowers #97. My thanks to the team of Today's Flowers#97 .

To see more flowers from across the world, please click on http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/