Saluting every life with a flower each day! Flowers are soul of the planet, blooming to play music with silent notes. Smile at them as they are sweet hearted!! Only the photographs taken by me are uplinked. I lean heavily to http://www.flowersofindia for flower identification and descriptions. Looking forward to valuable comments and suggestions.
Garden Nasturtium, Indian Cress or Monks Cress are bright and happy flowers. From the naturally occurring Nasturtium many cultivars and types have been evolved including climbing types, dwarfs, bushy ones, etc. The leaves are large and circular with several veins radiating to the rounded margin. Flowers are 2.5 to 6 cm in diameter with five petals, eight stamens and 2.5-3 cm long nectar spur at the rear. They come in a kaleidoscope of colors including russet, pink, yellow, orange, scarlet and crimson, frilled and darker at the base of the petals. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant and as a medicinal plant. As their leaves and flowers are edible; they can be used in salads, imparting a delicately peppery taste. My friend who hails from Madurai (Tamil Nadu) introduced this plant to me when i was working in Silkworm Seed Technology Laboratory, Bangalore, as he was maintaining the same in a beautiful inbuilt wall container. Quite often it was bearing many flowers. I wish to dedicate this to him. This photograph was taken on 3rd October 2011 from the Dussehra flower show at Mysore.
Purple Moonflower, Lilacbell, Lavender Moonvine is a climber, 3-5 m long, with slender twinning stems, which are purplish and covered with rough projections. Leaves are are heart-shaped, with a heart-shaped base and pointed or shortly tapering tip. Flowers are borne in groups of one to few, purple or pale purple, and open at night. The sight of purple moonflower on your walking ways during early in the morning is a heart filling experience. The graceful look and ever soothing smile goes to your heart. Just to see them i quite often choose the route for my morning walk where they are abundant! These photographs were taken on 3rd and 8th of September 2011 while on my morning walk.
This plant is known by many common names, such as Ashanti Blood, Red Flag Bush, Red Mussaenda, Prophet’s Tears, Tropical Dogwood, Virgin Tree, etc. This is a shrub or tree, native to tropical West Africa can reach a height of 30 ft. most ideal as an ornamental plant in parks and public gardens or along roadsides. It flowers non-stop through the year with several flowers borne in branching terminal panicles. Each flower is composed of a small creamish white five-lobed funnel-shaped corolla, with a crimson-red felt center and pubescent beneath, together with a single roundish-ovate and enlarged bright red sepal (bract) measuring 2-5 inches. Mussaenda bracts may be seen in several colors including rose, white, red, pale pink and some mixtures. Attractive to butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and insect pollinators as a nectar plant. This flower i shot on 24th April 2011 while visiting Brindavan Gardens attached to the KRS Dam, Mandya district of Karnataka.
The Asiatic hybrid lilies are from the crossing of a number of species commonly found in Asia. The leaves are often lance like and borne in dense spirals. The flowers are large, colorful and unscented. They are available in bright shades of golden yellow, orange, rose, pink and white. The flowers are so attractive that a simple glance will drag you back more intensively to enjoy its beauty. Often you can see many pollinators buzzing around the flowers. I have a special pull towards these flowers as they are not only vibrant, but conveying something silently... which I fail to convey. This flower was shot on 27th April 2011 while I was on a family trip to sims park, Coonor, Tamil Nadu. The flower is still rekindling the feeling which I had while shooting the picture.
Scientific name: Bidens pilosa Bidens pilosa is a cosmopolitan, annual herb which originates from tropical and Central America. The Spanish Needle, Black Jack, broomstick, broom stuff, cobbler's pegs, devil's needles, is a weak annual that grows up to one meter in height. Its hardiness, explosive reproductive potential, and ability to thrive in almost any environment have enabled it to establish throughout the world. This plant is considered a weed in some tropical habitats. Bidens pilosa is used as a medicinal plant in areas of Africa, Asia, and tropical America. The plant has ornamental value also. In the clothing industry, it is used for dyeing of silk threads. Due to its medicianal value my friend was searching for this plant and later we could find some plants with beautiful flowers in the CSRTI, campus almost a year back. This has pricked me at several occassions while i was going for photo shoots. This photograph i took on 30th November, 2010 on my way to Coonoor, somewhere in the Nilgirihills in the way side, as we stopped for a refreshment.
Scientific name: Verbena hybrida. Verbenas are natives of North and South America. Though these are perennials, but most hybrids are grown as annuals. As many of the hybrid verbenas have a trailing habit, it can be attractive when planted in containers and window boxes. The toothed or cut leaves usually grow opposite each other and reach a length of 1 to 3 inches. They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors. For best results it has to be grown under full sun. The individual flowers are small, but borne in dense, many flowered clusters. Corolla colours range from white, pink, crimson, scarlet, vermilion, purple, blue and yellow and each flower is having a white central eye. This photograph was taken on 26th April 2011 from Sims park, Coonoor, during a family visit.
Scientific name:Quisqalis indica The rangoon creeper, burma creeper or chinese honey suckle is a wonderful vine suitable to trellis and roof top, native to asia. The genus name in latin means what is that? The vine can reaach upto 8 mts. The plant shows profuse growth and climbs up other trees and builldings if guided. The leaves are elliptical with an acuminate tip and a rounded base. The flowers are fragrant and tubular and their colours range from white to pink to red. Mostly flowers throughout the year and are formed at the shoot tips. The pinkish red flowers droop down from the bunch and the buds look upwards. I took this photograph on 24th April 2011 from Brindavan gardens of Kirshnarajasagar dam in Mandya district of Karnataka.
