Summer smile ...

Botanical name: Lagerstroemia speciosa

Pride of India is one of the most outstanding summer bloomers. Lagerstroemia speciosa is a larger form of the more commonly grown L. indica (Crape myrtle). It is called Queen Crape Myrtle because it's the Queen of the Crape Myrtles, dominating with grand size and larger, crinkled flowers. The name Crape myrtle is given to these tree/shrubs because of the flowers which look as if made from delicate crape paper. Lagerstroemia speciosa is a large tree growing up to 50' but it can be kept smaller by trimming. It stands on an attractive, spotted bark that often peels. This bark is commercially used and is a valuable timber. The large leaves are also appealing as they turn red right before they drop in the winter. A postal stamp was issued by the Indian Postal Department to commemorate this flower. This photograph was taken on 19th March, 2012, from a park, near Ashoka Puram, Mysore.

For worship ....

Botanical name: Nyctanthes arbortristis

Nyctanthes arbortristis literally means, night-blooming sad tree. Grows as large shrub or small tree depending on how it is trained. The large attractive leaves are rough and hairy. The sweet scented flowers are small, attractive with white petals and an orange-red tube in center and bloom profusely, opening at night and drop off in the morning, thus making a carpet of flowers in the morning. Used for worship. Needs warmth during winter months. Use well drained soil and fertilize once a month. This tree has attracted my attention, as i open every day morning, i used to see my neighbour grandma below the tree, collecting the flowers for worship, where i was staying earlier in Mysore. Now on my way to the institute, i see the bush every day growing very healthy, but without any flowers! many days i wanted to take a photograph. But in the morning of 26th March, 2012, i went with a purpose along with my daughter and i could see a few flowers in the bush and i took this photograph.

Warmly yours ...

Botanical name: Grevillea robusta

Reaching a height of 75 feet or more with a 25-foot spread, Silver Oak is pyramidal to oval in shape, eventually developing a few heavy horizontal limbs and a thick trunk. It is a fast growing evergreen tree, between 18-35 m tall with dark green delicately dented bipinnatifid leaves reminiscent of a fern frond. These leaves are generally 15-30 cm long with silvery undersides. Its flowers are golden-orange bottlebrush-like blooms, between 8-15 cm long, in the spring, on a 2-3 cm long stem. A great quantity of leaves fall in the spring immediately preceding the emergence of new growth and leaves also fall sporadically throughout the year, creating quite a litter problem to some people. Black, leathery seed capsules follow the flowers. This tree is growing around my lab in CSRTI, Mysore. While inspecting the refrigeration unit on top of the building floor, this tree branch with this flower was extending over to me and i took the photo on 7th March 2012.

Heartily smiling ...

Botanical name: Gomphrena globosa

Globe Amaranth or Bachelor's buttons is an annual bedding plant that grows 1-2 ft tall with a spread of about 1 ft. The branched stems are erect and stiff and the plant has a bushy appearance. The leaves are opposite, oblong, 4-6 in long, and wooly-white when young, becoming sparsely white-hairy as they age. Flowers are globular in shape, but actually consist of numerous individual flowers. The most common color is magenta, but there are also white and pale mauve varieties. Gomphrena tolerates poor soils, heat and drought. In many parks around south India this can be seen. As a child, i had magenta variety of this plant. White and other shades were a bit of surprise to me. These photograph was taken on 3rd October, 2011 during the Dussehra flower show at Mysore.

Deliciously for you ...

Botanical name: Trichosanthes cucumerina

Snake Gourd is a tropical or subtropical vine, raised for its strikingly long fruit, used as a vegetable and for medicine. The narrow, soft-skinned fruit can reach 150 cm long. Its soft, bland, somewhat mucilaginous flesh is similar to that of the luffa and the calabash. Leaf blade kidney-shaped or broadly ovate, 7-10 × 8-11 cm, membranous, deeply 5-7-lobed, lobes triangular or rhombic. The white flower is beautiful and lacy, and open at night. It is most popular in the cuisine of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The shoots, tendrils, and leaves are also eaten as greens. It is a popular vegetable in South India. This photograph was taken in my native village, from a farmers' garden on 7th October, 2011.

Joy of wheel ...

Botanical name: Gaillardia pulchella

Blanket Flower, Firewheel, Indian blanket is a short-lived annual flowering plant native to the central United States. The branching stem of this plant is hairy and upright, growing to 2 ft tall. The leaves are alternate, mostly basal, 4-8 cm long, with edges smooth to coarsely toothed or lobed. The pinwheel, daisy-like inflorescences are 4-6 cm diameter, vividly colored with red, orange and yellow. The central disc florets of the flowerhead tend to be more red-violet, with the outer ray florets being yellow. In one variety, almost the entire flower is red, with only the barest tips of the pedals touched with yellow. When planted as border or as bed it gives a wonderful feel to the onlooker. We had this plant when we were in Bangalore 10 years ago. Recently i visited Lalbagh on 25th January 2012,in connection with Annual flower show coinciding the Republic day and took this photograph.

Profusely and pleasantly ...

Botanical name: Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender

Mona Lavender is a quick-growing, herbaceous, perennial plant reaching up to 0.75 m in height, forming a lovely, rounded, dense bush. It has dark green, glossy leaves with intensely purple undersides and sprays of lavender flowers dashed with purple markings. Mona Lavender was bred by one of the horticulturists at Kirstenbosch, Roger Jaques, in the late 1990s. It was a fairly long process involving much hand pollination and raising many thousands of seedlings, back crossing and raising many more thousands of seedlings - each time selecting out the best, most attractive individuals to go through to the next round of breeding. Few months ago i purchased a plant from a local garden plant seller in Mysore, and maintain this plant in a pot. It gives a great pleasure as it blooms profusely and full of flower heads. I photographed it on 9th March, 2012.