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.
Botanical name: Leucanthemum vulgare
Oxeye Daisy is a perennial herb with erect, usually unbranched, stems to 1 ft in height. It grows from rhizomes and hascharacteristic daisy-like flowers. Oxeye daisy is a weed of grasslands, lawns, roadsides, and nursery crops. The leaves initially develop as a rosette at the base. Lower rosette leaves occur on stalks and are from 1 1/2 to 6 inches long. Rosette leaves have rounded teeth or lobes and are widest at the tip and narrow to the base. Leaves that occur on the flowering stem are stalk-less, lance-shaped in outline, and have smaller rounded teeth or lobes. Leaves become progressively smaller up the flowering stem. All leaves are alternate and without hairs. Flowers occur solitary at the end of stems, are 3-5 cm across and consist of 20 to 30 white outer "petals" (ray florets) that are 1-1.5 cm long and many yellow inner disk florets in the center. Oxeye Daisy is native to West Asia and Europe, and naturalized in the Himalayan region in India. This photograph was taken from Coonoor (Ooty), Tamil Nadu, on 30th November, 2010.
Botanical name: Coleus blumei This attractive foliage plant is great for containers and underplanting. Most annuals are grown for the color their flowers provide. Instead of colorful flowers, coleus offers incredibly colorful foliage in a variety of interesting shapes and sizes. Although coleus will usually survive in sun, the color of the leaves is enhanced in the shade. Small, insignificant flowers will appear late summer. This photograph was taken on 15th December, 2007 in Mysore.
Giant Pumpkin is an annual climber growing up to 5 m at a fast rate. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. Fruit is cooked and eaten. A delicious flavour when baked, rather like a sweet potato. The flesh can be dried, ground into a powder and used with cereals in making bread, cakes etc. Some varieties can be stored for up to 9 months. Seed - raw or cooked. The seed can also be ground into a powder and used with cereals in making breads etc. Young flowers are eaten raw or cooked. They are often dipped in batter and fried. Young leaves and stems are cooked and eaten. This photograph was taken on 15th December 2007 from the compound of the house in Mysore, where i was staying then.
In South India, Kanakambaram is the favourite flowers of ladies to put in their hair. It competes strongly with jasmine to adorn the south-Indian hair-do's. The crossandra is in the family with Mexican petunias, or ruellias, and the Mississippi Medallion award-winning yellow shrimp plant. This tropical from India and Sri Lanka offers a welcome orange, salmon or yellow to the filtered-light area. In addition to the flowers that are practically non-stop for the entire season, the foliage also offers added interest. The leaves are glossy and most striking. Choose a site with well-drained, fertile soil with perhaps a little morning sun. If you have tight, heavy clay soil, the crossandra will reward you for incorporating 3 to 4 inches of organic matter. As the plant grows, keep it deadheaded and pinched back; it will maintain a bushy shape and keep blooming with each new flush of growth. This photograph was taken in 15th December, 2007 in Mysore, just in front of my house, where i was residing.
