Straight From The Lizard's Mouth!

Went to check out a new sun-basking spot...on my way
home I thought I'd take a quick look at my usual hang-
out...

Aah...my sun-loving, leisure-seeking seventh cousin! And
amidst those shards of glass too! Sheer lizardry! Who says
we lizards don't have the cutting edge! Loll on, cousin,
loll on!

Let me see what else is happening...not a flavour I care about--
bamboo nectar! Busy as usual, these two!

Another one of those My-Wings-Are-Sealed variety. Hasn't even
noticed me, at it like there's no tomorrow!

Fighting over it too!! Tch! Tch!

Hmm...looks like rain....

Don't like the look of those D.A.R.K clouds...Must run along or
I'll be drenched!

Oooh, new kid in town! No time for introductions now. That'll
have to wait. And quite a looker too!

Must hurry, the spouse is moulting y'know. He's not his usual
self right now...must rush...

Goodies From Dreamflower

My visit to Dreamflower made me richer by about a dozen varieties
and about sixty plants! Of course, some of them were only a little
bigger than sprouts!! Pictured above is a pink flowering shrub,mums
and an orchid. The most knowledgeable person wasn't around so I
don't know the exact names.

I fell for this bromeliad pictured next to rain lilies and Mexican Heather.
Although I already have M.H. the thought of all those butterflies made
me buy some more! Also in the picture is a shrub whose leaves are
supposed to be yellow and showy. Right now it's a very defiant green!!

Another Ixora--it's the dwarf variety and white. Couldn't resist the
fact that it's attractive to humming-birds, bees, butterflies and
other pollinators.

The bed I was working on...I'd bought gladioli bulbs last month and
had planted them in a wooden planter because this bed wasn't ready.
The marigolds and chrysanthemums are all here...looks pretty
crowded but there's no more space! I've also planted rain lilies
on the border.
The rocks do not look too good at the moment but I hope once the
plants grow, they'll blend into the 'bed-scape'. Yet to be planted
are a dozen hollyhocks and four 'hot' chilli plants.

Here's a sapling of a pepper vine. As for the orchid I've tied it to
a palm tree.

Around this rock, some colour...

This nasturtium with variegated leaves will have red blooms. I'm
hoping to let it trail on a rocky path!

I also got portulaca in two colours--peach and yellow. I'd already
prepared the soil in the hanging baskets earlier. It was lovely to
see them blooming the next morning. On a smaller bed I,ve planted
phlox,dianthus and petunia.

But nothing would thrive without our black gold! Although I use a
lot of leaves for the beds, the great nourisher looks like this...
dry,crumbly and dark! Cowdung manure works wonders! The day
after I'd bought the plants, the person who brings it in a cart
like this,turned up. In this picture, he's unloading the manure
in my frontyard. Garden telepathy, I must say!! I hope you enjoyed
going through the list of plants....

A Visit To Dreamflower Nursery

It's a bright sunny November morning as I head towards Dreamflower
nursery on the outskirts of Guwahati. The planting season has started
and everyone's either digging, weeding, sowing or making a beeline for
nurseries. I'd been here before. Not only is the collection good but
it is situated on a slope. Because of the terrain the area has been
divided into sections. The biggest attraction at the moment are the
seasonal flowers. There were hundreds of pots and plastic bags of
marigold, petunia, dianthus, chrysanthemums, phlox, nasturtium,
dahlia, hollyhock, salvia, cockscomb, roses, gladioli bulbs....

The hill on the opposite side of the road. The dry and dusty look
of winter has'nt arrived but it'll be here soon.


Marigolds and crotons galore!


There were dozens of butterflies flitting about but most of them
were attracted to the Mexican Heather.

Mussanda still blooms...

The Powder Puff or Fairy Duster blooming in profusion. I loved
every moment of my visit to this place. And of course I came back
with a good haul-- many of which will be the subjects of my future
posts!

Will You Walk Into My Parlour?

Before I start my post, I would like to congratulate all my American
blogger friends and visitors on this historic day! Congratulations!

Every evening when the lights are turned on, hordes of insects
descend on them. Whether it's in front or at the back, bugs and
house lizards reign supreme. The lizards have a ball gulping
down several winged morsels!
I saw this lizard making a lunge at this moth. And what a moth!
The supposed predator quickly retreated, intimidated by the 'prey's'
size.

I haven't come across a moth as spectacular as this one. The furry
bit on the back and the eye pattern on the wings will surely keep a
would-be predator at bay!

Tiny little spiders create a mass of web on the bamboo. This wasp
was entangled in the web and struggled to get out.

I wondered whether I should help ( with the aid of a stick ) but
later decided to see how it'd wriggle out of the situation. I
didn't have to wait long. It 'grasped' a dry bamboo leaf and was
free! I almost heard a waspy sigh of relief!

Up and away...

...but there are some who do not manage to get away. Here's
one hanging by a seemingly innocuous strand of yarn. If
luck does not favour, even a strand, rather than a tangle,
can prove to be fatal.

The Water Spinach

I'm fascinated by the blooms of the water spinach. Belonging to
the same family as the Morning Glory, the blooms of both these
plants look similar.The botanical name of the water spinach is
"Ipomoea Aquatica". Googling , I came up with several other names
such as Swamp Morning Glory, Chinese water spinach and swamp cabbage.

The flowers are generally white, pink and mauve. The wetland
near our house has this plant thriving amongst the colacasia
and myriad tangle of weeds. The flowers stand out in their
beauty amidst such surroundings.


The water spinach is an aquatic or semi-aquatic plant. It is
found in all tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.
In the right conditions, the plant can be 8 to 10 ft long. The
stems are hollow which enables it to stay afloat on water. Due
to the hollow stem the Chinese word for this vegetable translates
into "hollow heart vegetable".

As you can see from the photographs, the leaves are shaped like
arrowheads. The stems have a milky sap and roots form at the nodes,
so propagation is easy. Either seeds or stems are used.

Although this plant is native to south-east Asia, it is found
in many parts of the world where the conditions are right.It
is popular in our parts too. The vegetable markets here, always
have fresh green bundles. Although every part is edible, tender
stems and leaves are preferred. Like many green vegetables, the
water spinach is rich in iron and has a pleasant taste. Stir
fries are delicious!

I was surprised to find out that the water spinach is considered
a threat/noxious weed in southern U.S. states, mainly Texas and
Florida.The reasons are that it elevates mosquito breeding, impedes
boat traffic and clogs drainage canals. It is also considered a
threat to rice fields.

But here in my backyard I'm growing it in a small patch.....The
sight of the blooms is enough to uplift my spirits on any day!!

Busy Ms. Lizzie!

Susie--Digging In The Dirt-- mentioned in one of her comments that
she wished to see my lizard. This was after I'd commented on her
cute green one...I've never seen a green lizard in my backyard.
Browns or greyish are the ones we have here.
My bamboo 'grove' might be sparse but they're hosts to an amazing
number of tiny creatures. It's fascinating to see how these li'l
lives go about the serious business of living, all within or near
the bamboo. I hope you'll like going through these pictures.

The other day I was taking photos of wasps when this lizard made
its appearance. I'd never seen it before. It was busy basking in
the warmth of the afternoon sun but when I got too near, it vanished
beyond the wall! The 'busy' on the title of my post would be for
these reasons only! Busy basking and then doing the disappearing
act!!

During the rainy season, the tropical jungle look gets a little too
well-defined! Common garden lizards have a bright red/orange head
and throat during the mating season. Due to this they're also called,
mistakenly of course,'bloodsuckers'.
The orange tinge can be seen here (this photo was taken in August).
The bean vine makes a fine hammock for my bamboo-loving friend.

This photo was taken a few days ago. I didn't realise I'd taken
photos of a lizard shedding its skin. But when the photos were loaded
into the computer, I was in for a surprise. Lizards are supposed to
have puffy eyes just before the skin from the head starts to peel off.

Unlike snakes, lizards shed their skin in bits and this makes them
look rather ragged with strips of skin hanging loose before they
fall off. They also rub themselves against things to get rid of
peeling skin.
Enough of the flashbulb, she decides!

But I'm back there after a while. She's back too! Good girl!!

Assam Afire

"Assam Afire" screams the headlines of a local paper. October
30 will go down in the annals of Assam's history as Black
Thursday. 12 bombs exploded across the state out of which 3
were in our city. We are no strangers to explosions but this
was the worst ever!

So many deaths and the toll going up now in hospitals and in
nursing homes. Heart-rending stories of victims and family
members, looking for missing relatives, many charred beyond
recognition.

With incidences of mob violence, one area was under curfew
for a few hours the past two days.There's an uneasy calm
right now. Schools remain closed and most people remain con-
fined to the safety of their homes. And as the days pass and
life limps back to normal, we can only hope for safe times and
pray for those innocent lives lost for someone else's selfish
cause.