More wildflowers

Flower show in Shillong

The Shillong agri-horticultural Society organised a flower show in Shillong

yesterday. It was a feast for the eyes and every bloom vied for attention

because of its sheer beauty. I took some pictures but the quality of the

photos do not do full justice to these amazing blooms!

The Society was formed and registered in 1977. Its objective is to promote
and encourage the scientific planting of fruits, flowers, trees and vegetables;
work towards developing flower and kitchen gardens; hold flower, vegetable
and fruit shows; organise seminars, discussions and lectures; publish suitable
material including journals, books and leaflets and provide technical advice
on scientific methods of growing and development of landscaping.

Wild flowers on the way to Cherrapunjee

Just got back from a trip to Cherrapunjee and Shillong, drunk on the sight of

wild flowers blooming in a riot of colour, spilling out from roadbanks, walls and

in open fields.

'Tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes!
-William Wordsworth

My fragrant white blooms of summer

Indian blackberry

My blackberry tree is in full bloom now. Covered in ivory- coloured
fluffy, feathery flowers, the tree promises Abundance! Not that it 
has ever disappointed....Summers would never be the same with-
out the berries and the flocks of birds that come a-calling at any
given hour of the day! The ground below the tree is covered with
 a patina of yellow polleny dust now.But soon enough,  my feathered
friends will carpet the ground with hundreds of seeds of half-eaten
berries!
 

Butterfly resting on a bouganvillea bush

But these are flowers that fly and all but sing:
And now for having ridden out desire
They lie closed over in the wind and cling
Where wheels have freshly sliced the April mire.
                                                       -Robert Frost, "Blue-Butterfly Day"

I thought that the photos of the ornamental pineapple
I'd posted earlier, looked good enough. But that was
in March. Now there are several purple-blue flower-
ettes all along the "fruit".This is my best garden
feature at the moment!

Bromeliads

This particular variety of bromeliad does not look very

attractive but when they bloom, you can't stop looking...

I've had these plants for quite a few years but they

flowered for the first time last summer.

Bamboo leaves and the sky at dawn

Golden trumpet and my rain-drenched backyard

A flower-related story

Came across this story some time ago and would like to share
it. When Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, visited
Multan then a great religious centre, the fakirs there sent
him a cup of milk full to the brim,suggesting thereby that
the place was already full of holy men and that there was
no place for another one.
The Guru placed a jasmine flower on top of the milk and
returned the cup to the fakirs, thus telling them that as
the flower with its weightlessness floated on the surface
of the milk without displacing it, so would he live in their
midst adding only fragrance with his presence.

Fireflies and frogs

Still, dark nights do not exist anymore...the water-level in the marshy
plot of land next to our house has risen and the constant croaking of
frogs is a reminder that there's much activity going around. The view
from the bedroom window is a sight to behold. Hundreds of fireflies
flitting above the reeds, it's as if a part of the sky is suspended at eye-
level and miniature stars are twinkling and circling the marsh!
Tomorrow, as with most mornings, I'm likely to be woken by the
raucous sounds of the moorhens. There's a brood among the reeds
and the mother often comes foraging in my backyard. I've not
managed to capture her on camera. With a furtive glance she flies
her short distances, over the wall. Maybe better luck, next time.

A bee and nasturtiums

Clicked this picture on a sunny after-
noon in early March. Despite several tries of a better-picture-of-a-bee-sucking-nectar. this was what I could manage. Sitting on the veranda of my house, it's a pleasure to watch mottled
butterflies flitting about the nastur-
tiums. And talking about nasturtiums,
I love the fact that they are so easy to
grow, requiring very little care even on poor garden soil. As cut flowers,
they look amazing---lighting up the vase/bowl and the room!

April showers

The first day of April and the rains are already here.My
plants have soaked in more moisture than they need. And
the recent hailstones turned those huge leaves of the arum
and the banana to palm-like fronds. But soon the leaves
will look as good as new, I hope.
The weather had turned warm but it's cooler now. So
when the rain stopped, I was out planting the flowers
of summer---cosmos and zinnia. Did a bit of weeding
too. Everything grows so fast when the rains come--
I don't want a jungle in my front-yard!