Mandevilla

 The climber Mandevilla is the latest favourite available in the nurseries here. You can get red, white or pink flowering plants.

Being native of the tropical Americas, this plant does well in India. They can be propagated by seed, or stem cuttings.
Since it is a new entrant to the nurseries, it is priced exorbitantly now.

G for Gorgeous

The  Grevillea Robusta   is a native of Australia.

Colville's Glory comes from Madagascar

The beautiful Gloriosa Superba is a native of India. The leaves of this climbing lily also curl round supports.

All these gorgeous flowers are blooming now.
You can glance through great posts at ABC Wednesday, thanks to Roger and Mrs.Nesbitt.

Our World Tuesday- Glass Bangles

The season for buying and wearing new glass bangles has arrived, and bangle sellers are doing brisk business.
Some are meet for a maiden's wrist
Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Some are flushed like the buds that dream
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,
Some are aglow with the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of newborn leaves.
                                                              -Sarojini Naidu
My thanks to the team of Our World Tuesday for hosting this wonderful meme.

Rain at last!

After special prayers in temples, churches and mosques, rains have at last arrived! The frogs seem to be overjoyed- I could hear them croaking from the nearby village pond throughout last night.
My thanks to the team of Skywatch Friday.

Flowers of the Eastern Ghats

The Eastern Ghats is a range of low mountains along the east cost of India. Although it is not as famous as the rain forests of the Western Ghats for its bio diversity, there are some rare and valuable medicinal plants which grow there. Here are pictures of some flowers I found in Kolli Hills. I was perturbed to see how the invasive lantana has occupied large areas, pushing the native plants to the brink of extinction.

 Pseuderanthemum reticulatum has pretty flowers. Locally it is called Gokarna jasmine.

 Purple flowers of Angelonia were seen at some pockets.

 Musical Notes Clerodendrum incisum was carefully grown in a garden.

The Cobra Lily Arisaema neglectum grows wild in the shade of trees in the Eastern Ghats. 

ABC Wednesday- F

The fair flowers of the Fiddle Leaf Frangipani  have unFortunately, no fragrance.

The Fortress on the rock at Namakkal was occupied by the forces of Tipu Sultan, who were trained by the French in modern warFare, four centuries ago.

Thanks to Mrs.Nesbitt and Roger, this fantastic meme is fun to play.

Land of the Smiling Maiden

Last weekend I had gone to Kolli Malai, an unspoiled place in the Eastern Ghats. It gets its name from a legendary maiden who used to entice travellers with her smile and kill them. According to legend, some sages who wanted to meditate in the silent woods, advised her to drive away the demons with her smile.Unlike other beauty spots in the mountains, this place is still unspoiled and not commercialized.

 The tribals grow pineapple, jackfruit and guava, besides vegetables in small gardens in the valleys.

 The lush forest is full of medicinal herbs. Siddhas, the sages, are said to live in the caves in the mountains, and meditate. They make herbal medicines from the herbs that grow there.

The local people grow rice and millets for home consumption . Haystacks for the cattle are a common sight.

Inside the forest, it is dark even during noon. The forest department has put signs of the medicinal trees and herbs.
This is my contribution to Our World Tuesday.

ABC Wednesday -E

 Escaping from an arachnid, the enterprising Eggfly butterfly endeavoured to espy an Eranthemum....

but the Eranthemum was occupied by a Euploea core...or was it a Mormon?
Exasperated, the Eggfly went elsewhere.
Thanks to Mrs.Nesbitt and Roger, the meme ABC Wednesday is expanding its circle of admirers.

Our World Tuesday- Clock Tower

The Jubilee Clock Tower in Mysore was built in 1920 to celebrate the silver jubilee of the reign of the Maharaha, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV. It is now one of the heritage structures of Mysore. Since this clock is in a busy business district, one can get an unobstructed shot only in the early morning.
With thanks to the team of Our World Tuesday, I shall link this to the meme.

Flowers for today

 Nothing lifts up the spirits as a garden of roses. I had gone to Mysore for the weekend, and saw this rose garden full of exquisite blooms in front of the District Collector's office.

 The bees were humming happily in the scented garden.

 The gardener told me that he uses compost mixed with horse dung to feed the plants, which were all healthy and floriferous.

The colours of the blooms ranged from white to red-black!
Hope you enjoyed the flowers. Hope you have a happy week!

Skywatch Fiday- Failed Monsoon

The temple looks serene amid the coconut grove which surrounds it. The trees are still green although the monsoon rains have failed to come.
You can see some fab photos of skies from all over the world at Skywatch Friday.

D for Dahliah

With their dinner-plate sized heads, Dahlias are real dazzlers.

Though neither demure nor delicate, the dahlia is definitely discerned in flower shows.

 Discovered by the Europeans in Mexico in 1525,  the dahlia is named after Anders Dahl of Sweden.

 The Aztecs used dhlias to treat epilepsy. The hollow stems of the flowers were used by them as wter pipes.

The 'Stars of the Devil' dahlia was discovered in 1873. All the modern dahlias are descendants of that one.
I thank Mrs. Nesbitt for her wonderful meme ABC Wednesday. 

Our World- Homes on Stilts

 Meghalaya, a state in the nort-east of India experiences very heavy rains during the monsoon season. Cherrapunjee, the wettest place in the world, is located in this state.  This is a home in a village not far from Cherrapunjee. The houses in these places are built on stilts.

 This is another house in the same village, where the owner has made use of tins of cooking oil to construct his outer walls. Recycling at its best!

My thanks to the team of Our World Tuesday who produce this wonderful meme every Tuesday.

Today's Flowers- Hibiscus

Hibiscus blossoms are so beautiful that you forget they last only for a day.