Tne Hot, the Loud and the Proud

The Common Sergeant butterfly loves the flowers of the Sanchezia nobilis. This plant is a native of Ecuador. It has bright green leaves with bold yellow markings, making it an ideal candidate for the Hot the Loud and the Proud meme.

Now that spring is here, the white Amaryllis flowers have started putting out their huge trumpets.

The red Amaryllis flowers twice here, once in spring and once in autumn.

The orange blooms of the Crossandra are very light. They are strung into garlands and girls wear them in their hair. These flowers are a must in Goanese weddings. In the garden, they attract plenty of pollinators and every flower turns into a seed!

On the last day of every month, you can see tropical plants and flowers from all over the world in The Hot, the Loud and the Proud, hosted by Noel in Hawaii.

Today's Flowers #133

Welcome to Today's Flowers hosted by Santilli, Denise, Pupo and Sandy Carlson.
Today I am going to show the flowers of some of the fruit trees in my garden. The banana above has just come up with a huge flower, promising a big bunch later in the year.

The mango tree is flowering its heart out, although it is late this year. We can expect a bumper crop of mangoes this year. I hope they will all not be stolen by the time I come back from my summer holiday.!

The flowers of coffee plant were not pollinated last month when it put out its exquiaite flowers. It has come up with a new flush of aweet scented flowers. I hope the pollinators do their job now!

Have you tasted coffee flower honey? It is wonderful.

The Avacado tree has flowered for the first time this year. Avacado fruits are safe from predators like squirrels, monkeys and little boys from the village, because they are slightly poisonous before they are ready to be eaten.

To see flowers from all over the world, please click on http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com

Weekend Reflections

Summer Summer is early this year. These bottles of water will be consumed in one day in the School.
You can see some great reflections from all over the world at James' http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com

Flower Flaunt Friday

Welcome to Fertlizer Friday hosted by Tootsie at Tootsie Time.

Here are some of the flowers blooming in my garden at the moment.

The Bird of Paradise flower, Strelitzia reginae was named in honour of a queen of England.

Amarylis blooms are blooming in all sorts of places.

The Shrimp Plant, Pachystachis lutea

Watery Wednesday

The pond in the village bordering my suburb is shrinking rapidly. The rampant growth of the city seems to have contributed to this.

Although the water is less, there are still quite a lot of water birds in this pond.

For more Watery Wednesday pictures, click on http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com

My World Tuesday - Mandala

I came across this Mandala for long life drawn in a Hindu temple. It was drawn with coloured Rangoli powder. Each colour represents an aspect of the Universe.
Mandalas are a part of Hindu and Buddhist sacred art. They represent a microcosm of the universe from the human perspective.
This Mandala was drawn to invoke the blessings of the Almighty on an eighty year old couple. It was swept away as soon as the religious rites were over.
I thank the team of My World for hosting this interesting meme where one can learn so much about other places and cultures.

Today's Flowers #132

Orange coloured flowers are in abundance this season. On top are the flowers of Sanchezia, which has become a big shrub in my garden. Its leaves are also very striking.

The orange flowers of the Crucifix orchid stay for a long time. These flowers which have no nectar to offer the pollinators, mimic the Asclepia flowers and attract butterflies!

The volunteer Nasturtium is putting out orange flowers. The leaves, flowers and seeds of the Nasturtium are edible. I use the leaves in salads.

The reluctant Gerbera.

My Strelitzia has become quite unruly in appearance, but it seems to like it. It is comming out with plenty of flowers and buds now.

I thank Santilli, Denise, Pupo and Sandy Carlson for hosting Today's Flowers.

Weekend Reflections - River reflections

We came across a small river in the jungle, where quite a number of people were picnicking. The water was crystal clear, but I could not see any fish.

This place is called Sahasra Linga, because of the hundreds of lingams carved on the stones in the river.

Children and adults were frolicking in the cool waters of the river, but we had to hurry away.

Skywatch Friday

Now that the hot and dry season has started, we see bougainvilleas blooming everywhere. These maroon double bougainvilleas made a fine contrast against the bright blue morning sky.
You can see loads of sky pictures at http://skyley.blogspot.com

Watery Wednesday- A pond in the Jungle

We came across this ancient , heart shaped pond as we were driving from Sirsi to Sonda. The pond belongs to a delapidated temple nearby. Hundreds of years ago, the temple and the pond were popular places of pilgrimage. Now the jungle is slowly and inexorably taking over.
You can see loads of Watery Wednesday pictures at http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

Gardenblogger's Bloom Day- February 2011

Spring has come to this part of the earth, and in a short while, it is going to be blazing summer. The Dutchman's Pipe Aristolochia ringens is producing some reluctant flowers now. They are the favpirite feed of some butterfly larvae. I hope there will be lots of butterflies later in the year.

The Shrimp Plant Pachystachis lutea is full of chartreuse bracts now.

The white Amazon lily with its daffodil- like flowers perfumes my garden in the evenings.

The all time favourite of morning temple goers is the hibiscus. It is shyly putting out its flowers too.
My thanks to Carol for hosting Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.

My World Tuesday

The Maricamba temple in Sirsi, which was built in 1688, has beautiful Kavi paintings decorating its walls and corridors.

The red -and - white designs are done by hand. In the olden days, the paints were obtained by using red earth and some special herbs.

At the entrance of the temple is a pair of stone elephants.

Animals like buffaloes and sheep used to be sacrificed to the goddess Maricamba in this temple. In 1933, Mahatma Gandhi, who visited Sirsi, refused to enter the temple because of such cruel practices. Since then, animal sacrifices have been stopped .

More pictures of My World at http://showyourworld.blogspot.com

Today's Flowers- Wish You a Happy Valentine's Day

Anthurium has the shape of a heart. This anthurium has a green edge, which makes it special. Now many flowers in my garden have the greenish yellow colour.

The vanilla vine is still flowering but my hands are too awkward to pollinate the flowers successfully:(

The Mother-in-Law's Tongue, Sanseveria are putting outtheir chartreuse coloured blooms now.

A plant vendor in Kerala duped me ,and sold me the bulbs of these tiny chartreuse lilies, after showing me the huge flowers of gorgeous Asiatic lilies. I can't identify them.

My late flowering Poinsettia is now full of chartreuse bracts.

There are other greenish flowers blooming too- the flowers of the Avocado, the blooms of the Sugar Apple....

Wish you all a happy Valentine's Day!
I thank the team of Today's Flowers at http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com

Weekend Reflections- Bamboo

As we were driving through the Malnad countryside, I could see the bamboos flowering everywhere. The bamboo flowers rarely, and it dies after flowering. New bamboo shoots which come up during the rainy season are used by the local people as a vegetable. They also make delicious pickle from young bamboo shoots.
My thanks to James at http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com

Skywatch Friday- Pink and Blue

The gliricidia maculata bushes are showing off their pink flowers all along the countryside now. The pink flowers make a pretty contrast against the blue sky, but the blazing sun makes my photos very dull :(
My thanksto the Skywatch team. To see some fantastic sky shots, please click on http://skyley.blogspot.com

Watery Wednesday- Islands in the Sun

All this area was a thick rainforest before the river Sharavati was dammed. We can see the vestiges of the rainforest in the little islands in the lake.
You can see more Watery Wednesday shots in 2sweetnsaxy's meme http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com

My World Tuesday- Ikkeri

After crossing the Sharvati in the barge, we visited the historic temple at Ikkeri. Built in the 16th century, this granite temple has some beautiful carvings.

Granite elephants like this are found at the entrances of most of the temples around here.

The temple for Shiva is built in the Dravidian style in serene surroundings. It is 3 kilometres from the town of Sagar, where we stayed.

Chennamma, the 17th century chieftain of this place, and a woman of great valour , is famous for defying the Moghuls in their expansionist schemes. She gave shelter to Rajaram, the son of the famous Marattha king Shivaji, when he was fleeing the Moghuls. She is still remembered fondly as an able and kind ruler .
To see more pictures from all over the world, please click on http://showyourworld.blogspot.com

Today's Flowers

The minimum temperature has gone up and many ofthe climbers are blooming now. The Thunbergia mysorensis has put out longstrands of yellow- and - maroon flowers.

Hoya carnosa's flowers are perfuming my garden in the night. The wax like white flowers have pink centres.

The Caraonda bush has stopped flowering, but its pink berries are very attractive. I plan to pickle some this season.

All my begonias are flowering now, and Begonia 'Black Mamba' is the showiest.

Heliconia 'Lobster Claw' bracts are increasing in length. Soon they will be 2 feet long. They last for months on the plants.

My thanks to the hosts of Today's Flowers- Santilli, Denise, Pupo and Sandy Carlson. You can see more flowers at http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com

Sharavati Reflections

The barge is waiting to load the car and the bus and cross the river Sharavati. Passengers can cross the 8 kilometer distance by paying just one rupee- equivalent to 2 cents!

This huge lake was formed when the dam was built across the Sharavati river. The river flows on through dense forests of the Western Ghats. The famous Jog Falls are about 60 kilometers from here.

My thanks to James for Weekend Reflections.
To see more reflections, please go to http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com