Beautiful Destroyer

When I brought the small plant of water hyacinth from the lake we visited with my class on a nature trip, I did not realize how fast growing it was. Within a fortnight, the plant had filled my little pond and subdued the water lilies already there. After a month , it was trying to come out of the pond and attack the flowers surrounding the pond!
The flowers of the water hyacinth are a beautiful lavender. Many of the lakes in Bangalore are filled by it. It is a big nuisance because it covers the whole water body in a short time , choking other water plants and fish.
People of Bangladesh have found an intelligent way to tackle this pest. They use it to make paper, or they compost it .

Floral Friday

The pink anthuriums are flowering in hidden corners of my garden. Since they don't need direct sunlight I have planted them in all sorts of dark places.Some are planted in containers, which can be placed wherever I want. There are miniature sunflowers at the back.
I have very few roses, and this Black Princess is a prized possession, because it flowers in all the seasons.The butterfly ginger, Hedychium, makes a good contrast in colour, as well as scent.

The red and yellow flowers of the Zebra Plant, Sanchezia match the bold yellow striped leaves. The plant has started flowering now, and it will continue to flower for the next three months.

More lilies

The red and white amaryllis suddenly flowered now, although it usually flowers in spring. The spider lily, which is relegated to a dark corner of my garden gives beautiful flowers everyday. The plant hunters of the eighteenth century were amazed by its shape and enchanted by its perfume!
Whenever there is a sprinkling of rain, the brave rainlilies open their flowers.

Some insects of my garden

The mantis in the dahlia is patiently waiting for its prey. It was there for hours so it tempted me to photograph it.
The beetles in the rose have had their fill of pollen. Look how one is lolling contentedly in the flower, filled to satiation! They flew away as soon as I took the picture.

The Avocado Way to Health

Although the avocado is from South America, it has naturalized itself here , in south India. It is known as butterfruit here.The Aztecs considered it a fertility fruit. The avocado trees in the neighbourhood are now full of fruit. They don't ripen on the tree, but have to be plucked when mature, and ripened in the house.
Avocado lowers the LDL(bad) cholesterol, and triglyceride levels and increases the HDL (good) cholesterol levels.It has lots of potassium and vitamins, and fat.
In India, it is made into nutritious milk shakes.
An interesting thing about avocado is that squirrels don't attack it. Maybe, because it is mildly toxic to smaller animals.

Flowering Pyramid

The Billbergia pyramidalis is a very accommodating bromeliad. You can plant it in a bed or you can tie it to a tree. I have ensconced it and some others in my coral jasmine tree(Parijatha tree) which has stopped giving flowers because of the deep shade. But shade does not matter for the billbergia. It gives magnificent red blooms tipped with violet whenever it feels like. I wonder how it sent the message to the one in the ground on another part of the garden. The companion white flower of the bromeliad is a Calladium flower.They look so well together, don't they?

More wild flowers

Many of the wild flowers in the tropics are yellow. The Mexican poppy, Argemone mexicana has become quite naturalized here . Its spiny leaves warn stray cattle of its toxic nature.
The Black eyed Susan, Thunbergia Alata, is a creeper which twines round wayside tree trunks and hedges.
The Four o'clock flowers colonize empty lots and prove Mendel's theory. There are so many different combinations of colours there.