Today's Flowers

 A roadside tree full of these flowers.

 Justicia comes in golden colour too.

 Impatiens does well in the shade.

 Fuschia needs a lot of care, but the beautiful flowers are worth the effort.

Cobea scandens has bell shaped flowers on the creeper.
My thanks to the team of Today's Flowers, where you can view flowers from different gardens , as well as wild flowers.

The Letter L is for...

Lagerstroemia indica which line the long streets of Lucknow, and..

latticed windows of long forgotten palaces which let in light  and memories of loss and longing...

Light through the leaves which bring hope.

Lonely souls with lingering memories....

and lurking leopards amidst the lemon grass.

Lots of thanks to Mrs.Nesbitt and Roger of ABC Wednesday.

Our World Tuesday- Gandhi

Today is Mahatma Gandhi's 144th birthday. This post is dedicated to him.. M.K.Gandhi is called the 'Father of the Nation' in India. The great man propounded simplicity and non-violence.

Mahatma Gandhi resisted the colonial rule of the British by non- violent civil disobedience. The famous Dandi March in 1930 spearheaded by him , was a non violent protest against the salt tax imposed by the British who ruled India at that time.

 The simple ashram at Sabarmati was the home of Mahatma Gandhi.

To view some interesting photos from all over the world, click on Our World Tuesday.

Today's Flower= Bromeliad

This bromeliad has flowered in my garden for the first time. I think it is a Quesnelia- is it?
My thanks to the team of Today's Flowers, where you can enjoy flowers from different regions of the world. 

Flowers for Friday

 Welcome to Floral Friday! Today I am showing some flowers from Ooty. Pansies have a cheerful face.

 Canna indica  bicolour.

 Montbretia.

 These grew in large bushes. I don't know the name.

The bright face of Abutilon.
You can see flowers from all over the world at Nick's Floral Friday.

K for Kurinji

 Once in twelve years, the blue Kurinji Strobilanthes kunthiana flowers en masse in the grasslands of the Western Ghats. Last week, we had gone to see the mass flowering.

 Our young guide, Santosh, whose school had a holiday, took us through tea gardens, and up rocky outcrops, to the patch of the hill where the fragrant Kurinji flowers were blooming.

 The flowers attracted swarms of bees and butterflies, which , in turn, attracted frogs. It was thrilling to see the whole hillside covered with these wild flowers. The plants will dry up and die afterflowering , and new seedlings will come up after ten months, which will flower together after 12 years!
The Todas, natives of Nilgiris consider these flowers sacred, and have taboos about destroying the plants. But the whole region is now being converted to tea plantations, and the Kurinji is in the endangered list.
 Another K flower is the Kopsia fruticosa called Shrub Vinca, which flowers throughout the year, every year.

My thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and Roger of ABC Wednesday and Michelle of Rambling Woods.

Ooty Botanical Gardens

 The Government Botanical Gardens at Ooty was established in 1847 by the Marquis of Tweedale. At first vegetables were grown here for the consumption of the Europeans who lived in Ooty. Later, a garden expert called William McIvor was brought here . He stayed for ten years and converted the slopes of Doddabetta hill into beautiful garden filled with temperate and tropical plants.

 During World War I, Italian prisoners of War stationed here made a beautiful Italian garden full of flowers.

 An intriguing pathway leads to the Raj Bhavan.

 Magnolia trees were full of flowers last week.

This is a Toda dwelling converted into a shop for selling handmade shawls and medicinal herbs and oils. Todas are the original inhabitants of Ooty.
My thanks to the team of Our World Tuesday where you can see many interesting pictures and articles.