A Trek in the Valley of Flowers

 It had always been my dream to visit the Valley of Flowers in the Himalayas. Unfortunately, I could never do it , as the flowering season in the valley is short, and coincides with the crucial First term of Schools in India. Now that I have retired, the first thing I did was to plan a trip to the valley in August- September, when the monsoon recedes and there are plenty of wild flowers to be seen and admired. The Valley of Flowers was a hidden pasture of the people of the district, until it was accidentally discovered by an Englishman John Smythe, who was so smitten by its beauty that he wrote a book about it. The Oxford University sent Ms.Legge, a researcher to photograph and scientifically catalogue the Valley's flora. Unforunately, Legge slipped and fell from a rock and died. There is a memorial gave erected in her memory by her sister in the Valley.

 The Valley was awash with flowers when we visited it for three days at the end of last August. The predominant colours were white and pink, although there were patches of yellow. I don't know many of the flowers' names.

 Bright yellow Inula grandiflora are visited by bees. Although there were plenty of bees and bumblebees, I did not see a beehive.

 Potentilla , called Vajradanti in Hindi, made blood red splashes.

 Pale pink Aster albescens colonised whole hillsides.

The newly laid path was full of sharp tones, making walking difficult. 

 Purple and blue geraniums were growing alongside other wildflowers.9(Geranium wallichianum)

 Cyanatus microphyllus captivated me with their sky blue flowers.

 These large purple flowers had colonised a remote part of the valley. I don't know the name.

 Nepeta erecta resembles the sage.

 The botanist who accompanied us didn't think much of this Balloon Flower  Silene vulgaris, but I found them beautiful.

A colony of  Polygonum plystachyum nodded in the breeze. From a distance they looked like a white cloud.
I saw many more wildflowers and went berserk with my camera, which, unfortunately, did not behave properly.
I shall post the flowers of the higher altitude (14,000feet) soon.
I hope you have enjoyed my post. You can read many more interesting stories at Our World Tuesday.

Our World - The Canyon and the Cavern

 Last week I had been on a trip to the Canyon in Gandikota. The river Pennar has made a beautiful canyon in the red granite cliffs of the place. There is an ancient fort which was never conquered by anybody because of the canyon. People live in the fort and farm in te inhospitable around it.

 The Char Minar in the fort is the meeting place for the residents.

 The next day we went to the underground caves at Belum.

 Amazing to see fresh water flowing deep down in the cave. There is so much to see in our world.

My thanks to the team of Our World Tuesday where you can see so many facets of our wonderful world.

Our World Beautiful

 The bright pink of the Antigonon flowers attracts hundreds of bees every morning. The bees have their hive on the roof of the school building on a hill nearby. During the holidays, the school authorities destroy the hives  fearing that the bees might sting the children, but the bees build their homes again in the same place.

The cheerful rain lilies show up as soon as there is a shower.

 Butterflies sun themselves for short spells.

The Blue Tiger butterfly will soon start its migration to the forests of the Western Ghats.
You can see lovely pictures and interesting information in Our World Tuesday and Michelle's Nature Notes.

Monsoon Wildflowers

 The Monsoon is my favourite season as wildflowers are blooming in every meadow now. Photos also come out good because of the cloud cover. It is nice to go for a long walk to the outskirts of the city just to enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers.

 Ipomia, a sort of Morning Glory closes itself as soon as it has been pollinated by bees. You don't get to see an open flower after 10 a.m, most of the time!

 The flowers of the Sarsaparilla vine are very attractive. The roots of this vine i used to make a energizing drink.

 The Abutilon indica opens only in the afternoon, so you don't see the flowers in the morning.

Thanks to the team of Our World Tuesday where you can see what is happening in different parts of our world. I also thank Michelle of Nature Notes.

Bees and Butterflies

 It was sunny in the morning for a short while. and the butterflies came out to warm themselves. The swallowtail above is called Crimson Rose.

 My Butterfly gingers are filling the garden with their spicy perfume.

Bees  in their hundreds were very busy around the Antigonon vine. 

 My thanks to the team of beautiful people who are making it possible for us to see what is going on in Our World .

My thanks are also for Mrs.Nesbitt, Roger and his team who make ABCWednesday happen every week.

Avocado from my Garden

 I was thrilled to get a crop of avocados for the first time from my tree yesterday! The tree has taken fifteen years to deliver!

 Avocado is also called Alligator Pear and Butterfruit. But the birds are not excited about this foreign fruit. They throng the teak trees next to the avocado tree and peck at the small teak fruit. Now that the mango season is over, the birds are looking for other fruit.

 The Golden Challice vine is full of enormous , faintly fragrant flowers.

My thanks to the team of Our World Tuesday , where we learn of many interesting things happenning in different parts of our world.
I also thank Mrs.Nesbitt , the originator of ABCWednesday  and Roger and his team who do so much work to carry it forward.

Yes for Yellow!

Yellow is considered to be a lucky colour in India.  Most of the wildflowers in India are yellow. Maybe it has something to do with the intense sunlight the plants get.The picture above shows a Tirumala blue butterfly visiting a yellow rattlepod.

I found this in a forest on the Western Ghats.

 This cactus was flowering in the wild near Shimla.

 The Amaltas is a beautiful tree which bursts into golden flowers during our New Year in April.

ABCWednesday was started by Mrs.Nesbitt and is being nurtured by Roger , Wil and many others who do a yeoman,'s service to the bloggers all the year round.