Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Pink and Purple Perfection

Every time I see this hot-pink Cosmos beaming at me, I can't help feeling a huge smile building up inside me. It's as simple a flower as can be; absolutely nothing complicated about it. And, it's perfect!
Brilliant colour, easy to grow, a snap to maintain ... what more could a gardener want?
Did someone say 'fragrance'? hmmm ...

I wonder if it's the colour which makes it especially attractive for me?
But no, I'm not that crazy about pinks usually, though I'll always make an exception for Hot Pinks. Or Rani Pink, as we call it in India. Bright colours always get me going!

And then I looked around my garden (and in the hard disk of my computer where all my garden photos are stored) and realised just how many pinks and purples-bordering-on-pink I have cheering up my bit of growing space.
Well, what do you know? Maybe I do have a thing for Pink after all!
Like this very small, very pink bloom. 
I had bought the plant along with a bunch of others but hadn't got around to planting it in the ground yet; it was still in a regular-sized pot. And before I knew it, I was dealing with happy blooms. 
Wow! This is one easy-to-please plant!
And when those pretty blooms grow into fruits, and that too on a plant which is just 1'-tall now if it really stretches, then you know you have a winner on your hands.
And when those fruits are such an unusually pretty shape, appealing to the eye as well as the taste-buds, you know it is Olympic medal-worthy.
Oh, how I love thee, Carambola!

Almost as much as I love the Pride of India. May Queen, Queen's Crepe Myrtle ... call it what you will but this is one spectacular bloom to have colouring up your garden. Or rather, drifts of blooms.
 Even if it isn't exactly pink. Actually, there is a pink-coloured variety too but it never ever bloomed for me.
Yes, it happens to all of us!

But why would I quibble over colour when I have these purply clusters of blooms around golden centres and tipped with silvery gray-green buds. What a palette of colours to tease the senses! 

Incidentally, the internet is no longer content with just good ol'-fashioned lilac, mauve, violet, purple, etc. It insists that this shade of purple is 'Orchid' (not the flower, but the shade) . 
Which Orchid?
This one?
 
Or this one?
Or... the mind boggles ... could it be this orchid that they've named it after?
 LOL!

Still, for some strange reason I've always been fascinated by the different names we give to shades, such as ' cherry red' or 'peacock blue' or 'vermilion'. I can't always differentiate the minute variances in shade and hue but I love scrolling through colour charts with evocative names like 'pink cloud' or 'plum pudding' or 'purple fish' (seriously? Purple FISH?). 
I feel like I'm reading a children's fantasy book! Or Dr. Seuss at the least.
Then there is this silvery-leaved begonia which blushes very prettily with  a touch of sun.
Ignore those passionfruits, okay? That was just a hijacker trying to take over all available space. And, also ignore that large hole in the begonia leaf. (I'm told that it is usually a sure sign that chemical pesticides are not used in this space. So, yeah... that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)


A few pale pinks do make a timid appearance in my garden. They're pretty in a way, I suppose, but in my opinion, pale pastels tend to blend into the background in the tropics. It's something to do with the way the sun glares at them. That super-bright light just bounces off those pale petals until it looks like the nuances are washed out and there is only an eye-scrunching blinding white to be seen. 


It's not so bad when they're indoors. Those pale, pale pinks do look much more attractive away from the sun. Or maybe it's just because it's on an orchid that does it. 

But as far as pinks go, I'm beginning to really love this Hot Pink 'n Sulfur Yellow combination. It's like a blast of steamy tropical colour that shocks you out of your soul . But, hey! I'm nothing if not Tropical with a capital T!

29 comments:

  1. What beautiful pinks you have there, Sunita, and a good variety of the color orchid. HA

    Frances

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    1. Thank you, Frances. And didn't you know, the colour orchid is so multi-faceted that, like Love, it is a many-splendoured thing! :D

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  2. Hi Sunita ! The pale pink crepe myrtle is a feast for the eyes, in their ( slightly) smoky gorgeousness.

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    1. Hi Usha, so good to see you here again. Hmmm... I'm so annoyed that the pink crepe myrtle refuses to bloom for me!

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  3. Once again, beautiful photos. Especially that cosmos at the top!

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    1. Thank you, Joan! Yes, that cosmos at the top is a firm favourite for me too :)

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  4. Lovely Pinks ... would love to take stroll through your garden .

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    1. Thanks, Radhika. But I, on the other hand, am fascinated by that blue bird you posted about. Lovely!

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  5. Lovely to see so many flowers at this time of year.

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    1. That's one of the advantages of gardening in the tropics, Nick, flowers at all times of the year. The downside would be roasting in summer, but this kind of makes up for the roasting, don't you think?

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    2. I don't think I would mind the roasting much either!! Better than our current frosts!

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    3. Wait till you've lived through one of our hellish summers, Nick. It's terrible! But yeah, I guess frosty weather can be equally bad. Especially for someone like me who considers 10*C freezing cold weather! :D

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  6. Visiting your blog today is like a tropical vacation for us soon to be covered in snow dwellers....

    We are expecting -23 yes that's a minus...soon.

    Jen

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    1. I hope that's in Fahrenheit, not Celsius, Jen! I can't imagine such cold weather; my blood starts turning into ice at 10*C !
      But, by all means, feel free to holiday or even party here at my tropical blog :)

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  7. Tropical with a capital T!! Absolutely :)
    Gorgeous clicks! esp love the first one and last one.

    P.S: The road outside our office campus was lined with crepe myrtles.. purple and pink. But were cut off one fine day for widening/flyover construction :(

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    1. I knew you'd love this post, Priya! :)
      It's a shame when fully mature, beautiful trees are cut down in the name of development. The least they could've done was to re-plant them elsewhere. In Mumbai I've seen them doing this in a couple of places but I'm not sure whether they will re-plant successfully every time.

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  8. I love the hot pink cosmos, best yet that is one I can even grow here in southern Canada. Next summer of course!

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    1. Huh? I thought I had already replied to this? I'm so sorry! I guess I didn't post it properly.

      Yes, the hot pink cosmos is gorgeous, isn't it? I can just picture loads of them brightening up your garden every summer! I love it's feathery foliage too.

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  9. I didnt know carambola had such cute blooms.
    Sunita

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    1. It's so small that it's easily overlooked on a tree. But it really is cute :)

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  10. Your plants are lovely and thanks for stopping by my blog. The plants that you have, we have too. Your Crepe Mrytle is blooming profusely unlike mine. I think its time for me to dust the box of flower inducer to unleash the magic :)

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    1. Hello Stiletto. It's especially interesting when the blog you're reading shows familiar plants, isn't it? So much the same and yet displayed in such different ways. Lovely!
      I do not use any flower inducers in my garden, Stiletto. I add some well-composted cow-manure and neem-seed powder but that's it. My plants have been responding quite well to this.

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  11. It is really nice picture and looking so great. Amezing and very beautiful flowers.

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  12. Wow!So beautiful flowers!All the pictures are lovely!Cosmos produces cosmic beauty!I loved the pink one most!Very interesting post!

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  13. I love that crepe myrtle. Can you buy that one in Australia? Is it similar to the crepe myrtles I have seen here?

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    1. I really don't know about that, Alex. Perhaps you could check with your local nursery?

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