tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74339068062208488082024-03-14T20:44:10.615+05:30The Urban GardenerSunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-62176359741068347332023-03-24T11:54:00.003+05:302023-03-24T11:54:27.469+05:30When gardeners wander<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMjccbb3AYQab26I0t9nM4rS4DWhT5U44dcfzfb8aGSZgDhVK7jG-bNfNV9lqUYFwJPvOIS6C6KzIlNaTVyloRxgFwMu-9yrj7YPtqC39zVXxqviTM3Ca9oZwR66EAfA0d7vy2GEJZEnVnQSfuW1YAYVQ1-e1zFphr-5Z6lVrcNFpgo0ncs754fe3EA/s5184/5A9C0501-2947-4C93-BD88-E653CC1D7AC8_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5184" data-original-width="3456" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMjccbb3AYQab26I0t9nM4rS4DWhT5U44dcfzfb8aGSZgDhVK7jG-bNfNV9lqUYFwJPvOIS6C6KzIlNaTVyloRxgFwMu-9yrj7YPtqC39zVXxqviTM3Ca9oZwR66EAfA0d7vy2GEJZEnVnQSfuW1YAYVQ1-e1zFphr-5Z6lVrcNFpgo0ncs754fe3EA/w426-h640/5A9C0501-2947-4C93-BD88-E653CC1D7AC8_1_201_a.jpeg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'La famille de voyageurs' by Bruno Catalano</td></tr></tbody></table><br />How have you been doing, my garden family? It's been years and years, hasn't it? So much has happened in the meantime and the world as we knew it was upended, I know. And all of a sudden the whole world seemed to have discovered gardening with a passion! </p><p>It would have been the perfect time to blog my heart out. Except, my laptop chose a few days into the lockdown to conk out! So I poured all my energy into expanding my kitchen garden and discovering new things to do with all that produce. </p><p>Then the world opened up again and I've been travelling like never before! Which is just one of the connections with the sculpture in the pic above. I've been spotting this particular sculpture on every one of my visits to Singapore which always had to have a leisurely visit to the iconic 'Gardens by the bay'. Have you been there? It's one of my favourite places and is peppered with sculptures like this amidst lush swathes of planting. </p><p>But, more about that later! I just had to connect here again .... because it's 15 years since I first started blogging here. <br />FIFTEEN years of The Urban Gardener blog.... Wooohoooo!</p><p>I cringe a bit when I re-read my <a href="https://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.com/2008/03/" target="_blank">first post </a> but since those first seeds have been so very productive in ways that I would never even have dreamed of, I'm not complaining. </p><p>And so it goes. The dormant season is over. The Urban Gardener is back up and running. See you here again soon. I have tons of photos and reams of news to share but I'm a bit like the seeds in the monsoon right now. So impatient and in a hurry to get going again 😀</p><p><br /></p><p>And just so you know, we are also on Instagram. Come find The Urban Gardener <a href="https://www.instagram.com/the.urban.gardener" target="_blank">@the.urban.gardener </a> . Let's continue our conversation over there too .</p><p><br /></p><p><br /><br /></p>Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-46142327601178777112018-10-23T19:21:00.000+05:302018-10-29T18:56:51.575+05:30October in the garden <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecZZwBcCnmcu_uffQibXXpZvSORJpqD_uzkzLfc_gVd-fTe3ilmVFVO26oeX5uojh0OE4hnxh64uvJLfd8KqWBX2UGkvgjwHKlf4Z3ZdZlXTdgfDC7dnuv5-qbE_byur0SDfwncOLZ49v/s1600/The+Urban+Gardener+%257C+Dendrobium+Orchid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Urban Gardener | Dendrobium Orchid" border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="853" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecZZwBcCnmcu_uffQibXXpZvSORJpqD_uzkzLfc_gVd-fTe3ilmVFVO26oeX5uojh0OE4hnxh64uvJLfd8KqWBX2UGkvgjwHKlf4Z3ZdZlXTdgfDC7dnuv5-qbE_byur0SDfwncOLZ49v/s640/The+Urban+Gardener+%257C+Dendrobium+Orchid.jpg" title="The Urban Gardener | Dendrobium orchid" width="426" /></a></div>
Come <a href="https://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.com/2016/10/october-garden-musings.html" target="_blank">October</a> and a gardener's mind turns to things colourful and bountiful. My garden is flourishing in a giddy cocktail of orchids in full bloom now.<br />
Long pendulant spikes of the dendrobiums look best when the plant is mounted on trees, just as they grow in their natural habitat. The one in the pic above is slowly getting there; it's a first-time bloomer. A debutante!<br />
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I am constantly asked whether the mounted orchids are bad for the 'host plant' on which they grow. What they are actually asking is whether the orchids will steal the nutrition from the host.<br />
Er .... no! Orchids are not parasites! <br />
They (the epiphytic orchids, that is. There are plenty of terrestrial orchids which do not grown on trees) only use the host tree as a perch; some place to hang out and live their own life without getting in the way of their host.<br />
The long network of roots that you see is just trying to stabilise the orchid plant, not working their way into the host to steal food!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZweV625ti7zK7x7EQmuzMNdmHIa4rrs5Sf16ODT3LYnESXvRv1tx0LNgdKQfY9jWRxuPgIRzWijlsmibnFx2kAHbsMRHaKagJGkgyChKnXaFNlAUSKivmiq7GXQsAyduJG_wXfYbhBzQo/s1600/The+Urban+Gardener+%257C+Cattleya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Urban Gardener | Cattleya orchid" border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZweV625ti7zK7x7EQmuzMNdmHIa4rrs5Sf16ODT3LYnESXvRv1tx0LNgdKQfY9jWRxuPgIRzWijlsmibnFx2kAHbsMRHaKagJGkgyChKnXaFNlAUSKivmiq7GXQsAyduJG_wXfYbhBzQo/s640/The+Urban+Gardener+%257C+Cattleya.jpg" title="The Urban Gardener | Cattleya orchid" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then there are the <a href="https://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.com/2015/11/growing-orchids-in-city.html" target="_blank">Cattleya orchids</a> that are so flamboyant! Every bloom on these is a cause for celebration.<br />
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I have my Catts in pots mostly because I love moving them indoors when they bloom. Unlike the long spikes on the Dendrobiums and Phalaenopsis, the Cattleya blooms are bigger but are way more compact minus the long spikes.<br />
Which is a blessing in our urban homes which are short on space.<br />
Especially when those tight spaces are also inhabited by large, absent-minded humans and waggy-tailed pets!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjs1PTkSazG_sGHnCl_9I86fKMG080Wz6zwULPGUS6AO4BqVrSLpP7I-BkPxf-5BQoew8wxMP1I4uM1Ak54XUZbBAOuvkdwogcp3MdZOf4o_6FPhA7hA67fNOI99nPCVTJk5L_ERwWeQa4/s1600/IMG_8565.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Urban Gardener | Cordia sebestena" border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjs1PTkSazG_sGHnCl_9I86fKMG080Wz6zwULPGUS6AO4BqVrSLpP7I-BkPxf-5BQoew8wxMP1I4uM1Ak54XUZbBAOuvkdwogcp3MdZOf4o_6FPhA7hA67fNOI99nPCVTJk5L_ERwWeQa4/s640/IMG_8565.jpg" title="The Urban Gardener | Cordia sebestena" width="640" /></a></div>
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October is also infamous for its hot, humid, steaming weather, especially in Mumbai. This is the time when I prefer to stay indoors or walk in shaded gardens, sticking to the cooler early morning times to do anything that demands the slightest effort. Which is why I find it so amazing that the birds are as active as ever!<br />
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This Scarlet Cordia is a huge draw for the Sunbirds which love its nectar. Seeing them zip around it so energetically makes me consider (and immediately reject) the idea that maybe I should be working out too. <br />
Naaah! In cooler times, maybe.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLymMpdwhqU7xOULY4fxRowB1fP0zyB15WkFJfK5L6D7P1WtCdAmQLAR6FxhdZptsKG2ah7EQicarQyAA3RQohp6Py58y6cymYiFHHtUPNvMhwB1ait7wwnwNJ3m-B2xNbI0TZti1-G131/s1600/IMG_8558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Urban Gardener | Dragonfly" border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1280" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLymMpdwhqU7xOULY4fxRowB1fP0zyB15WkFJfK5L6D7P1WtCdAmQLAR6FxhdZptsKG2ah7EQicarQyAA3RQohp6Py58y6cymYiFHHtUPNvMhwB1ait7wwnwNJ3m-B2xNbI0TZti1-G131/s640/IMG_8558.jpg" title="The Urban Gardener | Dragonfly" width="640" /></a></div>
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If my garden is filled with hyperactive creatures now, the one they just can't beat for sheer energy is the dragonfly. And it's <a href="https://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.com/2011/10/rush-hour-in-garden.html" target="_blank">Dragonfly Season</a> now, y'all! Have you seen swarms of them flying in billowing clouds? Don't you just love it?</div>
I love seeing their glistening wings like papery, iridescent rainbows and their almost comical faces which seem to be grinning all the time. <br />
What I love the most? The fact that they're busy hunting down mosquitoes!<br />
Love you dragonflies!!!<br />
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And saving the best news for last, here's something else that I love. The Urban Gardener is honoured to be a recipient of the wonderful <a href="https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/annual-surveys/the-top-gardening-blogs-of-2018/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Golden Trowel Award, 2018</a> awarded to the top gardening blogs around the world!<br />
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A huge thank you to the editorial team at <a href="https://www.lawnstarter.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LawnStarter </a>. Love being featured with all those amazing blogs in your list!</div>
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Motivation to blog more in 2019? Definitely!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWiamtCFcpcRPEXO0wBRwQeZDP7jZd1DOyEB3yLpF2SGIrz80C1MNqNl9_AoefKTRZxFwL5zDJmqpybfaIm6yTrCkVqDMZtw0jzLFommPFpF3vTdHCYXILuiybbIV3190kPSQJHOjLXm4T/s1600/Golden-Trowel-Award-2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1019" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWiamtCFcpcRPEXO0wBRwQeZDP7jZd1DOyEB3yLpF2SGIrz80C1MNqNl9_AoefKTRZxFwL5zDJmqpybfaIm6yTrCkVqDMZtw0jzLFommPFpF3vTdHCYXILuiybbIV3190kPSQJHOjLXm4T/s320/Golden-Trowel-Award-2018.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-91055168045397039132018-02-10T01:12:00.000+05:302019-11-28T10:47:22.341+05:30Choices for a gardener<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhewnitjiBy7824t_6eL-L2NFS37EARaEZFBDLjGKecMQzaAnxp6vDw2QwJX-PQ3QVqe-Bo3NlRW7Y1UZS9RuMekaZw7iGFds9qVX-B368z7E0cEPdeYLRrEIReM2Yr0wSFqlNYfQ0ahiFN/s1600/IMG_4716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Urban Gardener" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhewnitjiBy7824t_6eL-L2NFS37EARaEZFBDLjGKecMQzaAnxp6vDw2QwJX-PQ3QVqe-Bo3NlRW7Y1UZS9RuMekaZw7iGFds9qVX-B368z7E0cEPdeYLRrEIReM2Yr0wSFqlNYfQ0ahiFN/s640/IMG_4716.jpg" title="The Urban Gardener : Butterfly" width="850" /></a></div>
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So what's new in your garden this year?<br />
Is that a bit late in the day to ask, actually? Well, never mind. I've always gone by the start of Spring as the real new year, so mid-Feb is not too late in my opinion.<br />
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This past one year saw me travel a LOT! Then we decided to jump headlong into yet one more new adventure (more about that soon!) which took me away from my blogging, though I had sworn that that was the year I would catch up with my 50+ posts a year.<br />
There's still hope for 2018!<br />
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Which made me think this pic of the Striped Tiger butterfly on the Lantana would be the perfect one to lead into this post. Can you think of anything else as garden-y which travels all over the place? (I could think of several vines ... the Thunbergia grandiflora, for one ... which do that too. But I'm sticking with this).<br />
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And I love to think of how this much reviled weed has the birds and the butterflies and several more beneficial insects, in love with it! I wouldnt mind letting it take over large spaces just so long as it can get some butterflies to sit still on it.<br />
That's a choice I would make, knowing full well that most of my farmer friends in our neighbourhood think I'm crazy!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGoS6zVCsyzE6G8UfiMlWep5VNTDXePboslPoPbOkU5LiZMJTT9_Ip1S0P3kSi_bbdpl6qc399uKP0CugXUCeQXNvbqPaplrOBivq1GRs8osx86_TrNOaCOylxhQ2RYAssWp6s0cF-Hed/s1600/IMG_4641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGoS6zVCsyzE6G8UfiMlWep5VNTDXePboslPoPbOkU5LiZMJTT9_Ip1S0P3kSi_bbdpl6qc399uKP0CugXUCeQXNvbqPaplrOBivq1GRs8osx86_TrNOaCOylxhQ2RYAssWp6s0cF-Hed/s640/IMG_4641.jpg" title="The Urban Gardener : Red Pierrot butterfly" width="426" /></a></div>
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Like these Red Pierrots! I have a Kalanchoe planted here and that probably attracted them here. Did you know that the Kalanchoe is one of their host plants? So if you see something weird going on under the surface of a Kalanchoe leaf, dont dump your plant yet. It's probably a Red Pierrot larva busy at work, eating healthy to grow strong beautiful wings.<br />
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I know! it's a tough decision. Your lovely plant or these oh-so-pretty butterflies? I very often choose the butterflies. Because a garden without butterflies is just not worth the name, don't you think? But then, the Kalanchoe in bloom is so pretty too!<br />
Choices, choices ...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7U5uGA5S9G3t252oGVgctz2uC6UcItlXJSZRXsE3_8gGR3_pmnlffLJIM3pg8zc3iazn_mZnwVNXvklcDU5n7cTxAy7og6-vqhc1wreyEupfOyuTEWNoXepl1a3ut3JHvVUSSQ55GmlI/s1600/IMG_4729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7U5uGA5S9G3t252oGVgctz2uC6UcItlXJSZRXsE3_8gGR3_pmnlffLJIM3pg8zc3iazn_mZnwVNXvklcDU5n7cTxAy7og6-vqhc1wreyEupfOyuTEWNoXepl1a3ut3JHvVUSSQ55GmlI/s640/IMG_4729.jpg" title="The Urban Gardener : Indian Palm Squirrel" width="426" /></a></div>
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Some choices are forced on us. Up until a couple of years ago we didn't have a single squirrel in my garden. And this was amazing considering how many fruit trees we grow. The dogs always worked hard at chasing them away and the Black Kites did their bit too. Then, when our old dog, Salsa, died that was the end of the squirrel-chasing. The other dogs just weren't interested. The squirrels have taken over the garden now and I keep finding half-eaten passionfruit and chewed coconuts and other fruit littering the ground.<br />
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I always thought that I grew enough for both us and the animals but these squirrels have forced me to reconsider that! Again, not an easy choice because I grew up in a house where we would regularly find baby squirrels that fell out of their nests on the trees and promptly started taking care of them.<br />
Tough choice then, to start thinking up ways to drive them away.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjPAKnNmO79V9qJ6hrjs0w657hNKtB1zV8JSUpoFTs8D1psXDEM0hwAEI89xsMUfRd2r6qqKlM6ANlzdnMO6ypBD82SZuKZAUMDSlt4ghYuumAXkwfMRSiGmRV0Myuz3YyW-I6sixlVoG/s1600/IMG_1636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjPAKnNmO79V9qJ6hrjs0w657hNKtB1zV8JSUpoFTs8D1psXDEM0hwAEI89xsMUfRd2r6qqKlM6ANlzdnMO6ypBD82SZuKZAUMDSlt4ghYuumAXkwfMRSiGmRV0Myuz3YyW-I6sixlVoG/s640/IMG_1636.jpg" title="The Urban Gardener : dragonfly" width="850" /></a></div>
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And there are some times when you can just sit back and enjoy the moment. Such as those serendipitous moments when a gorgeous scarlet-clad dragonfly, with the sunlight glinting off its wings, chooses to perch on a twig (in this case, a root from my Pink Cassia that toppled over last monsoon in the super-heavy rainy days) right in front of you.<br />
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Simple, pure enjoyment.<br />
That is part of gardening too!<br />
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And, even better, the Pink Cassia that I love has started sprouting leaves again and is currently growing sideways, part of its roots in the ground and the rest sticking straight up in the air. It's too heavy to lift up so I've chosen to let it grow and bloom where it has fallen.<br />
A funny choice to many, but I'm happy with it if my Pink Cassia is.<br />
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Happiness. Serendipity.<br />
Sometimes great things happen when we just step back and allow them to. That's a part of gardening too.Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-47494841882545330312017-02-06T22:26:00.000+05:302017-02-12T19:00:21.236+05:30Top 10 blogposts : memories of garden days past<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #444444;">It's a Top 10 post this time, and for some really good reasons. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">First, it's a new year and that just calls out for another look at some of the posts that were published all these years ago. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444;">Second, 2017 is the 9th year since The Urban Gardener blog has been posting about everything green and garden-ly. And not just the plants, but also the birds, bees, bugs, butterflies and creatures in them. Any gardener would know that a garden is about much more than just plants, right?<br />
And there are some travel-stories for the garden-happy thrown in too, for good measure.<br /><br />It may also help to keep in mind that I'm talking about more than one garden in these posts. Yes, I have 2 gardens (and help garden-souls to create more. It's officially called 'consulting' but it's pure fun for me!). One is more urban than the other, being in an apartment on a busy road (I know that makes me soul-sister to so many of my readers here!) . <br />The other one is</span><span style="color: #444444;"> where we do our farming but still qualifies as an urban garden because yes, it's in the city. <br />Just thought I'd remind all my new readers of this because you're going to be very confused otherwise with me talking about growing orchids on window-sills in one post and then talking about growing them tied to trees in the next! </span><br />
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And finally ... but not the least importantly ... guess who made it to</span><b> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: #444444;">To</span><span style="color: #444444;">olversed's list of <a href="http://www.toolversed.com/blog/top-10-gardening-bloggers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Top 10 Gardening Bloggers</a>! </span></u></span></b><br /><span style="color: #444444;">
Yesss! So exciting, right?! </span></span><span style="color: #444444;">Isn't that an absolutely fabulous way to start the new year? </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">2017, you're looking so good already!!!</span><br />
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So here goes, in no particular order, ... my favourite blog-posts picked from over 150 published here on The Urban Gardener. They may not be everyone's favourite choice, I know, but you have no idea how tough it was to pick them! Somewhat like asking a mother to pick her favourite child ...<br />
And when you read them, do keep in mind that some of the old posts have photos which were clicked when I was an absolute raw beginner trying to figure out a point-and-shoot camera. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">I'm gradually replacing them with better pictures clicked with the DSLR that I'm much more comfortable using now (just one more unexpected bonus from blogging. I started photographing my garden in earnest only when I started blogging. And today, people are actually buying some of my photos. I love blogging! ). </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">But, replacing all the old photos takes time. So not all the pictures are as good as I would like them to be and I cringe a bit over them, but I am still adding them here, hoping you will enjoy the posts and ignore the quality of those ancient photos. </span><br />
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The Pink Cassia has to be one (just one of them!) of my favourite trees. Not just because it's so pretty but also because it's part of my Summer Sherbet collection. Some of the gorgeous summer-flowering trees of Mumbai on one of my most visited posts. I guess my readers can make out when I really love the topic. </span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"> <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/04/summer-sherbet-mumbais-flowering-trees.html" target="_blank"> </a><span style="color: #38761d;"><a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/04/summer-sherbet-mumbais-flowering-trees.html" target="_blank">Read : <b>Summer sherbet: Mumbai's flowering trees</b></a><a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/04/summer-sherbet-mumbais-flowering-trees.html" target="_blank"> </a></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;">Summer is surprisingly one of the most bountiful times in the tropical garden. 'Surprising' because as roasting-hot as it gets in the coastal tropics, one would almost expect it to be the time when Nature pulls itself in and shuts the door. Instead, it's overflowing with flowers and fruits and the garden is an explosion of colour! Much like these heliconias.</span><br />
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2014/05/summer-in-garden.html" target="_blank"> Read : <b>Summer in the garden</b></a><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">This Black Kite (aka Pariah Kite) is the resident guardian of my garden. Since he moved in with nest, spouse and fledgeling in tow, the garden has seen a marked decrease in pests of the 4-legged and slithering variety! </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">But what is it that drew them to nest in my garden. The tall coconut and teak trees? No ... it must be the bird-bath, I think. Just as the promise of water draws so many more to visit every day.</span><br />
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/06/once-upon-bird-bath.html" target="_blank">Read: <b>Once upon a bird-bath</b></a><br />
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and I just have to add this one! A friend asked me to post about birds and once I started adding the photos to the post, I was a bit surprised to see how many birds we are still lucky to have in our urban environment. They can definitely do with some help to retain a strong foothold in the city, though.<br />
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Read : <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/09/mumbais-feathered-citizens.html" target="_blank"><b>Mumbai's feathered citizens </b></a><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;">One of the most busiest times in the vegetable garden has to be during the Monsoon. If you've been a regular reader of The Urban Gardener, you must know how much I love the monsoons! And it's not only because how well the garden flourishes then. <br />
This is also the season when we plant so many vegetables that we're in danger of overdoing it! So we have gourds and cucumbers and okra, beans and so much more growing and yielding like there's no tomorrow! </span></div>
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2012/08/monsoon-vegetables-in-mumbai.html" target="_blank">Read: <b>Monsoon vegetables in Mumbai </b></a></div>
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The slightly quirky and rather weird plants catch my attention all the time! They're just so much more interesting, don't you think? Like this awesome flower of the Canonball tree. Did those wriggly-looking staminoides catch your attention too?<br />
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Read : <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2012/04/weird-and-wonderful.html" target="_blank"><b>The Weird and the Wonderful </b></a><br />
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Every once in a while, we are charmed by something totally unexpected!<br />
A butterfly, that creature of the great outdoors, ventures into our urban home. Possibly lured by the presence of indoor plants and the promise of nectar, or perhaps looking for a safe home to raise her babies. When this happens the magic is triple-fold. Flowers, butterfly, baby butterflies.<br />
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I was lucky enough to become a butterfly farmer, sheltering butterflies from the egg to adult butterfly stage, more than once and this was one of my favourite posts about it.<br />
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Read: <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2012/04/weird-and-wonderful.html" target="_blank"><b>The butterfly farmer</b></a><br />
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Have you ever seen a teak tree? It has to be one of the most impressive trees that we have. Tall, strong and looking as if it will be here forever. Its leaves are as massive as the body of a small child. Yet it can still throw up a few surprises.</div>
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Read: <a href="https://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/08/forest-giants-in-urban-gardens.html?m=0" target="_blank"><b>Forest giants in urban gardens</b></a></div>
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And for all those who believe that you need a greenhouse and all kinds of complicated techniques to grow orchids in the city... not if you live in the tropics! As you can see by those ugly window-grills in the background in this picture, this is one of them. Proof that orchids do thrive ... and bloom ... in the city. Mumbai city, at least.</div>
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Read: <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2015/11/growing-orchids-in-city.html" target="_blank"><b>Growing orchids in the city</b></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVu4BF7x6XM2bCemV044X7rTnmacufeV7b4zSdDRiVvmY2f5MNjNZuAjoUyBrBZexNB1i9gz6DLKUXy5SaqIYLc-VNUJzleZOz7-DZ5ydSnHYk47lGhjcq-RqNICBs0EzIluAY8Bd3EfCm/s1600/The+Urban+Gardener+-+Raindrops+on+leaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVu4BF7x6XM2bCemV044X7rTnmacufeV7b4zSdDRiVvmY2f5MNjNZuAjoUyBrBZexNB1i9gz6DLKUXy5SaqIYLc-VNUJzleZOz7-DZ5ydSnHYk47lGhjcq-RqNICBs0EzIluAY8Bd3EfCm/s640/The+Urban+Gardener+-+Raindrops+on+leaves.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
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And, my favourite season in the whole long year ... the Monsoon! It makes my soul sing to see the garden so green and happy. No wonder that I have so many posts about it! </div>
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Read : <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2011/10/transitions-and-deja-vu.html" target="_blank"><b>Transitions and deja-vu </b></a></div>
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So there you have them ... my pick of the posts that are just a bit more interesting to me for one reason or the other. Oh, there are more. If I were going for Top 15, I would have definitely included <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2008/11/garden-tea-party-butterflies-invited.html" target="_blank">Garden Tea-Party ... butterflies invited</a> ' and '<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2008/11/november-lullaby.html" target="_blank">November Lullaby</a>' and, of course, '<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2013/10/growing-food-for-my-table.html" target="_blank">Growing food for my table</a>' . Oh, and I would just have to have '<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2014/02/remembering-butterfly-season.html" target="_blank">Remembering Butterfly Season</a>' . But let's stick to Top 10, okay?</div>
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And now, in anticipation of Spring 2017 and a whole new year of garden adventures, here's one last post for you.<br />
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Read: <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2013/04/a-sense-of-spring.html" target="_blank"><b>A Sense of Spring</b></a></div>
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Now, what about you? Do you have a favourite here? I'd love to know!<br />
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Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-12430465252061173202016-10-31T08:39:00.000+05:302016-10-31T08:39:07.769+05:30October garden musings <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjQ-wXmiSvbFfZaZPuPm0-3euN0luZH_8KcL2mRZi7ijAP9_AJK-m_9kYB8gEa1bpnL-TCxuDHbrPdKOFT8NR2E49wFUDZCjhtNF3fUBIWoG9R4EkHxuT5-slD-g6ovTzfpMQHR_TZ8VL/s1600/Red+Ginger+Alpinia+%2540+The+Urban+Gardener.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjQ-wXmiSvbFfZaZPuPm0-3euN0luZH_8KcL2mRZi7ijAP9_AJK-m_9kYB8gEa1bpnL-TCxuDHbrPdKOFT8NR2E49wFUDZCjhtNF3fUBIWoG9R4EkHxuT5-slD-g6ovTzfpMQHR_TZ8VL/s640/Red+Ginger+Alpinia+%2540+The+Urban+Gardener.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
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Goodbye October, it's been lovely to have known you. Happy Diwali and a happy New Year to all those who are celebrating it now. <br />As for those who are not celebrating, my wishes go out to you too ; we can all use reasons to celebrate, don't you think?<br /><br /> Too much travel and a lot of work commitments have kept me from blogging as often as I would have liked. But then, travel is a wonderful thing and I never say "No!" to it. <br />A bit of work, a bit of pleasure and lots of gardens at the end of it. Mmmm.... maybe I should change the title of this blog to 'The Travelling Gardener' ! <br /><br />
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Coming back home to my gardens is one of the sweetest pleasures. Do you head to your garden first thing when you get back from a trip? I do!<br />Which plant is flowering? What new fruit is ready for harvest? What new surprises is my garden throwing up?<br />
<br />Incidentally, did you see the multi-bloom Red Ginger in the first pic? That was a Surprise with a capital S! I've never seen one like that before, with multiple flowers (inflorescences, if you want to be technically correct) sprouting from a single one. <br />I've seen little p<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2011/10/transitions-and-deja-vu.html" target="_blank">lantlets sprouting from a Red Ginger flower,</a> looking like over-eager babies raring to race before they can walk, but never more flowers from a single flower! What a bonanza!<br />
<br />And it looks just like a sparkler, don't you think? Just in time for Diwali.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDi0FrSYWsYlJxa8Zeiom03ExV0N3sBti2KuW6oPloonXeBY_6YO_rRWNDn4EPbr5UENqFM9jj4lL8VGPyoFz4-pUH_oppb99hgdKIvYjMBvWU4-C5oIpzZUI57NyovBerdPxyMg9X2hJf/s1600/Butterfly+close-up+%2540+The+Urban+Gardener.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDi0FrSYWsYlJxa8Zeiom03ExV0N3sBti2KuW6oPloonXeBY_6YO_rRWNDn4EPbr5UENqFM9jj4lL8VGPyoFz4-pUH_oppb99hgdKIvYjMBvWU4-C5oIpzZUI57NyovBerdPxyMg9X2hJf/s640/Butterfly+close-up+%2540+The+Urban+Gardener.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
The butterflies are coming in too. Not in droves yet as they usually do every year at this time (Remember <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2014/02/remembering-butterfly-season.html" target="_blank">Butterfly Season</a> and the <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2008/11/garden-tea-party-butterflies-invited.html" target="_blank">Butterfly party</a> ? That happened in October - November too). But, I'm giving them time. November is not here yet.<br />
<br />In the meantime, there are still a few butterflies flitting around and posing for photos . But till they show up in crowds, I'm making do (that's a funny term for 'thoroughly enjoying', isn't it?) with the petalled variety. My dendrobium orchids!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0xCBBCpkX7hsyB8yb8j0Sub79yG-mJXBPakvqmAXe4606YMAFxSFYXgsBfbdqNhOoKkw-fVO8hSYNbmcsgeuAhrNXdzdxyDOywXQakZT_a4ucSaIHh5sUno_HUj8TSMJpbH8xlcYzKaw/s1600/White+dendrobium+orchid+%2540+The+Urban+Gardener.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0xCBBCpkX7hsyB8yb8j0Sub79yG-mJXBPakvqmAXe4606YMAFxSFYXgsBfbdqNhOoKkw-fVO8hSYNbmcsgeuAhrNXdzdxyDOywXQakZT_a4ucSaIHh5sUno_HUj8TSMJpbH8xlcYzKaw/s640/White+dendrobium+orchid+%2540+The+Urban+Gardener.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
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<br />Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-63391463848452699732015-11-30T00:06:00.000+05:302018-12-07T07:07:05.380+05:30Growing orchids in the city<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWBDmvXe2byt0HPgDMaipEJ467IuBAlJXKwA-vzcwnQCjRaSNQYEMHGWKDkeMbXR2B76dHn7om6GiUzFNLemJnc_3BnaFVpPaU1gWCRZTS9SeAlG91RNqvZ8eoBEV6stRT4dmFUmchD1z/s1600/IMG_8380+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Grow Cattleya orchidsin the city | The Urban Gardener" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWBDmvXe2byt0HPgDMaipEJ467IuBAlJXKwA-vzcwnQCjRaSNQYEMHGWKDkeMbXR2B76dHn7om6GiUzFNLemJnc_3BnaFVpPaU1gWCRZTS9SeAlG91RNqvZ8eoBEV6stRT4dmFUmchD1z/s640/IMG_8380+copy.jpg" title="Growing orchids in the city | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
Growing orchids in the city? ... impossible! Or so I was told.<br />
Until, I just had to show them. Cattleyas with ruffled pouty lips in a five-petalled haiku.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX2YWZf-9Y4ia8FI_SzIecbBqGW7qzt8eifVSjaedV9F30YFs5Z8Mdgx36qD0o1ka5OF349MyRaiO1qhrzkQKekAP9302iPDMzqLEAhFvosrReC0r-qvNmSJlzXdq-jOGf89SCUfsJEP28/s1600/IMG_8304+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cattleya orchid bud" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX2YWZf-9Y4ia8FI_SzIecbBqGW7qzt8eifVSjaedV9F30YFs5Z8Mdgx36qD0o1ka5OF349MyRaiO1qhrzkQKekAP9302iPDMzqLEAhFvosrReC0r-qvNmSJlzXdq-jOGf89SCUfsJEP28/s640/IMG_8304+copy.jpg" title="Cattleya orchid in bud |The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
City-grown and city-bloomed, with no greenhouse or misting system in sight.<br />
Just plenty of good ol'-fashioned sunshine reaching past plant-laden window-boxes and beaming on even more orchids on my window-sills ...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08R_nFPtZWU55ZBlC3KSmFXS0GS57VHZJJqZ2lRY1zC5wmj7Oi7Siik0zAhEj-SHaodt3k5wGIO7qUOjTU3QeTGTBQEF5XzJResenMDWbtsbb7y58g-tKSw9KLIA4XrY2mhZIPMtaZlC9/s1600/IMG_8366+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08R_nFPtZWU55ZBlC3KSmFXS0GS57VHZJJqZ2lRY1zC5wmj7Oi7Siik0zAhEj-SHaodt3k5wGIO7qUOjTU3QeTGTBQEF5XzJResenMDWbtsbb7y58g-tKSw9KLIA4XrY2mhZIPMtaZlC9/s640/IMG_8366+copy.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
And moist, humid coastal air. Plus, a neighbour's leaky AC unit drip-drip-dripping onto my lucky orchid plants ...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jFYXqvxd0lKPm35OFkcbufOaBmlyhqG-YFOsJiq65xqkPHNzFKQvx1uL4o0yEBh668A7Ws7Vl4SRUiyl1ccW00oQCPWjs-I2CVGkDEeYaDC6iYoy1qE0RTN-X6dEb8mfXUE3A5xrQdIY/s1600/Cattleya+orchid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cattleya orchid grown in Mumbai city, in bloom" border="0" height="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jFYXqvxd0lKPm35OFkcbufOaBmlyhqG-YFOsJiq65xqkPHNzFKQvx1uL4o0yEBh668A7Ws7Vl4SRUiyl1ccW00oQCPWjs-I2CVGkDEeYaDC6iYoy1qE0RTN-X6dEb8mfXUE3A5xrQdIY/s640/Cattleya+orchid.jpg" title="Cattleya orchid flower | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
For every sceptic and nay-sayer who says it can't be done, a mammoth Cattleya orchid that blooms its heart out in a flourish of gorgeousness. Right here in the city, in an apartment window jostling against a bustling road.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqcnhmG-JBmFYMfEs-ThqeiA7h82DFxs_pKx9ITUIRT6wEZBr5Gq5sjB28N9VQXyFac4XEImpAUIzSKCJKzE9NesfOSg_e5JsDJmNBizAntgCZgThqslkWo9Ze6huZu7SavRI8fmFB8nrw/s1600/IMG_6355+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqcnhmG-JBmFYMfEs-ThqeiA7h82DFxs_pKx9ITUIRT6wEZBr5Gq5sjB28N9VQXyFac4XEImpAUIzSKCJKzE9NesfOSg_e5JsDJmNBizAntgCZgThqslkWo9Ze6huZu7SavRI8fmFB8nrw/s640/IMG_6355+copy.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
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Mokkaras and every Vandaceous orchid blushing a healthy happy hue. Of exuberant pinks ...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1hXywn7rg4_-q5S9i8aCHShkHrDmYGoUFwWHrOHuRbOORxEwPODrtv8qbelesa25KpewVjGhTLwkFd52lrIrmByH6zhkUsrqAyCXLJb0cW35fXjzP4n5vyp3gOliMgSl3-QzIh6Xq-IW/s1600/IMG_6403+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1hXywn7rg4_-q5S9i8aCHShkHrDmYGoUFwWHrOHuRbOORxEwPODrtv8qbelesa25KpewVjGhTLwkFd52lrIrmByH6zhkUsrqAyCXLJb0cW35fXjzP4n5vyp3gOliMgSl3-QzIh6Xq-IW/s640/IMG_6403+copy.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
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...and sun-dipped yellows.</div>
These are the Vanda days. Of warmth and light and bounteousness all around. No skimping on anything!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW76anmDoQeTnPLL_KDfFp5JfMYRr-lcYc_I7riUEBnh9ad0_W72rM48nm1MpN2TdfSO5_T_f4XHqPu7dfUWDu4ql2-BjckhDkFRGWoSql8Xuwk6h9lVONeiA0ffS1dOtz7iWYqRFnHKqY/s1600/IMG_6352+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW76anmDoQeTnPLL_KDfFp5JfMYRr-lcYc_I7riUEBnh9ad0_W72rM48nm1MpN2TdfSO5_T_f4XHqPu7dfUWDu4ql2-BjckhDkFRGWoSql8Xuwk6h9lVONeiA0ffS1dOtz7iWYqRFnHKqY/s1600/IMG_6352+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Growing Phalaenopsis orchid in a city balcony" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW76anmDoQeTnPLL_KDfFp5JfMYRr-lcYc_I7riUEBnh9ad0_W72rM48nm1MpN2TdfSO5_T_f4XHqPu7dfUWDu4ql2-BjckhDkFRGWoSql8Xuwk6h9lVONeiA0ffS1dOtz7iWYqRFnHKqY/s640/IMG_6352+copy.jpg" title="Phalaenopsis orchid | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
Phalaenopsis are amazing! Smashing every preconceived notion of how they should grow and that too, so cheerfully.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzLGK3YOZlz4ktwRLPOwmeIbSZUY3jFSuMf0ikGeeoJmVDNjBBKgQ00PcrR7d-al9Qr5wyiuXKdMpM2-Xg7jKxWWBf3kVajMa-z-Ej8JrUeGkESxhk6Ip4ZaHttDpZpdUXceJwCZaMwkY/s1600/IMG_2703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Growing Cattleya orchid in a tropical city windowsill in Mumbai. " border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzLGK3YOZlz4ktwRLPOwmeIbSZUY3jFSuMf0ikGeeoJmVDNjBBKgQ00PcrR7d-al9Qr5wyiuXKdMpM2-Xg7jKxWWBf3kVajMa-z-Ej8JrUeGkESxhk6Ip4ZaHttDpZpdUXceJwCZaMwkY/s640/IMG_2703.jpg" title="Cattleya orchid in a city windowsill | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
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From brightest fuchsia to palest pink, Cattleya or Dendrobium. All tropical orchids, all city-grown among the rough and tumble of traffic and noise and pollution. Thriving, blooming, thrilling... point proved! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFC0pv7RDcplK025_h-VpVeJ5otkYdzvFUutw7ax_7T84D0Xuabv41gIoSux7Ew1xdOZh3xZlnIou_5xVqxqwIKW_ljMn2GfsP8V6paqokb2uYM3zoipEWAryiIzu39228nM_G8qSWe3I/s1600/IMG_4107+copy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dendrobium Visa Airy Peach orchid in pale pink flower. Grown in Mumbai city." border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFC0pv7RDcplK025_h-VpVeJ5otkYdzvFUutw7ax_7T84D0Xuabv41gIoSux7Ew1xdOZh3xZlnIou_5xVqxqwIKW_ljMn2GfsP8V6paqokb2uYM3zoipEWAryiIzu39228nM_G8qSWe3I/s640/IMG_4107+copy+2.jpg" title="Dendrobium orchid | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
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Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-45487209420966303952015-09-02T17:49:00.001+05:302018-12-07T07:18:23.518+05:30Travel: More floral artistry in Zurich<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYh4u7MWrj3q62CSdcxLOXf0Dc7qvIxtdRiY78htHiF0TnDWuF7QeSVNCb94kGNT4RjoFlalaSYVnDIU6_tL0w8pNofZSKxvuK2KNCOzEuhtThxSYlZYjhbeb6IQzvE56KDnlw2ieUID9/s1600/IMG_6109+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Travel tourism in Zurich, florists and plants" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYh4u7MWrj3q62CSdcxLOXf0Dc7qvIxtdRiY78htHiF0TnDWuF7QeSVNCb94kGNT4RjoFlalaSYVnDIU6_tL0w8pNofZSKxvuK2KNCOzEuhtThxSYlZYjhbeb6IQzvE56KDnlw2ieUID9/s640/IMG_6109+copy.jpg" title="Florists in Zurich | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
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So did you get an eyeful of the glorious flowers that <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2015/08/travels-with-urban-gardener-meet-floral.html" target="_blank">Zurich's florists</a> dish out in my last post? <br />
I do have one more florist whose work demands to be featured too. I was overwhelmed by the gorgeous plant and floral art created by Regula Guhl and her team at ' <a href="http://blumenbinder.ch/arbeit/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blumenbinder</a> ' on Oberdorfstrasse, Zurich. <br />
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It was just down the road from my hotel and within strolling distance from the <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2015/08/travels-with-urban-gardener-meet-floral.html" target="_blank">other florists </a>that I had blogged about in my last post (which makes me believe that perhaps Zurich has no idea how much of floral riches it has, waiting to be discovered!).<br />
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I was walking off a particularly satisfying lunch when I saw a couple of very fashionably dressed ladies leaning in and ooh-aahing over something.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT6MRp7gehDw_0yooOBsiwuZuqnJKr5t48iImcUFb5g3Ju37Oo_WTNM8dHLQSWaESjqpHUXGTdTYVZ-RPWi1m4MUijFxuBb1eIQY4ED8WYNisZxv2TovF34lwqfRfKPYTPgsjFA2W82RqH/s1600/IMG_6106+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pelargonium blooming at a florist shop in Zurich" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT6MRp7gehDw_0yooOBsiwuZuqnJKr5t48iImcUFb5g3Ju37Oo_WTNM8dHLQSWaESjqpHUXGTdTYVZ-RPWi1m4MUijFxuBb1eIQY4ED8WYNisZxv2TovF34lwqfRfKPYTPgsjFA2W82RqH/s640/IMG_6106+copy.jpg" title="Pelargonium | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
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Then I moved in closer and discovered that it was oooh! ... simply drool-some !<br />
"Pelargonium," one of them was whispering to the other.<br />
Was it? I have no idea, I had never seen this plant before. But I do know that if I had been living in Zurich longer I would have grabbed this large pot of pink happiness for myself.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh108exf1dY9pTXMfC9A4ixzDsK1n9cTjoIKxXjJ17R_LYHVqo4cOon-CIb9aCpuWZl9u_ZzWuKme5tyetz2lKGk_2N5HiYAiyFGVbC7MnRECLftkjpze8ltx5VReDZaKAI2ZyjfOToo_3D/s1600/IMG_6106+copy+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh108exf1dY9pTXMfC9A4ixzDsK1n9cTjoIKxXjJ17R_LYHVqo4cOon-CIb9aCpuWZl9u_ZzWuKme5tyetz2lKGk_2N5HiYAiyFGVbC7MnRECLftkjpze8ltx5VReDZaKAI2ZyjfOToo_3D/s640/IMG_6106+copy+crop.jpg" title="Pelargonium | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
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Here's a closer look so you'll know just what I mean. (And if you know its name, do tell me)<br />
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Then I got a clearer look at the space which had been hidden from view till then and found a whole profusion of potted plants and bunches of flowers ... hydrangeas and morning glories and geraniums and poppies and even an exuberantly blooming hibiscus. <br />
It was so beautifully arranged and displayed! <br />
If you don't believe me, check out the first photo in this post and then tell me that you aren't drawn to all those little plants, full of blooms and each in its own little bark pot.<br />
That is so clever! I love the look of bark around a pot. So infinitely more attractive than ugly plastic pots. I really must try that with some of my own plants at home.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJwOIgx-BI7P0b3Hlo3cnSkbe2f5TlXVeK4IfPrBxPFmAfEf7ojMnVXBNnhKZbGK7uR_a3GHKLjAq0F9qG24onMqhm0at4qR06quQdL_F2eVmNCzcSpQcdRf26xmYwiwFr7NsLta69rb5/s1600/Zurich+travel+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Plant display at a florist shop in Zurich" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJwOIgx-BI7P0b3Hlo3cnSkbe2f5TlXVeK4IfPrBxPFmAfEf7ojMnVXBNnhKZbGK7uR_a3GHKLjAq0F9qG24onMqhm0at4qR06quQdL_F2eVmNCzcSpQcdRf26xmYwiwFr7NsLta69rb5/s640/Zurich+travel+1.jpg" title="Plant display in Zurich | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
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On second look, the bark, like the cane basket, was more like a cache-pot into which the original pot was inserted to make it look prettier. Guess what? It worked!<br />
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But there's something about the flowers here. They look ... happy! I cant think of a better description. Well-cared for, happy and displayed to their best advantage. I love places that lavish so much care over their plants.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT-7rLw-sT-vXoel1RIpxCyk58k11U7QBov2X2lvtmWVa2hCZV_e8tqFT2tAjOqEfySTTWH18j35WfUR0poruWyCp4cEduurVmtedFmTSchwk93q0X5p4cjLyd_IIZQEzgrMXu2qGxAOrF/s1600/Switzerland+Zurich+florist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT-7rLw-sT-vXoel1RIpxCyk58k11U7QBov2X2lvtmWVa2hCZV_e8tqFT2tAjOqEfySTTWH18j35WfUR0poruWyCp4cEduurVmtedFmTSchwk93q0X5p4cjLyd_IIZQEzgrMXu2qGxAOrF/s1600/Switzerland+Zurich+florist.jpg" /></a></div>
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So I had to meet the people who were responsible for this. I went in to find <a href="http://blumenbinder.ch/team/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Regula and her team</a> busy in prepping whole bunches of flowers which some of them were arranging in large buckets and placing some against the wall.<br />
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Of course, I had to tell them that I'm a plant addict and flower-junkie too. Just standing in that room with the fragrance of hundreds of flowers wafting from every side and seeing huge clouds of blooms smothering every available inch of space, was sheer heaven! <br />
So Regula took a break from her work to listen to my excited gasps of how exquisite everything was and Angela, one of the lovely florists there, gave me a rose to sniff ... and laughed delightedly as my eyes grew wider. <br />
I swear that rose smelled divine! I forgot the name of the rose (me and my non-existent memory!) but if you take a look at the photo above, you can see it, I think. The white roses in the bucket on the floor ... heavenly!<br />
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But I didn't want to distract Regula and her team much longer so I wandered back outside to gasp over the potted plant display all over again. Take a look...<br />
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When a display like this can take the attention of a little kid away from an ice-cream, you know it has to be simply awesome, right?<br />
Love, love, LOVE these!!! Wish I could have brought all of them home. <br />
Or better still, I guess I'll have to work on finding great reasons to return to Zurich and sinking myself in botanical ecstasy all over again. <br />
Yep! That sounds like a great plan to me ...<br />
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<br />Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-20761661237225594622015-08-17T19:26:00.003+05:302019-11-28T10:51:11.875+05:30Travels with The Urban Gardener : Meet the floral artists of Zurich<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is a post which is long overdue. Way, way over past overdue, actually. </div>
Sometimes Life tends to gleefully over-ride each and every good intention (there goes my a-post-a-week plan!) and then cunningly dump so much work and other stuff on one that we don't even realise until too late that "hey! hold on ... this isn't what I had planned!".<br />
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So, I had a year-ful of work and then all of a sudden, it was time to travel! I tell you, no one can travel like a gardener can. Especially when it's a gardener who has her senses overloaded with plants and blooms that she'd kill to grow.<br />
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For all the tropical abundance in my own garden, I yearn to grow plants which are more suited to temperate climates. Which is why a walk in Zurich (or Munich... or Salzburg ... or ...) can turn my face this way and that, trying to saturate my vision with all the gorgeous blooms on display. It was Spring when I reached there (peak of summer here in Mumbai, who would have guessed?!) and all the trees were bursting into bloom in delicate explosions of colour (but more about them later!). And, in the little and not-so-little florists shops all over the city, colours were running riot.<br />
I loved it! And I went up to all the florists I could talk to and felt as if I had met a kindred soul in a foreign land. And we chatted about colours and textures and fragrances and all the delicious details that true flower-lovers and growers love to explore.<br />
Ohhh, the sheer joy of it ...!<br />
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It was at Limmatquai in Zurich that I met Fritz Schneiter. Under the arches that shelter a host of trendy restaurants and shops, cutting a rainbow-swathe across the grey cobble-stones was a sea of colour; blooms of every hue possible. (So perfectly apt that this florist shop is called '<a href="http://www.bluemeboege.ch/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blueme under de Böge' </a>... Blooms under the Arches! )</div>
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And behind them, at his workstation was this very genial looking man quietly at work . He soon strolled over to see which blooms had caught my eye. And I told him, "all of them!". </div>
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We got talking about my blogging and my garden in India and my tropical flowers and how much I'm in love with his flowers. And he handed me his card, smiled and told me, "mail me some pictures of your flowers".</div>
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I hope you will read this some day, Fritz. This one's for you!</div>
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And for you, my dear readers. I hope you enjoy the floral buffet that I'm posting for you; tulips, roses, hydrangeas, irises, peonies, poppies ... don't you just love them all?!</div>
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Thank you, Fritz. I did enjoy our talk and the flowers . Here's to you!</div>
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There's something about the streets of Zurich that act as a catalyst. Those grey cobblestones and grey skies act as the perfect counterpoint for the floral displays pulling the eye from across the street, drawing one to go and take a closer look to see if those flowers are really as gorgeous as they look. And they invariably are!</div>
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I saw these plants displayed in a small lane across the road and I just had to go check them out. Such an interesting shop! I never did discover its name but I loved it for these gorgeous peonies. And the very aesthetic displays.</div>
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Can one sightsee a city through its shops? I know many who would quickly nod their heads in agreement. As for me, I loved discovering Zurich through its florists shops. Can't wait to go back and find all the others that I missed!<br />
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<i>(p.s. This post had to be cut shorter than expected due to a malfunction in my good ol' trusty PC where I store all my photographs. I had intended to add one more exquisite floral artist but that will now have to wait for another post. Until later ... </i>:) <i> )</i><br />
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Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-62080649629782248982014-10-23T21:52:00.002+05:302018-12-07T09:08:25.650+05:30Grow vegetables for the flowers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2LbrJSmWYzNclrrafTM2aHnODXBI6_w96SarAykw0N3XLhwsqpLcLQFk3hjH0GP9CTSVW_JrI6P9u0HjRP_bGgREwDT6cIHB0-Ekgn6n-kaHkcEo6WKT39W_mCbT2lUEpRVKE8-c7ZpP2/s1600/IMG_8666+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Okra flower shows beauty of vegetable flowers" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2LbrJSmWYzNclrrafTM2aHnODXBI6_w96SarAykw0N3XLhwsqpLcLQFk3hjH0GP9CTSVW_JrI6P9u0HjRP_bGgREwDT6cIHB0-Ekgn6n-kaHkcEo6WKT39W_mCbT2lUEpRVKE8-c7ZpP2/s640/IMG_8666+copy.jpg" title="Okra flower | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
When was the last time that you looked at a vegetable plant and sighed in delight over its blooms?<br />
er ... did you ever notice the blooms?<br />
If you didn't, don't worry, you're not alone. Not many people ever bother to really look at a vegetable plant, except when they are hunting for a veggie that they can harvest (or looking for a pest that has got to the prize before they could). But, next time, take a good long look and you will discover that quite a few of these blooms could get the plant into the ornamentals category, if not the edibles one.<br />
For instance, this okra bloom. The way the okra (ladies fingers / bhendi) blooms pale golden and so prolifically, especially in the tropics, could easily make it a favourite.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUxq2OPxVvBmfXluAersf6lWpflVi-vSpj7ur9HwBwbCG-JucuN0p9jqPIrlAr-tfBt4LKmEOJ2BXSRh1n5xPnsejQmI_qbvmReO1dEUgFGOvs6eDZGTeHj5lGpSEarME7N6okbBbHjOG/s1600/cucumber+flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bright yellow flower of cucumber " border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUxq2OPxVvBmfXluAersf6lWpflVi-vSpj7ur9HwBwbCG-JucuN0p9jqPIrlAr-tfBt4LKmEOJ2BXSRh1n5xPnsejQmI_qbvmReO1dEUgFGOvs6eDZGTeHj5lGpSEarME7N6okbBbHjOG/s1600/cucumber+flower.jpg" title="Cucumber flower | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
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And this bright yellow bloom of the cucumber is just as pretty. Dotted along long rambling vines, it makes a very pretty picture, doesn't it?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMR8iEQX_2eq6K_0zvzbXmxfAU1fYhIcLTlT2xqYqOW-ZwaI0kMRzotMr-LG-cQd37N2QzVN8RVo692Wk-YE8256x_BRNSJBERCNiFdMCcI02z79hGWlHTFeg1jIYm6-ATOF-IKog1FxVY/s1600/IMG_8664+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Small yellow flower of cucumber vegetable" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMR8iEQX_2eq6K_0zvzbXmxfAU1fYhIcLTlT2xqYqOW-ZwaI0kMRzotMr-LG-cQd37N2QzVN8RVo692Wk-YE8256x_BRNSJBERCNiFdMCcI02z79hGWlHTFeg1jIYm6-ATOF-IKog1FxVY/s1600/IMG_8664+copy.jpg" title="Cucumber flower | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a><br />
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Here's a closer look. Now do you see what I mean?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR5LKE63kYc1u-Wml8jfE1LY6-z6WwMRIlwYTt-Kse3PIB5hyeXOQ2-L5yjVXcWYMbRdRRjH___qXSv92LbK6OdNZaHSFLufZuyHwz4cEMuyLG0HEuzW_T31GVG0VUCTvjVSxXYywee7FI/s1600/ash+gourd+flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Bright golden flowers of Ash Gourd. Ornamental as well as edible flowers for this vegetable plant." border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR5LKE63kYc1u-Wml8jfE1LY6-z6WwMRIlwYTt-Kse3PIB5hyeXOQ2-L5yjVXcWYMbRdRRjH___qXSv92LbK6OdNZaHSFLufZuyHwz4cEMuyLG0HEuzW_T31GVG0VUCTvjVSxXYywee7FI/s1600/ash+gourd+flower.jpg" title="Flower of Ash Gourd | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a><br />
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This one is so very eye-catching, isn't it?! The bloom of the Ash gourd is just as bright golden as its fruit is pale silvery grey-green. Such a contrast, right? And compared to the other gourds, this bloom is really big. </div>
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Did you know that like the blossoms of the pumpkin, gourd flowers are edible too? Imagine having hot batter-fried gourd blossom pakoras on a rainy, stormy evening! </div>
(Do make sure that you select the male flowers for this and leave the female flowers to carry on with what they do best ... create little baby gourds, of course!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNALED2ieyCNLhQKnjnAj3K8oW_zUChl6xZ2K8LRZDJ9zb6VxR1Kfxmq7cBVI4orjiZOcONW4pN3Oj5eZ7ulOiZY8OZu5sLl2GkkFcwlracC54R3bUz275XpFIMKisUOaTQz0wqN5ZtZSf/s1600/bitter+gourd+flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Small yellow pretty flower of Bitter Gourd or Karela. Decorative flowers of vegetables." border="0" height="850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNALED2ieyCNLhQKnjnAj3K8oW_zUChl6xZ2K8LRZDJ9zb6VxR1Kfxmq7cBVI4orjiZOcONW4pN3Oj5eZ7ulOiZY8OZu5sLl2GkkFcwlracC54R3bUz275XpFIMKisUOaTQz0wqN5ZtZSf/s1600/bitter+gourd+flower.jpg" title="Flower of Bitter Gourd | The Urban Gardener" width="600" /></a></div>
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And there's no doubt about it that the best part of the bitter-gourd is its flower. Seriously!<br />
Okay, quite a few of you many not agree with me (my husband included. He loves this knobbly bitter vegetable with a passion! ) but just look at it. Now picture a canopy of these golden yellow little blooms scrambling over a trellis or screening an ugly view. Very ornamental, isn't it?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPzsI4arsjtZvbZH7JIVfAgcZnzWtVCjKSRhgo7KOwibLoeVD8QU7stvv0Pd0C5T-jaBIKp2A2m6Nl8mN_T3gj3TEl1WEew2apTIL9J1HiYU_SgheNo-EV57V5UiPvh4xRgjiDXEpR7Bf/s1600/bok+choy+flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bright yellow flowers of Pak Choy" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPzsI4arsjtZvbZH7JIVfAgcZnzWtVCjKSRhgo7KOwibLoeVD8QU7stvv0Pd0C5T-jaBIKp2A2m6Nl8mN_T3gj3TEl1WEew2apTIL9J1HiYU_SgheNo-EV57V5UiPvh4xRgjiDXEpR7Bf/s1600/bok+choy+flower.jpg" title="Flowers of Pak Choy | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
Bok choy! You didn't think it would have such pretty flowers did you? Well, neither did I! In fact, my daughter was so taken in by these blooms that she insisted that I save them and dump the green leaves.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8D8BKnMnyO41mUpZZJy2VnSee7Mv6GqOOzDDSN3wVszQtnUxNG5FRcPEhX5jA08E06bYY0WMTMNfUssUSdFCRvrvBPdRi37B7Nax_F75yStkhgbIMu5wsIr234DPJqWkR6UFcy4m5ysYW/s1600/red+amaranth+flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Flowers of Red Amaranth plant. Edible leaf and grain." border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8D8BKnMnyO41mUpZZJy2VnSee7Mv6GqOOzDDSN3wVszQtnUxNG5FRcPEhX5jA08E06bYY0WMTMNfUssUSdFCRvrvBPdRi37B7Nax_F75yStkhgbIMu5wsIr234DPJqWkR6UFcy4m5ysYW/s1600/red+amaranth+flower.jpg" title="Flowers of Red Amaranth plant" width="850" /></a></div>
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If you think that there is an overdose of yellow blooms in this post (there is!), it's time for a change. Have you ever seen the flower of the Red Amaranth? Take a look at this up-close-and-personal view!<br />
I know that one is expected to keep pinching off the flowers to prolong the harvest period but when I see this I'm forced to think twice about pinching it off.<br />
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But the veggie bloom that takes the cake and the cake-stand for sheer uniqueness has to be that of the snake-gourd (padval)! Have you ever seen anything else quite like it??? <br />
This one I most definitely would grow! What about you?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMom5dYnT6fQ0yk7DcASTMrzkXUsykFU5q-TK7rClbm0dIN2PiE4BR_tmBy-TCBtSNdL8XjQB8giWRjK86u7TF-wXhikxVB2GBUAeQl91KpR9XC3kALeDkZoi5CVPkSSqW5aRRonvWRhRF/s1600/snakegourd+padval+flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="white flower of Snake Gourd vegetable. Decorative flowers of vegetables." border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMom5dYnT6fQ0yk7DcASTMrzkXUsykFU5q-TK7rClbm0dIN2PiE4BR_tmBy-TCBtSNdL8XjQB8giWRjK86u7TF-wXhikxVB2GBUAeQl91KpR9XC3kALeDkZoi5CVPkSSqW5aRRonvWRhRF/s1600/snakegourd+padval+flower.jpg" title="Flower of Snake gourd plant | The Urban Gardener" width="850" /></a></div>
Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-85740721138390843242014-06-27T18:07:00.000+05:302014-06-27T18:07:02.563+05:30Song of the bird-bath<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSHmf3JibNHl0f3_3MiJHJSk7Pr_ruqSyEN9tW8541l3vSTLhyphenhyphenlqheNJdGsc3V7QcyDdflRqupH92NSOyAyZYrrVNKUuw5GNc_oAHTgfnHo1iQ5rSqV7y3GIkQgcb6kngh5Z3cnF6di4u/s1600/IMG_6704+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSHmf3JibNHl0f3_3MiJHJSk7Pr_ruqSyEN9tW8541l3vSTLhyphenhyphenlqheNJdGsc3V7QcyDdflRqupH92NSOyAyZYrrVNKUuw5GNc_oAHTgfnHo1iQ5rSqV7y3GIkQgcb6kngh5Z3cnF6di4u/s1600/IMG_6704+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a><br />
Before I start on my monsoon photos, here's one last look at something that sings of Summer ... <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/06/once-upon-bird-bath.html">my bird-bath.</a> Do you remember the most frequented area in my garden (by the birds, I mean)? It has been seeing feathered traffic like never before all summer long!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHslvG_Pprjas451cWdkNc2FbdaVtbvxGX8MKmRIwUXBRwTlvv4mnlReYo80wskU-4ybgJTLFh8tM6K6Ow-ypypJ5oULAiUIAvxy7AYM2IkKQYTGae-xZplo-TYpHklOQB_39tCCbOQXh/s1600/IMG_6734+copy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHslvG_Pprjas451cWdkNc2FbdaVtbvxGX8MKmRIwUXBRwTlvv4mnlReYo80wskU-4ybgJTLFh8tM6K6Ow-ypypJ5oULAiUIAvxy7AYM2IkKQYTGae-xZplo-TYpHklOQB_39tCCbOQXh/s1600/IMG_6734+copy3.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
This Red Vented Bulbul had the time of his life puffing out his feathers and splashing so the water could reach and drench each and every part of his body.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu37WOjjQG3qPw7c16C0vrxAOrBAwpkhPdxk-NqCoXULDObk7RepL7i9BwIFtBovRzC7uduxfA5lXoTKxfyd28Cp2gq5iBz7r928tajBbhJUGtvbtKZJoA9Ctz71rusdCu76V-XUppnpP8/s1600/IMG_8189+copy+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu37WOjjQG3qPw7c16C0vrxAOrBAwpkhPdxk-NqCoXULDObk7RepL7i9BwIFtBovRzC7uduxfA5lXoTKxfyd28Cp2gq5iBz7r928tajBbhJUGtvbtKZJoA9Ctz71rusdCu76V-XUppnpP8/s1600/IMG_8189+copy+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a><br />
This pic was not clicked in my garden but I just couldn't resist adding it. That little patch of water dripping from a tap had put this bulbul in an ecstatic mood and he was singing his heart out. I love these Red Whiskered Bulbuls with their cheerful birdcalls! Have you<a href="http://youtu.be/Zkx944e1cTU"> heard it</a>?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWCFykbwDudMk2IfGPjI1eNmjc3zNsdwtGQnyrkbYL90caMv_oPUAiwNz4RQAsP-0dKQOrj3SToPri3cyXg32EFQnupoHWK_46Jsd9lp_Wr3ET2qh9LXaxU_VFm-9ZTzoXJ5vT-9swFoDV/s1600/IMG_6663+copy+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWCFykbwDudMk2IfGPjI1eNmjc3zNsdwtGQnyrkbYL90caMv_oPUAiwNz4RQAsP-0dKQOrj3SToPri3cyXg32EFQnupoHWK_46Jsd9lp_Wr3ET2qh9LXaxU_VFm-9ZTzoXJ5vT-9swFoDV/s1600/IMG_6663+copy+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
Usually the sparrows and the finches are the last to get a chance to luxuriate in the water. Every time a bigger bird shows up they immediately move out of the way. Especially if it is a crow. I suspect the crows don't have much patience with the little birds.They don't seem to have any love to spare for the bigger birds either. Anytime that the <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2013/04/a-sense-of-spring.html">Pariah Kite (Black Kite) turns up for a sip-and-dip</a>, the crows at once gang up to chase the kite away!<br />
The bulbuls on the other hand, are willing to share if the space is big enough.<br />But the sparrows and finches are happiest when the whole flock joins in. The flock that bathes together, stays together?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVP25XLA-RL1kuD9NBFx2c_2PUPnr6T0TSgI5DnXFsVVAWdrUYDe8axIjT-5QDIiFg91lzPbFFkEelwd_Z1BxCOhYCvMzja5Es-XBqU8yknjAyx8kfkfcAGhYdFT32z13oGB50_j7hC9tb/s1600/IMG_6716+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVP25XLA-RL1kuD9NBFx2c_2PUPnr6T0TSgI5DnXFsVVAWdrUYDe8axIjT-5QDIiFg91lzPbFFkEelwd_Z1BxCOhYCvMzja5Es-XBqU8yknjAyx8kfkfcAGhYdFT32z13oGB50_j7hC9tb/s1600/IMG_6716+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
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<br />Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-29553201148415732432014-06-05T11:34:00.001+05:302019-11-28T10:52:12.912+05:30Indian Summer: a bird's-eye view<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenwnIhnojSelLzrA7dyECu5a-tp2ZdLyxauiODuOMu5i7ZEWxJB3a3LAzB8WtxqEkeb519pdopqdD1YJ8Uw2oryQCturWLDNWtQ8vlvnWWtGehsa99j6-DXf5iSY47lfVLPif6oaBTjN3/s1600/IMG_6970+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenwnIhnojSelLzrA7dyECu5a-tp2ZdLyxauiODuOMu5i7ZEWxJB3a3LAzB8WtxqEkeb519pdopqdD1YJ8Uw2oryQCturWLDNWtQ8vlvnWWtGehsa99j6-DXf5iSY47lfVLPif6oaBTjN3/s1600/IMG_6970+copy2.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
Hot. Hotter. Summer-est!<br />
It's been a boiling, roasting season in Mumbai, hasn't it? All over India, actually (except those places which got some unseasonal showers ... so very envious!). Now, can we get express-delivery of the Monsoons, please?<br />
I loved the mangoes and all those other super-delicious <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2013/07/a-reluctant-ode-to-summer.html">summer fruits</a> , both in the garden and in the markets.<br />
And I loved all those streets spilling over with wave upon wave of <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/04/summer-sherbet-mumbais-flowering-trees.html">summer blooms</a> .<br />
And there were the last of the migratory birds.(how I love that Paradise Flycatcher!). But I'm craving some refreshing monsoon rain right now!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_FozoHQ7vkOLKdoLyTVDcu4eYGpCM-vk9aR1BOS2wJV2Ci4RXy2g8q8_IXyrmKFADm0PLrBdzQaQeXEkTyKmEun3JVyEWIPMpEcYiBF-bC9DVf3S-GuUrH2cAhmkjN0uELqjJCLAwESA/s1600/IMG_6987+copy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_FozoHQ7vkOLKdoLyTVDcu4eYGpCM-vk9aR1BOS2wJV2Ci4RXy2g8q8_IXyrmKFADm0PLrBdzQaQeXEkTyKmEun3JVyEWIPMpEcYiBF-bC9DVf3S-GuUrH2cAhmkjN0uELqjJCLAwESA/s1600/IMG_6987+copy+2.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
Have you seen one of these birds? If you had, believe me, you'd never forget it. The Asian Paradise Flycatcher definitely deserves the second part of his name. Especially the <a href="http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/asian-paradise-flycatcher-terpsiphone-paradisi/white-morph-adult-male-flight">adult males in flight</a>. Sheer poetry!<br />
This one here is a juvenile male, I think. It's hard to tell because they look almost exactly like the adult female untill they transform into their pure white feathered form topped with a crested jet-black head.<br />
I'm told that it is that blue ring around the eyes that differentiates the juvenile male from the adult female. I don't know if that's true but I'm hoping that this guy is going to come back next season in his white avatar.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiOY8KLyZ9ZrJxg1UgO2z6nU8grc0J76Kfx1vP4FItvZYIWXEeI9Je1uAw1fcfaD7oL6AgfRZ8Ey3r9YDYETVms1vWSHeb7EcB2essD9DDCid4mLVxEyjT2roS2fc5hTIq2v0wcSnrUcym/s1600/IMG_6866+copy+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiOY8KLyZ9ZrJxg1UgO2z6nU8grc0J76Kfx1vP4FItvZYIWXEeI9Je1uAw1fcfaD7oL6AgfRZ8Ey3r9YDYETVms1vWSHeb7EcB2essD9DDCid4mLVxEyjT2roS2fc5hTIq2v0wcSnrUcym/s1600/IMG_6866+copy+copy.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
The Alexandrine Parakeets have been at their screechiest-best. The cashew-fruits are growing and they've been feasting on the tender nuts. Huge swarms (there's no better word to describe it!) descend on my trees and by the time they move away, the ground is littered with the shells. Frankly, I don't mind. It's worth it to see these gregarious birds up so close. These two were high up on a mahogany tree and very curious why I was focusing on them. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHz1AxAkQmgfT6xgIrhjzjMuMSemD774H-7mam2nIaMEtbv9rn0MGaZHpR2tgfPRB-mk6lvNVxI3zKKRvbNtJQ13mmP18NStJ3ECVClYz9nVLAA3SwiWy9hRBJeW3J0fF7akc0fLsJu66s/s1600/IMG_5922+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHz1AxAkQmgfT6xgIrhjzjMuMSemD774H-7mam2nIaMEtbv9rn0MGaZHpR2tgfPRB-mk6lvNVxI3zKKRvbNtJQ13mmP18NStJ3ECVClYz9nVLAA3SwiWy9hRBJeW3J0fF7akc0fLsJu66s/s1600/IMG_5922+copy2.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
And, my Pariah Kite (Black Kite)! There are more of them nesting on my trees now and I love seeing them fly. Unlike other birds in flight, with them you can almost see those strong wing muscles tautening.<br />
This tall teak tree is one of his favourite perches. I guess it gives him the perfect look-out point.<br />
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He has definitely got the snakes on the run, though. This little Buff Striped Keelback was racing to reach the cover of a few scattered dry leaves and cautiously poked his head out to see if everything was safe before quickly slipping back under them when he spotted me with this huge lens aimed directly at him. (I don't blame him... my new 70-300mm lens intimidates even me sometimes!) </div>
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And, I know the Oriental Garden Lizards don't feel any safer. Camouflage will keep you safe only just so much. The razor-sharp eyes of a raptor can probably zero in on him from the top of a tree at the other end of the garden.<br />
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The Sparrows love my bird-bath. It's just a natural rock with a hollow on top which is right in the middle of my garden. I keep it topped up with water and in summer it is a bird magnet unlike anything else! Every single bird in the vicinity troops in and waits their turn. Some politely, some not. I guess that 1 minute of splashing in the water is worth the wait for them.<br />
What's the bet that these birds have been waiting for the Monsoon as eagerly (if not, more) as us?<br />
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Maybe Summer could slip away incognito and leave this Common Jezebel to represent her. Seriously! Can you think of anything more Summer-y?!<br />
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<br />Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-67754735222092445612014-05-15T08:59:00.000+05:302014-05-15T09:16:04.022+05:30Summer in the garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sizzle and burn! Summer is crackling like a seething fire-cracker now, isn't it? Not my favourite time of the year. But then, I could make excuses for the spectacular blooms on almost every tree and in my garden.</div>
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It all started with the Red Silk Cotton bursting into bloom one day . Gangly, thorny, leafless branches sprouting massive red blooms almost as if by spontaneous combustion! And out sprang Spring! </div>
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The nectar-loving birds were ecstatic! So was I. I could now feast my eyes on the blooms as well as the birds. Sometimes good things come in 2-for-1 packages!</div>
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From there to Summer was just a matter of days and my Pink Cassias decided to follow almost immediately. Spike upon spike of <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/04/summer-sherbet-mumbais-flowering-trees.html">tender pink globes</a> unfurling into zillions of blooms that turned my tree into a rosy cloud!</div>
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And the Yellow Copper Pod trees ...! All over Mumbai, every street is smothered with these golden blooms . Masses and clouds of them, billowing and spilling over from one tree to the next.</div>
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See their buds and you will immediately know how they earned the 'Rusty' part of their alias, Rusty Shield Bearer. The flower spikes do stick out straight like lances, don't they?<br />
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But they are not the only blooms billowing and spilling over. The bougainvillea is in its element now, thriving in the hot, sunny weather. This one here has been rambling all over my fence, linking together with a scarlet bougainvillea and a garlic vine too to make a dense forest of a fence which is almost impenetrable. Somewhere inside that tangle there is a jasmine vine too but I don't think I will ever find where one plant starts and the other stops!<br />
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In bloom now is also my Aromatic Turmeric (Curcuma aromatica) which is famed for its cosmetic use. For centuries, Indian women have been applying a paste of its rhizomes to get glowing skin. I would rather enjoy its gorgeous blooms!<br />
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One of the few 'cool' looking flowers now, the Walking Iris stands out for its white-blue flowers. Such an oddity in the midst of all my other summer blooms which look almost volatile in comparison. </div>
Almost as odd is its 'walking' habit. Plantlets grow near the tip of the flower stalk which then bends to the ground and take root there.With each successive generation the Walking Iris soon seems to travel all around the garden, one bending flower-stalk at a time.<br />
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This is also the time when my Phalaenopsis orchids are in full bloom. These may be called 'Moth Orchids' but when I look at my Phals, I see purple doves fanning the air with their wings and taking flight!</div>
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Fiery red, brilliant yellow, a touch of green; have you ever seen another bloom that conjures up Summer like the Heliconia? Brilliantly hued, showy and attention-grabbers from the word 'go'.... Summer incarnate!<br />
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<i>You want more of Summer and its bounty? Take a look at some of the posts from summers gone by : </i><br />
<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/04/summer-sherbet-mumbais-flowering-trees.html">Summer sherbet: Mumbai's flowering trees </a><br />
<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2012/05/red-hot-summer-days.html">Red-hot summer days</a><br />
<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2013/07/a-reluctant-ode-to-summer.html">A reluctant ode to Summer</a><br />
<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2011/04/indian-summer.html">An Indian summer</a><br />
<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2011/06/summer-ful-of-fun-and-great-offer.html">A summer-ful of fun</a><br />
<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/03/springing-into-summer.html">Springing into summer</a><br />
<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/06/once-upon-bird-bath.html">Once upon a bird-bath </a><br />
<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2012/03/mumbai-time-for-blooming.html">Mumbai: a time for blooming</a>Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-68166224732438866032014-04-15T14:21:00.001+05:302014-04-15T14:21:12.914+05:30Orchid-alicious days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Orchid seems to be the flavour of the season in my garden! It is popping up all over; both the colour as well as the flower. Incredibly flamboyant, eye-rivetingly gorgeous, and so very luxe ... I love it! And I just had to share.<br />
By the way, do you know what I love even more? That they are so very easy to grow and bloom in Mumbai's tropical climate! I know the days are getting hotter and the sun is blazing something fierce, but when I step out into the garden and see my orchids blooming their heads off, I beam a huge smile at my orchid-alicious days.<br />
<i>Mmmmhmm</i> ... life is good!<br />
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Orchids like this Vanda (above) love the high heat, high humidity, bright sunshiny days that we grumble about. Maybe Mumbai was meant to be populated with Vandas. What a thought! Can you imagine seeing blooms like this all over the city?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedN7t23lrMYbpOdw9Jx63NCMP_cx9_ErUfDgyG-OYVv-g-lJ6K1QZOaQ_QlKCNmM9SEb-UtVzW0CU-Z-ofgULQKtXs5UnqMIxg4bH5Z-fGt2jIdnfsdCZx9KRgvK3Wzc726PIR8bC3lrq/s1600/IMG_4023+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedN7t23lrMYbpOdw9Jx63NCMP_cx9_ErUfDgyG-OYVv-g-lJ6K1QZOaQ_QlKCNmM9SEb-UtVzW0CU-Z-ofgULQKtXs5UnqMIxg4bH5Z-fGt2jIdnfsdCZx9KRgvK3Wzc726PIR8bC3lrq/s1600/IMG_4023+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
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Dendrobiums are some of my favourite orchids. Well, they all are, but dends (dendrobiums, as they're fondly referred to by orchidistas) are a bit more special, if you know what I mean. Because they will always make that effort to bloom and bloom with minimum care. </div>
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This is one of my favourite dends because it is one of the first ones I bought years ago. Free-flowering and with extra-long spikes of blooms (often multiple spikes), it can always be counted on to brighten my day. And to draw a lot of gasps from the unsuspecting stroller in the garden. It fed my orchid fever until I became like one demented, buying orchids wherever I heard of any available and price be damned. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia0rh0DnJMmTNSVvFXcK2CXE-r-tmBN9YwDHym2QNDPcOKiQcTn8T1p5_ajJotZUCQT8xOBHhxRAh4Zkc3AMaOVV68ACMKeC0I7tkIQG1srW-mlTFgXngYMLVthwekgYbQhS2sqm__G5LF/s1600/IMG_6394+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia0rh0DnJMmTNSVvFXcK2CXE-r-tmBN9YwDHym2QNDPcOKiQcTn8T1p5_ajJotZUCQT8xOBHhxRAh4Zkc3AMaOVV68ACMKeC0I7tkIQG1srW-mlTFgXngYMLVthwekgYbQhS2sqm__G5LF/s1600/IMG_6394+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
Did I say that Dends are my favourite orchids? I'm quite partial to my Phalaenopsis too. My apartment garden with more shade than sun, loves it. But then so does my other regular in-the-ground garden. My regular garden has several large cashew trees with wide canopies that cast a shade that the Phals love. So they've happily made their home there too. <br />And now the Phals are in full bloom too; those growing in my apartment garden (above) as well as those in my regular garden (below). <br />Eye-candy all the way to fill my days in clouds of orchid!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9k5Ek_846UMuPyPDHKdxhKYousVydjnFOpiBhwR2FD-wRkH-JnPSUA2UmoBXms7lNi4Oe686PYkcmkmSSjFK3woji8OaNu4h8OUOtSPtkgYW8bxFAOAr9a9WwOOR3yy64T8Qx7LgTaJL0/s1600/IMG_6808+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9k5Ek_846UMuPyPDHKdxhKYousVydjnFOpiBhwR2FD-wRkH-JnPSUA2UmoBXms7lNi4Oe686PYkcmkmSSjFK3woji8OaNu4h8OUOtSPtkgYW8bxFAOAr9a9WwOOR3yy64T8Qx7LgTaJL0/s1600/IMG_6808+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
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(And before you ask... no, my orchids are not a collection of purple shades. I just thought it would be interesting to compare the blooms of the various similar-coloured orchids ).Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-70015218185625381812014-02-01T17:23:00.000+05:302014-04-15T12:37:21.691+05:30Remembering butterfly season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwp4gSl8PcdFsskrIuBTiBxiGCauKJ-P6w1wB0vwABj27vnO6luBvi_cm0gmEsQDni59LbTEHsxljaTvguTVoUSpSIQKs_7tuidh5kuIbp3ZViSui7z_3-qg3r9hVGDxJIC4nfMrxVm2Wk/s1600/IMG_1476+copy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwp4gSl8PcdFsskrIuBTiBxiGCauKJ-P6w1wB0vwABj27vnO6luBvi_cm0gmEsQDni59LbTEHsxljaTvguTVoUSpSIQKs_7tuidh5kuIbp3ZViSui7z_3-qg3r9hVGDxJIC4nfMrxVm2Wk/s640/IMG_1476+copy+2.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
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Winter is one of my favourite seasons in Mumbai. There's a delicious chill in the air, the migratory birds come calling, the garden is filled with the more exotic vegetables and cool-growing annuals, the mosquitoes go away on their annual break... and I feel absolutely, exultantly alive !</div>
But there's just one thing missing. The butterflies.<br />
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In November, my garden is brimful of them and my days are so filled with butterfly-watching that it is my official Butterfly Season. Then, December brings the cool winds from the north which turn into shivery cold stings. And, all of a sudden, the butterflies are nowhere to be seen! </div>
Oh, I can still spot them in some of the city green spaces but not in my much-cooler garden (we are so surrounded by trees that our temperatures are easily at least 2-3*C cooler than the rest of the city ). And I have to wait for warmer days to get my butterfly-fix again. Until then, I'm going over my pics from Butterfly Season 2013 and reminiscing.<br />
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The lantana bush in the vegetable garden is the favourite hang-out for the winged rainbows. All the pics in this post were clicked within a couple of feet of it. In fact, I stood still for just a few extra minutes near it and this Common Sailor butterfly landed on my outstretched hand holding the camera and decided to check me out!<br />
Ohhhh! Bliss!!!<br />
Can you imagine the state I was in? I was ecstatic that I had a butterfly on my hand, and I was struggling to get my other camera out so I could click it (I usually have 3 cameras when I walk around. 1 DSLR on my shoulder and 2 point-and-shoots in my pockets... yeah, I'm quite a sight!) AND trying to stay still enough so I wouldn't scare it off.<br />
I think the pic above is proof that I managed to pull it off long enough, isn't it?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyKybfJaYaw0Q1EKRruJxqkE38AIfKL7YV09xTt9p3D4NdnJ9skl9FWNJZzdRBX79d1wiD_uah-MSTUBUxd_XOp5LG4g71rybqHWky-5ighIO7qeYh9LGZ9jm6s5gE4gStJ_jEy8BtupG9/s1600/IMG_3705+copy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyKybfJaYaw0Q1EKRruJxqkE38AIfKL7YV09xTt9p3D4NdnJ9skl9FWNJZzdRBX79d1wiD_uah-MSTUBUxd_XOp5LG4g71rybqHWky-5ighIO7qeYh9LGZ9jm6s5gE4gStJ_jEy8BtupG9/s640/IMG_3705+copy2.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
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There's something about the Wavy Common Palmfly that reminds me of rippling water and shimmering glass. Do you see what I mean? </div>
And, for all its drab brown (chocolate brown, but still ...) exterior, this is a butterfly which believes in surprises. One flash of its wings and you'll see what I mean.<br />
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Take a look at this pic of the open-wing version <a href="http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/#!/sp/969/Elymnias-hypermnestra">here</a>. Isn't it stunning? Especially the male. Electric blue, jet black and fiery orange ... imagine covering that up in drab brown !</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3AL65IgBgkjfjgcXXxMIQTNdFovPC8UW62ZK7XT73a4K2Hyf4f1X9lsUFURKEtc3LjAMrhyphenhyphenSlESoTgeD_1CdK_o8-HU_GrMGhXW1Uc9HtH9DBEatIqHwXJsequ09mTGDXQSZ9Nq4c-b4t/s1600/IMG_3676+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3AL65IgBgkjfjgcXXxMIQTNdFovPC8UW62ZK7XT73a4K2Hyf4f1X9lsUFURKEtc3LjAMrhyphenhyphenSlESoTgeD_1CdK_o8-HU_GrMGhXW1Uc9HtH9DBEatIqHwXJsequ09mTGDXQSZ9Nq4c-b4t/s640/IMG_3676+copy.jpg" height="604" width="850" /></a></div>
Another butterfly that believes in covering itself up in drab brown is the Gram Blue. The hint of purple and blue is so pretty and all the more startling when it swishes its wings open and shut. You can get a peek of it <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/11/gram-of-blue-please.html">here</a>.<br />
This is such a tiny butterfly that I usually spot it only as flashes of blue flitting around. Another really easy way to find it is to look for it near any bean plants you may have growing in your garden . Grams - pulses- beans ... got the connection?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj015tWZyp68jZtl5vSfAc6jDmEVUQ__nab1NPq-k7IfCGuqZn4QZowxRLezyhHGTMPp3akpnKoTnZoQOLqPvICkZSHBMpApuA8ruFZR2SXj4aqT4KxGVlRVBJ47WYIFBzO4rTLukN7L0WB/s1600/IMG_3718+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj015tWZyp68jZtl5vSfAc6jDmEVUQ__nab1NPq-k7IfCGuqZn4QZowxRLezyhHGTMPp3akpnKoTnZoQOLqPvICkZSHBMpApuA8ruFZR2SXj4aqT4KxGVlRVBJ47WYIFBzO4rTLukN7L0WB/s640/IMG_3718+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
The Common Redeye has to be one of the most aptly named butterflies. I usually quibble over the names ascribed to our butterflies but this one will find no arguments from me. It has to be this butterfly's most noticeable feature, don't you think?<br />
Its big brother, the <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2011/10/rush-hour-in-garden.html">Giant Redeye</a> is a regular at my garden too but somehow I didn't spot it this time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR60BT84sQWAVCJGwKUHlyL_QMOgqhmKW7IG57fsKSBFC1DnhhDJhuziSJU99bC9MwNkhwxy1jjI4Uq1-g2oIuIcYm36clk7nZux15p5B7upb872Q8C8HyxDWefYbffJnglipnJ9Q_KkJe/s1600/IMG_3111+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR60BT84sQWAVCJGwKUHlyL_QMOgqhmKW7IG57fsKSBFC1DnhhDJhuziSJU99bC9MwNkhwxy1jjI4Uq1-g2oIuIcYm36clk7nZux15p5B7upb872Q8C8HyxDWefYbffJnglipnJ9Q_KkJe/s1600/IMG_3111+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
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But if you ask me, this has to be one of our most under-rated butterflies. It is a very unassuming white but if you want to know where the Indian Sunbeam got its name from, you'll have to wait till it <a href="http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/#!/sp/582/Curetis-thetis">opens its wings</a>. Isn't it magnificent?!<br />
And I'm quite fascinated by its candy-striped legs too. So stylish!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFCViuRCEhpEv1q3dhl7NFVQMmyHc5eDyawzKLR8lqiuqbHjSN39H7P8HgjchA4Bj8sIzh-mm_2PYcxrCYutmtQE4r8sRrYgUDVASfF1een2tcsia39TPCDb6eA4Vx2zGPs-fjLM9F4U4i/s1600/IMG_3290+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFCViuRCEhpEv1q3dhl7NFVQMmyHc5eDyawzKLR8lqiuqbHjSN39H7P8HgjchA4Bj8sIzh-mm_2PYcxrCYutmtQE4r8sRrYgUDVASfF1een2tcsia39TPCDb6eA4Vx2zGPs-fjLM9F4U4i/s1600/IMG_3290+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
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The Grey Pansies are some of my favourite butterflies this season. They're large enough to spot easily, they're not skittish and will happily pose for me, and they have such a fun wardrobe! So many eyes on those wings. All the better to see you, darlin' !<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqwYMuwu9_iHhOFsmUnuWAh7FQac8ekTTD54Vc8V3L8ESdn2hbra2ly_GVuegEdxjegD9YCoYsZ1m2P-nCV0U2l9D2CVf1AE7gQl7dzZgU_8WBgQtiq1nfGHVMgu-5MagJbcS1N3Zw3_2/s1600/IMG_3221+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqwYMuwu9_iHhOFsmUnuWAh7FQac8ekTTD54Vc8V3L8ESdn2hbra2ly_GVuegEdxjegD9YCoYsZ1m2P-nCV0U2l9D2CVf1AE7gQl7dzZgU_8WBgQtiq1nfGHVMgu-5MagJbcS1N3Zw3_2/s1600/IMG_3221+copy.jpg" height="600" width="850" /></a></div>
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And speaking of eyes ... take a good look at the Peacock Pansy! Now tell me that Ma Nature doesn't have a great sense of humour.<br />
And isn't it pure genius?! Scary eyes on the top of its wings to startle any would-be predator. So cool!<br />
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These are just a few of my regulars in the garden. I think I'll keep the others to post another day. Till then, stay warm and think of the butterflies...<br />
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<b>Updating </b>to add a link to a post on butterflies from November a couple of years ago<i> </i>: <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2008/11/garden-tea-party-butterflies-invited.html">Garden Tea-party: Butterflies invited</a><br />
and this one posted later but about a much-loved November b'fly: <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/01/blue-oakleaf-on-pink-cassia.html">Blue Oak-leaf on a Pink Cassia </a><br />
and lastly, this one, just because I love the butterflies in it : <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/04/of-tigers-crows-and-handmaidens.html">Of Tigers, Crows and Handmaidens</a><br />
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<br />Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-51973607703938989482013-10-27T20:31:00.000+05:302013-10-27T21:24:15.306+05:30Growing food for my table<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArd4-CNS2-pUaoa2m2P9ou0wUi3MKf__7PLBghSBcETxgDvYqILmA_sNk_SimwgtHGTVCYOy7aIfTGpjOwTc0sSgHXHi_rJs8l_Vu5igCOXXScULKDCo5Fmiee7wTY3ndHaSrAvTn5HoH/s1600/IMG_2684+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArd4-CNS2-pUaoa2m2P9ou0wUi3MKf__7PLBghSBcETxgDvYqILmA_sNk_SimwgtHGTVCYOy7aIfTGpjOwTc0sSgHXHi_rJs8l_Vu5igCOXXScULKDCo5Fmiee7wTY3ndHaSrAvTn5HoH/s640/IMG_2684+copy.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
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I'm a happy gardener these days. All the hard work in the vegetable garden has paid off and my table is loaded with the fruits and vegetables we grew. Which is a real relief when I read in the papers about the spiraling prices. <br />
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We usually <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2012/08/monsoon-vegetables-in-mumbai.html" target="_blank">grow a lot of veggies</a> during the monsoon season but this year was a strange one. The Monsoons hit us before time and continued battering the city and elsewhere almost non-stop for close to 2 months. And, I don't think we saw bright sunshine until August. So unusual! I've never seen anything like it in all the years that I've been <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/09/upwardly-mobile-vegetables.html">farming.</a><br />
Now, I love the monsoon season with a passion. But such a strange season got us a bit worried because all the vegetable seeds we had sown at the start of the monsoons either got washed away or the little seedlings just rotted away. Only the really tough local varieties survived (just about. And that's a great reason to grow local, heirloom varieties if you can find them)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOE4OUrnlEodnrSpPJ5-EhQL_xPC9QZb8TS0l9iqoKSUHOVp3mrPaPR2QqyYXVBdxbOzByPjzuWpfSw7-US8W8aQa753OQbYTfjspqHvHvGmnTAqEdd09y3wn3iHrw5JAo66FgXlWcSzji/s1600/IMG_2666+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOE4OUrnlEodnrSpPJ5-EhQL_xPC9QZb8TS0l9iqoKSUHOVp3mrPaPR2QqyYXVBdxbOzByPjzuWpfSw7-US8W8aQa753OQbYTfjspqHvHvGmnTAqEdd09y3wn3iHrw5JAo66FgXlWcSzji/s640/IMG_2666+copy.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
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The <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/09/jungle-aka-my-vegetable-patch.html">beans</a> were the first to yield and they did so abundantly. With a whole-hearted largesse that makes you glad for such simple, easy-to-grow vegetables.<br />
I don't know why more people don't grow them in the city. What you see here is the yield on a single day from just 2 plants! And that too, at the start of the harvest before the plants came into their full yielding potential.<br />
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And the peppers were full of green berries too. Don't you love the way those pepper berries are packed tight? It looks even prettier when they ripen.<br />
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If you have a <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2008/10/go-bananas.html">banana plant</a> in your garden, then you're set for several meals. In fact, almost the entire plant is edible one way or the other. It's not just the ripe fruit which you can enjoy as a fruit or dessert. The unripe fruit , the inflorescence and the pith of the pseudostem, all make great ingredients and feature in several of our regional cuisines.<br />
Oh, and you can use the large leaves as a plate and compost it after your meal. No washing up! How much better can it get?<br />
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This is another plant from which we got a surprisingly good harvest this season. I'm not too fond of bitter-gourd as a vegetable but I have to admit that it does look pretty. I love the leaves and the simple but eye-catching bright yellow flowers. <br />
Heck! I think we're doing it an injustice by confining it to the kitchen garden!<br />
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And I love how tenacious it is. The bittergourd vines can latch on and climb and smother any surface in a cloud of green almost overnight.<br />
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Interesting texture, don't you think? And they're very good for you. There are all kinds of reports of it helping to regulate blood-sugar levels.<br />
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Every once in a while, a few escape our eyes (well, it's a green veggie on a green plant, after all) . And this is what we find. A glorious warm sunset-orange rind and blood-red arils that rival the pomegranate in glossy, brilliant red-ness.<br />
Definitely prettier than tastier ... to my eyes, at least!<br />
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This one I like, though! The Red Amaranth is grown in my garden round the year.The tender leaves and stem are rich in iron and its grain is increasingly being recommended too for its nutritional value.<br />
This season, however I didn't get around to sowing its seeds. But guess what, some of them volunteered to show up anyway. In the stoniest, weediest part of the vegetable garden!<br />
hmmmm.... I wonder if my garden is sending me a message here? "Don't bother weeding and cleaning"?<br />
But here's my story, all those weeds are left undisturbed on purpose. Some of them are butterfly and pollinator food, you know. That tiny blue flower to the left? The Red Pierrot butterflies love them. So, now you know.<br />
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And how could I leave out the Carambola? This tree is just beginning to mature but I love how profusely it is bearing fruit on almost every inch of bare space! This is definitely my kind of tree! Low on maintenance but high on yield.<br />
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Wait, there's more. But I think I'll keep those for another post. Maybe by then I'll have more pics to share. Of the tomatoes and other veggies which are growing and soon to yield any day now. Can you see me smiling?<br />
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In the meantime, here's a pic of cherry tomatoes from another harvest. Get growing your own food, everyone. It's not so tough. And it's definitely fulfilling. Also, tastier and healthier than the fruits and veggies you'll buy in the market.<br />
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And, if each one grows some, we'll all have a table-ful.<br />
Smile, everyone!<br />
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<br />Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-33588838457482567402013-08-04T21:56:00.001+05:302013-08-04T21:56:58.806+05:30Monsoon Moments : Pillows of green<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Pillows of greenest moss soften the landscape now. Snuggling up to hard planes of wet stone, blurring boundaries and inviting touch.<br />
How I wish I had a moss garden year-round!Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-62578381285746564702013-07-24T19:46:00.001+05:302013-07-24T20:54:49.629+05:30A reluctant ode to Summer <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Day 54 since the monsoons started and it's still pouring ... magical! I can't really remember another year when it has done this. At least, not since I started farming and gardening, anyway. <br />
So, do I miss the sun? Do I, like those in colder northern climes, peer up at the sky, wondering when the sun will show up and the rain give us a break?<br />
No way! I love the monsoon.<br />
But I must confess (almost reluctantly and rather guiltily, since I've been going on and on about disliking our summer) that I do miss some of the distinctly delicious trademarks of Summer. <br />
Hmmm, yeah... I didn't see that coming either.<br />
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For one, I miss the colour. The flamboyant, in-your-face overdose of tropical colour on every bloom and fruit. Oh, and there's no stinting or stingy witholding; there's just such a generous extravagance of it everywhere! An exuberant copiousness that few other seasons can match.<br />
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And the absolutely delicious fruits? Did I mention that? </div>
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Ummm... did I really need to?</div>
I love it when my craving for colour gets flavour as a bonus. Oh yeah, 2-for-1, who could resist that? And with these Wax Jambus I almost wish I could have them as a permanent display on my table (or in my garden, for that matter).<br />
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I love the fresh, crisp flavour of these small bell-shaped fruits. So perfect for a hot, humid summer day. Bite into one and you'll know what I mean.</div>
There are more species in the Syzygium genus that are so incredibly delicious and some are fragrant too! Try them all, if you get them. I know they're not all easily available in Mumbai, but try begging and pleading with friends who grow them or just drop by for a friendly visit to their home when it is in fruit (I did! I know ... greed makes me so shameless! ).<br />
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Have you seen a fruit which far exceeds expectations? Well, here it is! The plump purple globes with green caps are interesting-looking, I admit. But take off the cap, squish it gently in the middle and it yields (if it doesn't, it's no good ). Splitting open to reveal a bright pink inner. Can you imagine how striking that looks? But, discard it... now! For the real star is within... a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hashashin/2841392269/" target="_blank">ring of tightly packed, perfectly white, crisp, fresh, delicately sweet segments.</a><br />
Simply incredible!<br />
This has to be the absolutely best fruit I've ever eaten. It tastes of the holidays , and childhood and playing on a swing, and huddling under a blanket at night swapping yarns with visiting cousins, and laughter, and gentle times, and... It makes me nostalgic when I simply think of it. And it is a Summer fruit.<br />
Oh yes, I do see that we need Summer!<br />
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Did I forget the Mango? How could I???<br />
Here it is ... sweet Alfonso mangoes from my garden, delicious as only home-grown, sun-ripened fruit can be. It was such a great yield this year that I went berserk hunting for mango recipes. Yes, we really did get that much. And, eat that much.<br />
( And yes, I said that just to make myself think that I can wait till next Summer for the next sweet mango)<br />
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Hmmm... how does a fruit that looks so scary, even weird, be so awesome?</div>
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Who in the world ever summoned up the nerve to split open one and take that first bite? For it <i>is </i>scary-looking, with leathery skin and tentacles all over. A bit like Medusa. </div>
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See what I mean?</div>
But what you don't get from this pic is just how much I'd walk for a Rambutan right now! To the next tropical country growing it, maybe (hmmm ...I think it'll be in season soon in the southern hemisphere. maybe, if I start right now ...).<br />
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Or, till next Summer? Most definitely!</div>
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I think I'll just program myself to ignore the blazing heat and dust and miserable humidity next Summer. Just pass the mangosteen and rambutan and other fruits, will you? </div>
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<br />Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-52828654138009428722013-07-23T20:58:00.001+05:302013-07-23T20:58:17.873+05:30Monsoon Moments : Temptation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Carissa carandas ... ever wondered why the very name is like a caress? <br />Rain-frosted globes; creamy, blush, blood-red, passionate purple. And it's temptation all over againSunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-71656937299238782722013-07-20T17:21:00.003+05:302013-07-20T17:22:35.090+05:30Monsoon Moments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A carpet of fire invites the rain to stay and play. A pathway turns into a stream and the Gulmohur sends its children out to roll in the grass.<br />
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<i>Since monsoon pictures are thronging my mind (and my camera), I'm starting a new series of single-picture posts : </i>Monsoon Moments<i>. I hope you enjoy it as much as you liked the </i><a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/05/summer-snapshots-crowning-glory.html" target="_blank">Summer Snapshot</a> <i>series</i>Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-9794843905705092922013-07-19T19:59:00.002+05:302013-07-19T19:59:22.841+05:30Wings and stings : the other side of the garden<br />
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The monsoon is still in full force in Mumbai; soaking the city, whipping the trees, thrumming a tattoo on car-tops, driving everyone indoors.<br />
But the minute there is a lull, my garden is a-buzz. The passion-flowers are in full bloom and there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of very busy bees hard at work. I don't blame them. The fragrance of the passion-flowers is so sweet and seductive!<br />
I have never tried to locate the hives of these bees to harvest their honey. That belongs to them; they work so hard for it.<br />
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All over the world, reports are pouring in of tragic colony collapses. (Why is it so important to us? <a href="http://greendustriesblog.com/greendustries/2012/04/12/bees-and-survival-of-the-human-race/" target="_blank">Important enough </a>for Einstein to state "If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would have only four years left to live"! He was referring to the fact that one-third of our crops depend on honey bees for pollination Take them out of the picture and that's famine you're staring at!<br />
Take a look at this <a href="http://www.ciber.science.uwa.edu.au/blog/?page_id=121" target="_blank">trailer of 'More than honey'</a>. Very interesting! )<br />
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Here, in my garden, though, the bees seem to be thriving. And I love watching them going about their work.<br />
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I had never really noticed how a bee slurps up nectar! Did you see its tongue? In some of the other pictures I've clicked, the tongue is stuck out long before the bee has landed on the flower ... greedy! (Or just super-efficient?)<br />
And the passionflower is so ingenious. I had never really noticed before how its oval anthers are curved just-so to perfectly fit the curve of a bee. All the better to dust you with pollen, my dear!<br />
And our greedy bee is liberally smothered with this golden dust, little knowing (or caring, I'm sure) that she's a pampered, very well-compensated courier.<br />
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hmmm .... I wonder how passionflower-flavoured honey would taste?<br />
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If the passionflower is perfectly designed for visiting bees to sit and sip awhile, other blooms like this <i><a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/11/what-potent-surprise.html" target="_blank">Safed musli </a>( </i>Chlorophytum breviscapum<i> ) </i>are not so accommodating. But if the medicinal qualities of this very potent plant are going to be infused in the honey ... maybe I should be expecting an explosive growth in the bee population soon!<br />
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But, jokes aside, the bees have to be some of the most beneficial and valued creatures in the garden. Even if we gardeners do grouse about unexpected stings once in a while.<br />
Painful, but such a small price to pay for help in the garden! <br />
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Wasps are some of my other favourite beneficials in the garden. Except, they won't hand out anything tasty and edible like honey. But they're skilled hunters and they do take care of pests!<br />
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Most wasps tuck in a snack for baby to munch on when it hatches. I've seen them scout around plants, locate a bug or caterpillar (sometimes much bigger than itself) and carry it off to its nest to be packed in.<br />
Talk about an efficient tiffin service!<br />
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These Paper Wasps can be very aggressive if anyone goes near their nest. Just look at their body language ... they're ready to attack if I move my camera any closer. The things we do for a photo (foolish, foolish me!)!<br />
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Okay, I know this is really, really gruesome (believe me, it's a hundred times worse when you actually see it!) but I had to show you. I was walking home the other day when I saw this wasp land on a plant and scout around. It suddenly darted under a leaf and wrestled out this large, plump caterpillar (I think it's a Common Mormon ). Before I could react, it had subdued the poor caterpillar, stripped a long piece of skin and flesh off it, rolled it into a ball and flew off with it!<br />
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So shockingly gruesome! I guess if that had been the caterpillar of a Cabbage moth I wouldn't have mourned so much but I've always been partial to the Common Mormons and its cousins.<br />
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If this was a movie, it would've never got past the Censors. But then, that's Nature for you. It can be astoundingly beautiful and gentle, as well as mind-numbingly violent and matter-of-fact.<br />
The wasps and other beneficial creatures are yet another weapon in Nature's arsenal to maintain the balance and keep pests under control (no, you don't really need man-made chemicals to do that!) .<br />
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And when I talk of wings, I just can't leave the <a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/12/king-of-garden.html" target="_blank">king of my garden</a> out of this post, can I ? Ever since the Pariah Kite (Black Kite) family moved into my garden, I don't need to really bother about keeping the rat population under control. Especially when there's a hungry chick in the nest demanding to be fed around the clock.<br />
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Except, every once in a while, I do find their housekeeping throws up some startling discoveries! I found this skeleton of a snake near the coconut tree on which they nest.<br />
Pity! I quite like snakes, especially when they're so good at getting rid of rats for me.<br />
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In my book, any creature that helps me in my garden and cuts down on my work there, is one to be treasured.<br />
Especially if they're as colourful as this Blue Banded Bee.<br />
Even if they come with stings attached.<br /><br />
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More links :<br />
<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/01/bee-happy.html" target="_blank"> Bee happy</a>Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-13470757797562424682013-07-11T19:45:00.001+05:302013-07-11T21:39:51.929+05:30When the Monsoon casts a spell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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And the rains have come to wash us clean. Refresh us, invigorate us, pour new life into every twig and leaf and parched being.<br />
Oh, Monsoon ... how I do love you!<br />
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All the Gulmohurs are soaked and drenched. Fiery Summer meets Cool, Wet Monsoon. Shimmering drops cling to feathery leaves and scorching petals. Such an incredibly beautiful combination!<br />
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And every outdoor surface, whether stone or brick or earth or clay, suddenly remembers tales of delicate ferns of yore. And my sterile stone walls and every rock and tiny pebble around forgets the hot, scorching Summer days...<br />
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... and suddenly transforms into a shaded moist woodland! Gone is the parched, baked, blistering-hot earth . Now I live in a primeval jungle, complete with an explosion of waving maidenhair ferns and the <i>creek!</i> of hidden creatures.<br />
Who is to say just what wonders lurk under those arching fern fronds?<br />
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This is one of the monsoon wonders in my garden which always leaves me gasping at the sheer unexpected beauty of it. </div>
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Native to our land, it wasn't planted here. It just shows up every monsoon. Like a hostess gift brought by the Monsoons.</div>
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So alike, yet so different from the Aromatic Turmeric which I have planted here. It blooms in Summer, giving me a foretaste of the beauty awaiting me in the Monsoon when the Wild Curcumas come into their own.</div>
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And, the Carambola is still in bloom! I love its clusters of tiny bubblegum-pink flowers.</div>
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So do all the bees and other pollinators, I think.</div>
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Another native, the wild Ixora is blooming its head off.</div>
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And when the flowers fall off, it's still a pretty sight!</div>
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As are all the plants in my garden. De-petaled, or mud-coated or wind-torn they may be but they love the Monsoons. As do I (can you tell?) .</div>
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<i>Some more Monsoon links for you ( I know, the monsoon inspires me like no other season!) : </i></div>
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2011/08/monsoons-agony-and-ecstasy.html" target="_blank">Monsoons ... the agony and the ecstasy</a></div>
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2012/08/monsoon-vegetables-in-mumbai.html" target="_blank">Monsoon vegetables in Mumbai</a></div>
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/06/monsoon.html" target="_blank">Monsoon!</a></div>
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/07/moss-and-snails-and-maidenhair-ferns.html" target="_blank">Moss and snails and maidenhair ferns ... </a></div>
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/07/its-wet-green-world.html" target="_blank"> It's a wet, green world</a></div>
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2010/07/growing-my-own-food.html" target="_blank">Growing my own food</a></div>
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/07/monsoon-gifts.html" target="_blank"> Monsoon gifts</a></div>
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<a href="http://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.in/2009/08/monsoon-blooms.html" target="_blank"> Monsoon blooms</a></div>
Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-34884044597534783582013-06-07T01:32:00.000+05:302013-06-07T01:32:15.628+05:30Summer was here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ovM8HIqtqpQKoDX1PFmTbR3YNJQH6lghOt8_WYPloGs85L8cMGn4RX-mh1WsjrF9yf0YL8vNc7B6oNV7rexaWey94BMd79-pjPNQ7nSO98FNxk9Upj9DQEC8W-9iHUpCUw7nIMFI8aO7/s1600/IMG_1553+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ovM8HIqtqpQKoDX1PFmTbR3YNJQH6lghOt8_WYPloGs85L8cMGn4RX-mh1WsjrF9yf0YL8vNc7B6oNV7rexaWey94BMd79-pjPNQ7nSO98FNxk9Upj9DQEC8W-9iHUpCUw7nIMFI8aO7/s640/IMG_1553+copy.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
Just a note to say, "Summer was here!"<br />
A blistering, roasting, energy-sapping tropical kind of summer.<br />
Reviled, perhaps. Moaned about, definitely. Yet so infinitely a part of us.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Harvest time: fields along the Punjab - Haryana highway)</td></tr>
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Summer was here. All too soon the mad exuberance of Spring and the harvest season slows to a sultry crawl.<br />
When it's Summer, the earth swings to a slower rhythm. The clock slows, sounds mute, movements gentle. It's the Summer way of life.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Baradari palace, Patiala)</td></tr>
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White is so beautiful now. Especially the icy-cool white shot through with tropical hues.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(on the Dehradun - Rishikesh highway)</td></tr>
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And far away in cooler zones, there is an explosion of jacaranda clouds all along the highways, leaving travellers gaping and over-awed.<br />
I'm sure that I was not the only one who rang up someone to gasp about the jacarandas in bloom.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Patio of Ananda in the Himalayas) </td></tr>
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And just as I am ready to melt into the ground, the mountains call and I am rejuvenated.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdAuOfamlZieCsEhYw7XrVdRv6MQ-qOh1eowpLOGPPBycfA1WGTI27HL3lpc9B78IY1aw3jW3n9zBJmOPMXlVb4-UqIrMs1WIGWW0K1jV3FXgt3FrW31_go00B2kAkcsen-TJrOUnc3Ril/s1600/IMG_8839+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdAuOfamlZieCsEhYw7XrVdRv6MQ-qOh1eowpLOGPPBycfA1WGTI27HL3lpc9B78IY1aw3jW3n9zBJmOPMXlVb4-UqIrMs1WIGWW0K1jV3FXgt3FrW31_go00B2kAkcsen-TJrOUnc3Ril/s640/IMG_8839+copy.jpg" width="850" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Patio of Ananda in the Himalayas)</td></tr>
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A winter-garden within hours of the heat and dust of the scorching tropics? There's something so surreal about that. But I love it, and the view of misty mountains fading into the horizon spins a web of wander-lust in me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAIkgCPc0opnqxc4UXW1aGd336WB87mCReTNvQb4jnTlGx1IE0BXwyS0dUWtMYNtzRcr6PpY56aP6VfOkh4w7onPQcfZOKQ_8WFCKiN1x8cce4q1MTnqimkcREd1rnsRYzKnl5e3Nt7Yg/s1600/IMG_0238+copy+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAIkgCPc0opnqxc4UXW1aGd336WB87mCReTNvQb4jnTlGx1IE0BXwyS0dUWtMYNtzRcr6PpY56aP6VfOkh4w7onPQcfZOKQ_8WFCKiN1x8cce4q1MTnqimkcREd1rnsRYzKnl5e3Nt7Yg/s640/IMG_0238+copy+copy.jpg" width="850" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Monsoon clouds over the backwaters in Kochi)</td></tr>
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Summer was here. And now it's on its way out. A flock of monsoon clouds are busy hustling it out. Shooing it away before settling in.I hope it's going to be a long cool, wet season ... goodbye Summer!<br />
<br />Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-58316293253159384842013-04-09T08:55:00.001+05:302013-04-09T16:54:10.506+05:30A sense of Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYjagoJllO8IpullKvOAjTtwKVOas9UaU7htM9_RJt_zZ6eLWKLN7cSnI7ThYh9BRJ0V3LqdLF-7uwVI0mMTwjLR6nI32cYu1rfN19BrL3O2ZeJF1rsMSTORgSOIEpIWwThZ21jaya2H7I/s1600/IMG_1388+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYjagoJllO8IpullKvOAjTtwKVOas9UaU7htM9_RJt_zZ6eLWKLN7cSnI7ThYh9BRJ0V3LqdLF-7uwVI0mMTwjLR6nI32cYu1rfN19BrL3O2ZeJF1rsMSTORgSOIEpIWwThZ21jaya2H7I/s640/IMG_1388+copy.jpg" width="850" /></a></div>
Breathe in the fragrance of a new season,<br />
drink in the vibrant colours of a new year (you really don't think January marks a new year, do you? ),<br />
gorge on the flavours of the new fruits weighing down the trees,<br />
smile at the crescendo of joyous bird-calls overhead and faraway and round-about ... Spring is here and makes sure you know it by a mad, merry, exuberant sensory overload!<br />
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When else would you find such a serendipitous juxtaposition of a Blue butterfly sunning itself next to a Rosy Periwinkle?<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">Or gangs of ants quilting a heliconia bloom? Or could they be the heliconia artists, gently nipping a blush into every bloom? </span></div>
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Nothing gentle about this exuberant bougainvillea screaming its presence! Rambunctious climber, irrepressible bloom-smith, unfussy tenant .. who doesn't appreciate the bountiful blooms of the bougainvillea when sunny, roasting hot days drag by? </div>
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Sprays of Petrea wrap my garden in a soothing cloud of lavenders and purples fading into silvery grey. Twirling ballerinas of the botanical realm, each bloom matures into a role rarely essayed. How many flowers, after all, can spin and dance on the Spring breeze? </div>
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And sometimes the heavens come down to earth! And high-flying Pariah Kites grant their royal stamp of approval to my humble bird-bath. Spring today, Summer tomorrow; a bird's got to sip and dip. In the meantime, they have an awestruck pair of eyes (and camera lens) following their every regal move! </div>
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High up on the denuded teak trees, the very voluble parakeets screech and gossip about every passerby and every new tree in fruit. They love hanging around my garden now. No one will disturb their babies here and there are plenty of tender cashewnuts on the trees to gnaw on.</div>
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Tender cashewnuts, did I say? Oh so young to imagine the trial by fire awaiting it, to prove itself and be crowned king of the palate! Hundreds of bunches of these very quirky fruits are growing now, kissed by the Spring sunshine, dreaming of the day when the cashew-apples will be full-grown and all filled out. No celebrations for a Size Zero here!<br />
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Until then these Star Gooseberries are rocking the show in my garden. Clusters and clusters of them crowding the trees until the branches bend down, almost begging to be picked. </div>
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The child in me loves the slight sourness in every pop of these. Have you found the child in you drooling over this too? </div>
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Or, over this? The Carambolas are growing too. These star-shaped fruit are such an attractive sight, on the tree or the table. Or on the hawkers' carts. Did they use to sell the Carambola, dipped in salt and red-hot chilli powder, outside your school too? Does your mouth begin to water when you see this photo, as mine is beginning to?<br />
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Spring. And the Winter vegetables are still yielding.<br />
Fresh crisp green cabbages growing among a forest of iron-rich red amaranths. Just as colourful as it looks and a hundred times more flavour-packed.<br />
Did you know that ever since I grew the cabbages among the red amaranths, I've had less trouble with the foliage vandals? All the grasshoppers seem to be drawn to the red amaranths, leaving the cabbage alone.<br />
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On the roads, the Rain Trees are dotted with flowers. </div>
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In my home, a few brave (and fool-hardy) centipedes try to barge in and are summarily tossed out on their ear!<br />
But I do sneak an admiring glance at those mango-yellow boots. This gal has style!<br />
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And why am I repeating a pic of this Blue? Just because. </div>
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Because it's so pretty and has a cute up-turned nose and big, big eyes.</div>
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Because it has a model's poise; look at the bend of that knee.</div>
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Because it knows where to hang out ... in my garden.</div>
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Because I like this photo.</div>
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And because it's Spring!</div>
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And because Spring means that all kinds of pretty fragrant flowers like this Vallaris are making the air heady with their scent. </div>
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<i>sigh</i> .... did I mention that I absolutely <i>love</i> Spring? </div>
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Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-39201031231466995082013-03-06T16:05:00.003+05:302013-03-06T16:06:57.819+05:30Kochi-Muziris Biennale : The art of new beginnings - Part II(<i>This is a preview of a post on my other blog, Chai 'n Spice. To read the complete post, click on the link at the end of the post here. Or click on the link to Chai 'n Spice in the side-bar</i>)<br />
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Welcome back to the concluding post about the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. If you missed the first post, 'KMB: The Art of New Beginnings', head here to catch up.<br />
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..... Following up to the awesome graffiti on the building which caught my eye, the next stop was Calvetty Jetty.<br />
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Rigo 23's (yes, that is the name he goes by) '<a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-18/kochi/35890215_1_vasco-da-gama-kochi-muziris-biennale-rigo">Echo Armada</a>' is one of the most interesting installations! Go to Calvetty Jetty to see this trio, but first click on the link. I loved reading the story behind these works. And I .......<br />
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<a href="http://chai-n-spice.blogspot.in/2013/03/kochi-muziris-biennale-art-of-new.html" target="_blank">Click here to read the full post </a> over on my other blog. Don't miss it!<br />
<br />Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7433906806220848808.post-44247025801650843802013-02-05T21:28:00.002+05:302013-02-08T15:17:51.611+05:30Kochi-Muziris Biennale: the art of new beginnings <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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(<i>This is a preview of a post on my other blog, Chai 'n Spice. To read the complete post, click on the link at the end of the post here. Or click on the link to Chai 'n Spice in the side-bar</i>) </div>
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I've always thought Fort Cochin (or Fort Kochi ) is like one of those story-book places; full-of old-world charm and slightly fantastical ... as if it's living in its own time-zone ...<br />
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But now, it looks like I've to stretch my mind a bit more and include the art that is spilling out onto its streets too. And drawing more people than I've ever seen there before.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, I can almost picture Kochi's predecessor and alter-ego, <a href="http://historicalleys.blogspot.in/2010/06/introducing-muziris-papyrus.html">Muziris</a> , as it must have been, way back in the first century A.D. ... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today, centuries after this port-town on the Malabar coast of Kerala in the southern tip of India, fabled for its access to treasured spices, timber and gems, was flooded by the river Periyar and sank into anonymity, it finds a resurrection of sorts in India's first Biennale. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The </span><a href="http://kochimuzirisbiennale.org/" style="font-family: inherit;">Kochi-Muziris Biennale </a> .</div>
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<a href="http://chai-n-spice.blogspot.in/2013/02/kochi-muziris-biennale-art-of-new.html" target="_blank">Click here to read more about the Kochi-Muziris Biennale</a> over at my other blog, Chai 'n Spice. (start at the beginning, okay? I've edited out quite a bit here)</div>
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And, yes, I know my Munnar travelogue isn't complete. That's waiting in the wings too. Soon!</div>
Sunita Mohan http://www.blogger.com/profile/16395671437601246093noreply@blogger.com7