Monday, July 12, 2010

It's a wet, green world!

Green is my world and as wet as can be!
I feel as if I'm living in a rainforest. Everywhere I turn, Mumbai is a palette of every shade of green imaginable. But nowhere more so than in my own garden.
From the deep, dark primeval greens of trees clasping branches with each other and creating cocoons of mystical calm, to the fresh clean greens of maidenhair ferns waving at me from every nook and corner of my garden.

Raindrops mist the petals and roll down leaves. Silvery balls of cool washing the earth clean and soothing it awake.
Or, thrumming in with lashing wave and frenzied winds, tossing blooms and whipping leaves, shaking my garden alive.

And in one corner of my garden I spot this little vine, planted years ago and half-forgotten. I had sown the seeds with no great expectations and was thrilled to see them grow. And grow, without showing any sign of doing much else.
It had clambered all over a custard-apple tree, ran along an electric wire and draped itself in great big looping garlands.
And then grew some more. Until now.
Now is the time the passionflower has come into its own. Perfect timing, don't you think?

30 comments:

  1. Wow! Lovely green..lovely pics!! And all in your garden... wonderful :)And yes the passionflower surprise is timely :)Lucky you!

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  2. Yes, Aaron. fruits are already forming from the older flowers and I can't wait for them to ripen. These have a reddish fruit and are much tastier than the yellow ones which have been in my garden for years.

    Oh yes, Priya :)
    I love it when I get such a variety of flowers and fruits around the year. I think the anticipation to see what's coming next is almost as much fun as getting the real thing.

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  3. Sunita ... maiden hair ferns ... moss ... I wouldn't even mind being the 'Grinch ... that stole the ferns n the moss' ... I really go all nutty with my fav. plant and moss ... moss ... moss ... and no its not the Gurgaon heat that's making me this looney ... ;)

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  4. LOL! Rajee, I thought you were facing flood situations up North? Okay, so maybe I've been too busy gardening to keep up with the news.
    I wish you were back here in Mumbai or even in its far distant suburbs. You could've come over and collected some ferns and moss for yourself. But it is lovely, isn't it? I wish I could have them in my garden the whole year round.

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  5. Passion flower! What a lovely surprise! Great pictures as usual - How green is your 'valley'

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  6. Dear Sunita,

    I spent time sitting in our screened porch this morning and reading through your older posts. Yes, we are definitely alike in so many ways. I know that I've said it before, but I love how we connect with so many like minded souls across the miles (thanks to the internet).

    Maidenhairs are my favorite ferns. In California the native Americans slipped the leaves off the black stems and used the leathery stem for basketry and also for earrings.

    Sending fond wishes across the seas,

    Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

    P.S. I added myself as a follower!

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  7. Your little vine was worth waiting for. What a lovely bloom.
    You have a lovely blog. Everything is so green lush.
    Marnie

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  8. Mumbai is green? LOL! Last time I stepped out of the plane, I was hit with hot humid stench.

    Which part of Mumbai is green?

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  9. Raji, I think I had forgotten just how intriguing the passionfruit flowers are. They look like nothing else on earth, don't they? :D

    Sharon, that was exactly what I was thinking when I read your post today. I love the internet!
    What a great idea about using the maidenhair stems for crafting. For earrings? How intriguing! I wish I could see pictures of some.
    And, thank you for joining up as a follower :)

    Thank you, Marnie. I have to admit, though that it is green and lush only during the monsoon season now. I really wish I could've claimed credit for that. That vine, though, I'll definitely take credit for ;D

    Mumbai is definitely green right now, Anonymous :D
    Oh not the concreted-to-death airport area or the glass towers that loom over the city but if you look close enough you'll find plants literally breaking free just about everywhere. In maidans, vacant plots (yes, they do still exist!), box-grilled window-spaces, in recycled tins and containers, cracks in the sides of buildings ... everywhere! But more than anything, my garden is going through a giddy carnival of rejuvenation, thanks to the monsoon :D

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  10. I'm going green with envy.. its such a beautiful world... Wish it would rain.. just a little bit here.. :-(

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  11. The rain is wonderful! You are so lucky to have lushness everywhere. It's kind of dry and brown here. That passion vine bloomed wonderfully for sure. It must be most happy.

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  12. Green! I could never get enough of that. I say I could live with frequent rain but my husband would hate it. Lovely blooms!

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  13. Your photography is beautiful! I like the passion flower; is a beautiful exotic plant! My own world is also very green now, and the air is so humid i can smell the moisture in it!

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  14. Thanks, Mridula :)

    Patricia, I can't begin to tell you just how beautiful it is now. Cloudy and windy with huge blobs of raindrops beginning to fall ... I love the monsoon! Of course, no one in a temperate climate country would begin to understand the joy of lovely rain after months of hot, dusty, humid weather, I think.
    Maybe you should just plan a trip to Mumbai while you're waiting for it to rain there ;)

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  15. Tina, we have just got over the "dry and brown" stage here . (of course in Mumbai I also have to add "hot"). After 3 months of that we're more than ready for the rains :)
    The passionflower vine is doing beautifully. I'm so impatient to taste the fruit.

    Hello Rosey! :)
    Yes, green really is the gardener's favourite colour, isn't it? I can never have enough of it! And like you, I can live with frequent rains too though we have just 3 concentrated months of rain and then nothing more till the next year.

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  16. Thank you, Deb :)
    The passionflower does look exotic, doesn't it! In fact, it does look a bit other-worldly, I think.
    I had no idea that your area is so humid. So is Mumbai. I don't much care for humidity but my orchids and anthuriums love it.

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  17. I love the way rain brings out the colors in flowers and leaves. But we've been having our own version of monsoon season here so I could do with a bit less of it! ;)

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  18. Hi Sunita, Your green, green grass of home is very beautiful, or better said plants. It looks so tropical. I love the season with lots of rain as it is not cold but makes all the plants fresh and grow. I love to watch the raindrops sitting like crystals on the petals. The mosses and ferns are at their best.
    I grow the yellow passionfruit and it is my favourite to put into plain yoghurt. I can not eat the bought, flavoured yoghurt it is far to sweet.

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  19. Absolutely, Shady C! I love the way the cloudy rainy days make colours pop in photographs too.
    Has it been an unseasonal rain for you or is it normal? I'm sure your plants are enjoying it even if you aren't :)

    That's the best part about tropical rains, isn't it Trudi? It's wet but never cold so you can enjoy it just as much as your plants do.
    I grow the yellow passionfruit too but I've never tried it with youghurt. Sounds good, though :)

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  20. //clambered all over a custard-apple tree, ran along an electric wire and draped itself in great big looping garlands// ...Love your description as much as your photographs!!!

    Monsoon (and autumn) are my favorite time of the year :)

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  21. IHM, it really is a most exuberant vine! :D
    It somehow reminds me of a hyper-active 3-year old. Or a monkey!
    I think everyone who drops by here knows by now how much I love the monsoons. Autumn, or what passes for it in Mumbai, is lovely, isn't it? The only glitch is that the teak trees start shedding and when you have to clear gazillions of leaves (huge big leaves bigger than your face!) every day, it kind of takes the magic away a bit. But Mumbai winter I LOVE!

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  22. Nice shots! you did it great' those flowers was so pretty. Wish I can see it personally. Thanks for sharing.


    -yumi-

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  23. Thank you, Yumi. You're right, I think they're very pretty too. Maybe you could try growing these yourself? As far as I know our climatic conditions are similar so they should grow just as well for you too.

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  24. Very nice lush gardens. I spent a few weeks in Mumbai several years ago for work, the thing that sticks out in my mind the most was how amazingly warm and humid it was, all I could think about was what kinds of things I'd be able to grow in that kind of environment, so different from my zone 5 garden.

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  25. A Zone 5 garden! Wow, Lisa, I wish I could grow cyclamen like you can. And so many more pretty flowers. Wouldn't you know it, with all the plants that will grow here, I still yearn to grow the ones that turn their nose up at my climate!
    But you're right, with all this warmth and humidity, sprouting seeds is a snap and just about everything grows without any help (especially the weeds!)
    Maybe you could try to arrange another few weeks in Mumbai again, just to experiment ;D

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  26. Appreciate your patience in tracking every bit of info from egg state to butterfly. beautiful photos. Enjoyed thoroughly including the write up.
    Amaresh

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