Thursday, February 10, 2011

Garden highlights

I missed posting about so many things that have been happening lately! There has been too much happening and I was busy scrambling to keep pace. And before I knew it, 2 months have passed without an update. Join me in my garden-ologue to catch up?

So, there was the mind-blowingly photogenic Jatropha that I just couldn't leave behind in a nursery .

In fact, it was so pretty I just have to post one more pic ... there!

And I wish I had told you about this discovery ... a big pond filled with the most stunning water-lilies, tucked away out of sight, just behind the nursery.
In space-starved, square-foot-miserly Mumbai! This city keeps springing the most amazing surprises. And this one really took my breath away.

Can you beat this for an early morning banquet for the soul?

Then there's the bougainvillea extravaganza which I look forward to every year. All the hard-working, often-neglected bougainvilleas planted all over Mumbai come into their own and have been in full-'bloom' for a couple of months now. Every wall, fence, road-divider, and even every tree over which the bougainvilleas have stamped their authority, are a blaze of colour.
This one climbed up my towering Michellia champaca tree and brightens the winter sky when the M.champaca is not in bloom. (Incidentally, this pic has not been colour-enhanced, so you know how stunning it looks)

I missed posting about the almond trees waving red flags at the sky

And the asparagus turning into a cloud of blush-pink blooms

I missed posting about the sheer drama and poetry of the winter sky

And the thrill of finding gold strewn in my garden . I wonder if the honeybees know they're missing this?

But most of all, I missed posting about this absolutely beautiful, very unusual double-petalled anthurium that I found blooming its head off in my garden!
There's more, but I think I'll keep those for another post. And no, I won't take this long to post again.
It's been an eventful 2 months, don't you think?

28 comments:

  1. Very poetic words and beautiful pictures, welcome back, was worth waiting for

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  2. Really fantastic photos here. Your blog is great and I am your new follower. Stop by my new one and I will be updating it a lot this year as the seasons approach.
    Cher
    Goldenray Yorkies

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  3. So good to see you again. Your photos are, as usual, stunning. I especially like the honeybees' gold and the anthurium. It is such an aristocratic-looking flower.

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  4. So very pretty. How wonderful to have happened on such a pretty place behind the nursery. I love those moments where nature takes our breath away. It's like unwrapping a gift from God.
    Thanks for sharing the pictures. Beautiful!

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  5. :)Glad you are back! Loved the almond leaf, anthurium and the asparagus..

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  6. amazing pictures,i loved the water lilies!

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  7. Hi
    Glad to see you posting here again. Follow you on FB but was missing these
    Your blooms look great! Annie

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  8. Wow! You've posted while I was away!! Great to see you back in action :)
    I've been thinking of you while looking at the pretty pink blooms of tabebuia!!
    The water lilies are awesome... and as Amy puts it... feels like unwrapping a gift from God!!

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  9. Hello Sunita, hope your back is feeling better. Stunning shots of those water lilies. Those are night blooming ones. The open around 8pm and close around 11am the next day. Take care my friend.

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  10. Thank you, cinafong :)
    So glad you enjoyed this post!

    Thanks for deciding to follow, Cher. And yes, I'm off to check out your blog now.

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  11. You're right .. there is a lot of red in this post, M-K girl :)

    Hi Stephanie :)
    Its so good to see you here again. I've really missed blogging and interacting with all my friends here. The anthurium is so much in demand at the florists' that most people here think that it is difficult to grow. Not in Mumbai, people!

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  12. Absolutely, Amy! What a neat way of putting it :)
    I literally stood there for some time just drinking in the sight. It was so unexpected and thus even more beautiful.

    Hi Pradnya :)
    Glad you liked the pics!

    Thanks, Shubhra. I'm kind of partial to them too :)

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  13. Thanks, Annie :)
    Yeah, I missed posting here too. Its always special.

    Hi Priya! Good to see you here too :)
    Oh those tabebuias really make me a little dizzy with sheer happiness. They're so pretty, aren't they?

    Helen, that's interesting! I guess I'm lucky I went there early in the morning then or I would have missed out on such a beautiful sight!

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  14. Hi Sunita; Yes, you have been away a long time, but you brought back lots of beautiful presents.
    Jatropha, very unique,I had a coveted plant but lost it due to the wet. I miss it.
    The waterlily pond is dazzling with its many, many flowers.
    Love the exuberance of the Bougainvilleas. I think Australians do not make enough of them. I grow many and my daughter too!
    The red leaf waving into the blue a very pretty sight.
    Asparagus is classed as weed but it still grows in my garden on its own accord. It has white flowers like sea foam. The pink one I have never seen.Thanks Sunita for all the pressis. they are all very much appreciated. T.

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  15. Trudi, I really missed posting here and coming online to find what my friends have commented.
    I hope I don't lose my Jatropha too. Our monsoons are a dangerous time for them.
    Here bougainvilleas are used all over the place, mainly because they require no maintnance at all!
    The asparagus flowers were white originally but turned pink after a few days.
    So good to see you here, Trudi. That is present enough for me :)

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  16. That water lily pond is just stunning! I visit your blog for a splash of colour and cheer, as a relief from the dreariness of the winter in New York. And I am never disappointed!

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  17. You have amazing photos and the water lilies are gorgeous. I am glad you stopped into my blog so I could find yours.

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  18. absolutely enchanting visuals and descriptions so vivid i feel i am taking a walk in the garden

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  19. Hi Kamini! its great seeing you here again :)
    I loved that warlily pond too. Bet Monet would've loved it too. Our own Mumbaiya version of Giverny.
    Tell you what, you candrink in all the colour in these blog-posts now and when we start broiling in our hellish summer, I'll be lingering over your winter-in-New-York posts. Deal?

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  20. OH SUNITA, This was a wonderful walk with you too. I loved your words about the plant (Jatropha) that you just couldn't leave behind. That happens to me a lot and I guess you could say that instead of having a well designed garden I have the garden of a collector and lover of all types of plants. LIKE YOU!!

    You deserve all the awards dear faraway gardening sister.

    Lovingly,

    Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

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  21. Thank you, Garden Walk Garden Talk.
    Those waterlilies are extra special, aren't they? Reason enough to plan another early morning trip to that nursery soon.

    Sujata, thank you. I'm so glad you enjoyed this post :)
    Come back soon for another walk in my garden, okay?

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  22. Sharon, they do that ALL the time! Sometimes I can't leave them behind, sometimes they follow me home. And sometimes I just have to test myself and see if I can live without them ... by first trying to live with them, of course! :D

    Hmmm... I think we are more alike than I first thought, Sharon.I like to leave the designing to Mother Nature and somehow she always does a great job without any help from me!

    The awards... somehow I've not entered for any recently. I've been too busy, and too carried away with a lot of other things to enter for any of these events. It's fun in a way, but terrible with my non-existent memory :P

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  23. yes they are marvelous, and i love your essay too. BTW, i didnt know there are almonds in India.

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  24. Sunita, so good to have you back blogging after an eventful 2 months. Yay, Yay, Yay, gorgeous blooms, sweet findings and a splendid sunset!

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  25. Thank you, Andrea. Yes, we do have almond trees here but the one that I'm referring to in this post is the Tropical Almond (also called Sea Almond, Indian Almond, Wild Almond)which grows all over the place in Mumbai.

    lol! Its great to be back, Autumn Belle. Now my problem is that I have so much to blog about that I don't know which one topic to pick :)

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  26. Loved ur Blog.I luv my green patch too.Am new to blogging and would luv u to read mine.Liked ur orchids,anthuriuma,almonds,radishes...didnt know people in mumbai had so much space

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  27. Thanks, Antara. Those green patches have a way of hooking us till we're totally addicted, don't they?
    You don't need much space to grow orchids and anthuriums or even radishes, Antara. As long as you have a window-sill or even a wall, you can easily grow a whole clutch of plants.

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