Rush hour in the garden

October is a busy month in my garden. No, not for me. I just flop around on my verandah or under the cashew trees, moaning about the killing heat in Mumbai. But the little creatures that also call my garden "home" are busier than ever. They are everywhere that I look, doing their own thing and generally making my garden look like it is abuzz with activity. Sooner them than me!

For starters, the dragonflies are all over the place. Zipping and swirling around, sometimes solo but usually in a cloud. I love dragonflies! Seeing them in action makes me an ultra-happy person because they hunt mosquitoes.
Did I mention that all the foliage in my garden seems to attract every single mosquito for miles around?The garden of Eden had a snake to harass the residents, mine has mosquitoes. Which also means that it has some very happy dragonflies.

I love this extremely vibrant Dawn Dropwing dragonfly who put an old orchid bloom spike to good use. He kept perching on it, sticking his bright tail up in the air and fanning his wings open in a display that kept veiling and unveiling his fuchsia-purple body. The poor guy was obelisking to beat the heat!
To read more about this gorgeous dragonfly, check this out.

The damselflies are out too, even in my apartment garden. They're such delicate little wisps that one usually doesn't notice them until they rise up out of some plant that they were perched on. But don't let their size (or lack of it) fool you. They are just as efficient at hunting out mosquitoes, flies and insect pests. I've seen one gobbling up a beetle which looked much too large to fit into the damselfly's tummy!

Then there are the butterflies .... Oh my God! the butterflies! They're everywhere. Flitting, floating, frolicking ... I love this season for the butterflies . My Vinca rosea patch is seeing rush hour throughout the day.
By the way, did you notice the little damselfly watching the Common Wanderer butterfly? That's the same little guy in the second photo. He was almost glued to the spot for hours.

You would think that with a name like Grass Demon this butterfly would be huge and scary. But no, he's really quite small. What really is larger than life is that proboscis of his!

'Huge and scary' should probably go to describe the Giant Redeye butterfly! This butterfly feeding on the Spiderlilies isn't very big, but take a look at its big ruby-red eyes! How beautifully weird is that?

If you're looking for unconventional beauties, here's one for your list. The Buff Striped Keelback is quite a small, thin snake and is absolutely harmless. Every so often I find one zipping across my yard, hoping that no one will notice him. This one was racing across the roasting sunny areas and heading for the cool shade of the heliconias. Hopefully, he was after some garden pests but more probably, he had his eye on the little frogs which like to hang out there too.

He has no idea just how lucky he is to miss being spotted by our resident Pariah Kite!
The Pariah Kites are nesting again on the coconut tree and keep a strict watch on everything that is going on. This one swooped down for a quick sip and dip in the bird-bath. And of course, some crows landed up immediately too. Just to keep an eye on him, you know.

October is also the month when the migratory birds start trooping in. I found this Hoopoe scanning some of the overgrown grass ( a last remnant of the monsoon super-growth). A crow swooped by near him and up went his startled crest. Such fun!
By the way, doesn't he look like the Creator drew some sample scribbles on his back while trying to design the Zebra?

The season is changing. It is still as hot as ever during the day but now there is a cool nip in the air at night and I love the transitions it brings. I love this season for the unusual birds that show up and also for some of the more unusual blooms. Even on the foliage plants, like this Phyllanthus myrtifolius which is widely grown as a hedge or for topiaries. It is not one of my most favourite plants but in October I seriously re-think that opinion. Because that's when it transforms into a blooming beauty!

'How not to make millions' ... and still enjoy a good book!

Every once in a while I feel the internet is one of the best things that happened to me. From being a raw newbie who had a PC forced on me some years ago by my brother (he felt I was sinking into the world of plants and birds and butterflies too much and forgetting all about the modern one) to discovering a whole new world filled with like-minded people with similar interests, has been one of the most amazing journeys of my life.
Best of all, I also discovered that I was not the only one who enjoyed that world of plants and birds and butterflies!

Which is why I'm really excited about this new e-book I'm getting, 'HOW NOT TO MAKE MILLIONS - but still enjoy a rich rural life' .
Is that a great title, or what? It made me go "huh? what was that again?" the first time I read it. I wish I had thought of it first!
With a zinger of a title like that can't you just taste what's in store? I 'met' the author, Alan McDonald, on an online forum a couple of years ago and I don't know if I love his tongue-in-cheek sense of humour more or the very practical solutions he always has to offer. When one has been farming and gardening for around 60 years in places as diverse as Scotland, Portugal and Australia, one does pack a great store of garden wisdom !

'How not to make millions ... ' began as a series of notes when Alan started jotting down his experiences as a gardener and farmer, recording what and what not to do in the future. His intention, partly, was to create a record which his son could access anytime he wanted to, adding some notes too about their personal history which he thought future generations might find interesting.
Started in 1951, the notes took on a new life when Alan decided to transfer them to a computer. Very soon, he was persuaded on popular request, to convert them to e-book form (a big "thank you" to whoever was responsible for this feat!).

"My original aim had been to show my son that through his own efforts and on minimal income, he could make a farm out of any land irrespective of where it might be or its condition when purchased, and then enjoy a lifestyle that many people think would require a considerable income to support."

I love that, especially the last bit.
But, it didn't end there. Alan realised that what was good advice for his son was just as good for a wider reading public.

"As I moved around the world the book came to have a second aim, and that is to have all landholders think long and hard about how successive generations of future farmers can do the same thing by leaving their land in a more fertile state than when it was acquired."

Which makes the book such a perfect read. I love the whole "leave the earth a better place" angle.

"Even if your dream is to undertake some other pursuit rather than things agricultural, it is still necessary to produce as much of your own food as possible if you want to eat really well at minimum cost, so you must have a vegetable garden, preferably some fruit and nuts too, and space for some meat production if you eat meat."

You see what I mean? No-nonsense, practical to the core.
I'm not looking for new-fangled notions and concepts in this book. I'm going to devour it instead for the author's wholesome attitude to farming and gardening, practical advice on growing food and what a new landowner (or even a seasoned one) should look out for, especially, which pitfalls to avoid. And, 6 decades of hands-on experience and knowledge. I'm looking forward, especially, to re-discovering gardening and farming practices which may have become forgotten today but which deserve a second look. I'm looking forward, most of all, to a good read.

I for one, thoroughly treasure Alan's advice and recommendations. Even if he claims that a city-dweller may not possibly appreciate his book.
Well, you're so mistaken, Alan McDonald! I can think of a million reasons why I'm just itching to read it, and guess what ? I feel millions richer already!

Post-script : Take a look at Alan's blog here
(excerpts are quoted from the Preface, accessed from Smashwords )

Transitions and deja-vu

October heralds a second summer in Mumbai . Shorter, but maybe hotter (or at least, it feels so). Already the deliciously cool, wet days of the monsoon season are a mere memory. And, as the days start trudging from unbearably humid and hot to skin-cracklingly sizzling, I wish that if we had to be gifted a repetition of a season the same year, it would be the monsoon which re-visits us. Definitely NOT Summer!
Every so often my non-tropical garden friends ask me why I get so deliriously ecstatic over the monsoons. I'm at a loss to pick just one reason .

I love it for the heavenly scent of Michaellia champaca that lures and trails me as I walk in my garden in the evening. It even wafts indoors and crooks a perfumed finger at me. And I put everything else aside and follow, losing myself in its heady scent.

... For the unexpected beauty that nudges me out of everyday chores, waiting to surprise me at every turn.
What used to be a very pedestrian driveway gets transformed into a beautiful swift-flowing, cool stream, complete with an offering to the river goddess...

... and dozens of little 'waterfalls' and 'rapids' that fire the imagination and create little adventurers of those brave enough to risk a slip and slide.
There goes all my beautiful garden soil rushing along downstream ... sigh! ... but the sheer fun of seeing a stream come alive in my garden is worth every grain of it. I love the character it adds to my garden space!

... For the hundreds of wild curcumas and gazillions of maidenhair fern that sprout on cue all over the place.
I love these plants! Curcumas in every shade of lilac and mauve and rich, deep dark purple and feathery Maidenhair ferns so delicately, exquisitely beautiful. I really miss them when they disappear soon after the monsoons. For me, they are the link my garden shares with the great mountain chain of the Western Ghats and its rich biodiversity. One tiny little outpost on the furthest tip. I can live with that!

... For all those lovely fruits that decide to start yielding now, including the passionfruits blushing among the curry leaves. (I've heard of "currying favour" but "currying passion"? ... that's a new one!).

... For the cool, misty and windy days that morph simple photographs into a blur of poetic colour. I love the fresh-washed green that is a regular backdrop for all the photos taken in this season. And I love how the monsoon light makes the reds sizzle in my garden photos (now you know why I surround myself with so many red anthuriums).

... For the myriad vibrantly colourful, totally unusual creatures that show up now.
Even before I finish marvelling at one, I spot another not too far away.

And another ...
Isn't this tiny Tortoise Beetle the cutest thing you've ever seen? All gleaming gold and tiny pattering feet with its own clear space bubble. Cute!

... For the mossy look that cloaks everything.
Soft, cushiony moss, lending an air of woodland groves, envelops every surface. From bricks on the pathways to the bark on the trees . Cushiony, that's the word, not slippery.
I wonder if there's any way I could get a soft moss bed to sleep on? Just looking at it makes me feel like lying down on it.

.... For the air of supreme fertility everywhere. This anthurium on the right is so ready to pop !

... For the air of supreme fertility.
Oh, did I say that already? What else would one think on spotting the red ginger (Alpinia purpurata) sprouting even as it blooms?

... For all the little babies that show up now.
Monsoon is when my orchids go into baby over-drive. There are little keikis forming on almost every cane of the mature dendrobiums.
It is also the season when my outdoor-grown orchids start fleshing out again after being cooked and dehydrated in our roasting Mumbai summer. Did I tell you that I never pamper my orchids? They actually seem to prefer it that way!

... For the days when it rains and rains and rains. Until it seems as if my world has shrunk into a little cocoon and I'm dreamily snug in my little verandah, blissfully gazing out at my thoughts ... a little world within my world.

Just a few reasons. Not all, but just enough to detail my karmic connection with the monsoon. And now it looks like we're done for this year, so it's time to tuck these memories away. To be dipped into every time I need a serenity fix or a taste of what the next monsoon will do.

Because now it's time for Butterflies

... and Dragonflies

... and Orchids!