Orchids - Tie them up!

Though most people grow their dendrobium orchids in pots, they're happiest when they're clinging onto something. They're epiphytes after all and have evolved into doing their best on a tree trunk. So if you have a reasonably tall tree with some bare trunk on it, do your dendrobium a favour, tie it onto that trunk and watch your dend take off! They don't even really need any extra medium as other plants need soil.



I have more than a few orchids tied onto almost all the trees in my garden. The coconut trees are fantastic hosts. They're tall with plenty of lovely bare, rough trunk and all the leaves are right on top which means that there's sunlight available when the dends need it, and at noon, the coconut leaves throw enough shade to keep it happy.



Water doesn't accumulate at the roots because it's just bare root against bare trunk. So there are very few chances of rot. Which is something that an orchid grower is always thankful for. And hey! there's no room for pests!

When I'm tying a baby dend. onto a tree, I place a small wad of coir under the roots so that it encourages root growth and gives the dend. something to sink its roots into, so to speak. I usually tie it on with a strip of banana plant fibre onto the tree. The whole idea is that by the time the dend. is big enough to take care of itself, the coir and banana string would have naturally decomposed.

The angle that the dends are fixed to the tree also mean that there's a very aesthetic, graceful curve to the flower spikes.

And of course, its a far better sight to focus on than just bare tree trunk! Especially when its loaded with blooming spikes.



Of course, there are some negatives too. Like, you can't move it around or take it inside (unless it's tied onto a piece of driftwood or log instead of a tree) when it's in bloom... and you want to show it off just a little bit.
And, if it's tied onto a cooconut tree, falling nuts and leaves can chop off various parts of the plant. Also, my local coconut buyer is very reluctant to climb these trees to harvest the nuts. What with me hovering around to see he doesnt harm my 'kids, and him having to manoeuvre around the mounted orchids, I dont really blame him!

Watering can become another issue. Since the roots are exposed, they tend to dry out faster than those in pots. So, in summer I make sure I hose them down liberally and also thoroughly drench the surrounding tree bark. But dendrobiums have a good storage system in their pseudobulbs, so they wont dry up and die overnight for lack of water.

Its not just the dendrobiums, phalaenopsis and oncidium orchids too can be tied on to trees (orchid growers call this "mounting" , as in "the orchid was mounted on a small log"). So far, I've succeeded in growing dendrobiums and oncidiums this way. The phalaenopsis is going to be next.

Oh, and did I mention that this works for epiphytic orchids ? Dont try it on your terrestrial or ground-growing orchids like Spathaglottis, okay? Well, if you have about hundreds of them, you could always experiment in the name of Science but .... there's a reason why they're called Terrestrial, right?



This particular gul mohur tree is home to an oncidium (or, Dancing Girls as they're known locally) as well as to myriad other dendrobiums. Its a perfect complement to my orchids as they each bloom in turn . In summer when the tree is in vibrant colour, my orchids are silent and reserving their strength. Then comes the monsoons, and the winds and rains whiplash all the gulmohur petals off. That's when the orchids come into their own with the rough bark and feathery gulmohur leaves as the perfect backdrop!

(a close-up view of the Dancing Girls)

True, you cant carry them indoors, but they'll make your feet follow them outdoors for sure!

(Almost all these photos were clicked in my non-digital camera days . The photos from my old point-and-shoot were scanned into my computer and then uploaded here. I could have waited to click better photos but I was too impatient. Please bear with me? )

September spells dragonflies

There has been a flood of dragonflies in Mumbai lately. Not just in the gardens, but every time I've gone out, clouds of dragonflies have been billowing over every road, ahead of all the traffic, and above it too.

It's wonderful watching them, though trying to track just one can soon get you a rubber neck and can send your head spinning out of control.

I had despaired of ever getting one to sit still long enough for me to photograph. They zip past and change direction so fast and so often that trying to follow them soon made me look like I was doing a lunatic's ballet.

I think they were teasing me and finally took pity on me, for a couple of them soon came and perched right next to me and didnt move a wing!

The one in the photo below even had a great sense of drama. He would sit on the spike of this dendrobium orchid, then fly up and resettle himself at a better angle on the same spike. He kept repeating this after every 3-4 minutes. I think he was making sure I got him from all his best angles. He didnt even mind my sticking my camera up so close to him.
What a star!



I've always been partial to dragonflies. They look so ethereal and yet have such comical faces that its quite an incongrous combination.

When we were children, it was a common game to gently hold a dragonfly by its wings and offer it a tiny pebble. Those stick-like legs would scramble and scoop up the pebble. The competition was to see how heavy a stone it could pick up.In retrospect, it seems pretty cruel but then, in those days, it made the dragonfly seem very special and 'ours'.

It was much later that I learnt what a clever mosquito hunter my friend the dragonfly is. He starts early, in his nymph avtar underwater. A total carnivore, Dragonfly Junior is as scary-looking as the adults are gorgeous. Another version of the Ugly Duckling, I think. I bet all those mosquito larvae and wrigglers in the water wished they could chase Junior away too. But there he remains, voraciously gulping them down with a king-size appetite.

The adult dragonfly is just as expert at cutting down the mosquito poulation. He forms his spiny, stick-like legs into a 'basket' and flies around, scooping them up in flight. And this is possibly why we've been seeing so many of them now in Mumbai.

Post-monsoon, the mosquito population has been spiralling out of control. My garden with all the big fruit trees offering large areas of deep shade, has become their favourite hang-out.
And guess who's ready for the feast? Well, I for one am really, really thankful to have these guys around.

Orchid time in Mumbai

(Den. Erasakul)

If you like orchids, then this is the best time to visit my garden in Mumbai. Almost all my Dendrobium orchids are either in bloom or in bud.

The cooler weather and moisture overdose during the monsoon season probably sets them off. After drooping and wilting through the scorching hot months of March to the beginning of June, they spring back exuberantly once the monsoons cool the air again. Within weeks, all the dendrobiums (or dends, as orchidists familiarly call them) start showing off fat little green spikes which will grow into some of the most mindblowing of Nature's creations.

Those fat little nubbins soon elongate and branch out into buds which soon give their first hint of the beauty to come !
Just look at these... they bring to mind a group of birds in flight, dont they?


Many growers struggle to get the dendrobium orchids to bloom for them but I've found that given plenty of light and a healthy dose of neglect, they're among the easiest plants to grow, especially in the tropics.

I grow all my dendrobiums outdoors, lightly shaded so that they're sheltered from the harsh sunrays between 10.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. but with plenty of light at other times. When I was new to growing dendrobium orchids, I kept them in deep shade and I got lovely dark green leaves but no flowers! Thats the indicator, you know...
Dark green leaves - too little light
Yellowish leaves - too much light
Apple-green leaves - light's just perfect



I had just finished photographing this dendrobium when I noticed that things were not as they should be. Can you spot what it is?



Surprise!
And this little garden spider found a cosy hideout. I bet the dendrobium is as pleased as can be with this arrangement. Goodbye nasty, petal-chomping bugs!

I've got tigers in my garden!

Striped ones and Blue too.

This Striped Tiger butterfly was dancing in the Myrobalan tree which is in bloom now. While his dancing partner flew away, he paused on this fading Dendrobium orchid to catch his breath.

Or perhaps to let it know that he hasnt forgotten how beautiful she had been a few days ago and how he had danced for her. I'm sure Den. Emma White appreciated the thought!

The Myrobalan tree is covered with a cloud of butterflies.... all coveting the precious nectar that its fragrance seems to be promising.

The myrobalan trees are native to Mumbai and is growing wild here. ( Frankly I was a bit uncertain about naming this tree because I'm not too sure but I checked up on a number of sites and it seemed to be a toss up between the myrobalan and the mahua, But,everything seems to point to it being a Myrobalan. If anyone knows better, please let me know so I can correct it here)

It is a pretty innocuous tree with even more innocuous flowers. But beauty seems to be in the nose (or proboscis) of the sniffer. It has definitely snared this Striped Tiger! (The flash of pink that you see in the photo above is just a wild morning glory that has just wandered over uninvited).

I have read about wild animals acting drunk when the myrobalan is in bloom. She seems to be a more accomplished seductress than she appears! Cunning little tree ... she's got them the old, old way. The way to any creature's heart seems to be through their stomach, after all.

As if not to be left out of all the fun, the Blue Tigers are very much in the scene too. Dipping and darting about to make sure the light falls just so on their wings so as to show up the pale blue markings that gave them their name.



Going back to visit old friends seems to be a habit with butterflies because I caught this Blue Tiger pausing on the dried up old flower stalk of last season's cashew. There were no flowers on this tree to lure the Tiger here yet it stopped here long enough for me to click it from various angles.

Can you see the flash of pale blue on the left wing which looks like white on the other?

You can see the Tiger and the cashew flower stalk more clearly in this photo.



The sunny interval in the monsoon season is the perfect time to watch butterflies at play in Mumbai. Usually photographing them requires quick reflexes and luck but by mid-day they grow lethargic in the sun and slow down a bit.

Having host plants for the caterpillars and nectar plants where the grown-ups can hang out and get a quick drink, increases the chances of getting one to pose for you.

The Lantana bush seems to be their favourite tipple joint. I think they like my wild lantana because its got no chemicals on it. And, of course, for all the other usual reasons too. I've left this clump of lantana only for the birds who love the berries, and for the butterflies who love the flowers. And for me ... who loves watching all of them!


Cosmos and Zinnia are other favourites with the flying rainbows. But, the strangest sight I ever saw was on a hole drilled by a couple of big wasps on my Pink Cassia tree. The two wasps drilled the hole and then hung around seemingly licking (if you can call it that) at the sap or whatever was coming out of the hole. Soon the whole tree was filled with butterflies, all trying to get at the sap too.

Even stranger was the fact that while feasting, they seemed oblivious to everything else. I could have brushed one with my hand and it would have just shuffled a step aside and then come right back again!

Every once in a while the wasps would fly off and the butterflies would jump in and feast. This even brought in butterflies I'd never seen before in my garden. I wonder if this a migratory one. I've never seen its picture in any of the sites about butterflies of Mumbai. (these two photos were from my pre-digital camera days and were taken with the camera on my cell phone so the quality is terrible, I think)

All those white string-like things on the tree trunk are just the roots of a Dendrobium orchid that I have mounted on to the tree. I wonder if that had anything to do with this strange phenomenon. But, I have another Pink Cassia tree in my garden with orchids mounted on that one too but that was not treated like an object of desire by any butterfly or wasp.

Nature has too many mysteries. Just when you think you've got one thing figured out, there comes the next puzzle. But as long as the puzzles are as beautiful as these , I dont mind. : )

If this works...

First, let me say that this is not a new post but more of a post-script to the previous one. So, if you're reading this, make sure you scroll down to the next post "The birds and The bees ... and butterflies too"

The photos in the earlier post weren't enlarging when clicked so I just had to try again .

Hmmm... this seems to work fine so far. I dont know where I goofed but all's well that ends well. I dont know what I did that corrected things either.

My Red Ginger is finally beginning to look lush and exotic enough to photograph. As for the Ylang-ylang, its in full bloom right now and smells heavenly. Almost intoxicating!

This is just a bonus for putting up with my non-enlarging photos. Sorry!

The birds and the bees.... and butterflies too!

My garden is a very busy place now. The monsoons have taken a break (to draw in a deep breath, I think) and all the insects in the world seem to be holding a convention in my garden. Everywhere I look, there are swarming, flying, buzzing creatures, eager to get on with their busy, busy lives.




This big carpenter bee seems to be determined to mine all the precious pollen from this Sky Flower (Thunbergia grandiflora). I had planted them to climb over my wire fence and to hopefully soften its harsh looks. What I had not anticipated was that it would become the happy hunting-ground not only for a whole bevy of very serious carpenter-bees but also for some gorgeous Purple Sunbirds.

The sunbirds are some of the most exquisite birds I've ever seen. "Tiny little darts of sunshine" is the closest I can get to describe them. The male is a dark purply-chocolate brown, capped with shiny emerald and amethyst on top, with a bright yellow stomach. With every movement of its perky head, the irridiscent green and jewel-purple feathers shimmer and sparkle in the light.

You can get a rough idea of what I mean from this photo of one perched on the root of my Vanda orchid. I'm sorry, it's such an atrocious photo but I was too excited on seeing him pose for me. They normally dart away faster than thought.



His girl-friend is a bird of a totally different colour. As drably dressed as any bird can get but still very watchable because she darts from one flower to the other, dipping her curving beak deep in to sip the nectar.

Can you see her wheeling away from the hibiscus flower she had just been feasting on? In this photo, though, she looks as if she were part of the flower, doesnt she? Go on, click on the photo and you can see a larger, clearer picture of milady Purple Sunbird (though there is nothing purple in her .... her boyfriend flaunts the royal colour !)



The start of the rainy season always sees the Zephyranthes in full bloom. These Rain lilies or Thunder lilies, as some call them, were a favourite in my childhood home. So much so that I made sure I planted a few bulbs in a corner of my garden here. Now the few bulbs are more like a dense carpet of flowers every monsoon.

I was too late to take photos of the Zephyranthes field this year (and I still havent got over that yet). But guess what I did get to record for posterity ...


(Yes, I do know there are weeds in there. Its the monsoon season ... what do you expect? Every year the rains wash off the lovely, rich top-soil, leaves behind the stones, and bring out all the weeds. Aaargh! )


Ma Nature's ingenious recycling project !

These white and orange spotted, chocolate-brown caterpillars were already fat and sleek from all those Zephyranthes leaves they had tucked into. I wonder what the grown-ups would look like. Could it possibly be a Common Mormon?



I cant see anything remotely common about them, though!


In another corner, some wild morning-glories had conveniently grown over my baby anthuriums and lent their dense foliage to shade them from our cruel summer sun . But a couple of days ago, I nearly leapt in fright to see a mob of orange, bristly, violent-looking caterpillars methodically stripping it of all the leaves.





Now just multiply that by about a 100 and you'll begin to get an idea of what is going on there. You think that is scary? Picture one of these bull-dozing its way straight you, letting nothing stop it, and shaking its bristles at you with every undulation.



I didnt see a single bird or animal even beginning to look as if it were interested in tasting it. In fact, my normally crowded garden was looking decidedly deserted when Bristly came out for his cross-country marathon. I'm simply not surprised !

So what stopped me from squishing him out of existence? The dream that some day he would look like this !

( click on photos to enlarge)

Cuckoo about Curcumas

It was early morning when I saw this wild Curcuma. It was nestled up close to the rough, exposed roots of an old cashew tree. With the sun just opening up the skies and sending out one tentative beam to paint the tips of the flower, it looked as if it was on fire! A fireball wrought of fragile crystal, suspended above an emerald bed .

It was so exquisitely pretty that it stopped me in my tracks for a minute . And then, I ran for my camera. I just couldnt resist circling around to get a photo from the other side. And what do you know ... it was just as gorgeous from the other side too!

From this side, I soon saw what I had missed earlier. A view of the true flowers, complete with bright yellow path highlighting the way in for all pollinators. "Just follow the yellow brick road..."

My curcuma is not just a pretty-colour type of flower, though it obviously has that too. There's something so 'architecturally' striking about its form.

When I looked around, there were more curcumas in flower and bud but there were quite a few varying shades and hues. Were they the after-effects of cross-pollination or just varying shades at various stages of flowering? I think I'll have to wait till next year to find out because my wild curcumas dont rebloom for me. The foliage remains for a couple of months, growing progressively more and more ratty . Then they just die down and cut out all above-the-ground activity till the next monsoon season. And its time to bring on the show-stoppers!

( click on the photos to enlarge )