Friday Blooms - May 25, 2012

Hello, Friday! I hope all of you had a great week, and are looking forward for an awesome weekend. Join me in celebrating Fertilizer Friday and Floral Friday.

Yellow-colored Crocuses flowers bloomed in one of the containers in which a Caladium plant grew. At my mother's friend's house, White-colored Crocuses flowers have covered the ground like a lovely carpet. I see these flowers a lot this year; the summer Sun is good for these flowers.

During my visit to Kodaikanal, I had bought three Fuchsia plants, which were about 2-3 inches. I had no knowledge about how to grow them. I fell in love with the flowers on the parent plants, and bought these plants. Only one plant survived, and has blooms. I guess that something worked well for this one plant. Oh, it has a gorgeous flower!

Red-colored and Pink-colored Geraniums look pretty amidst the green foliage. I also have three more varieties of Geraniums that bloomed pretty flowers. I'm waiting for more flowers to pop up. I love Geraniums because they are hardy plants. Give them sunlight, water, and nutrients, and they will quietly grow.

Hibiscus plants have been flaunting several flowers almost every single day. The buds of plants that are in shade seem to be falling. I'm unable to move these containers to a brighter place; I need help. Hopefully, this weekend, I'll move the plants to a suitable place. Rose plants are fine now; tiny buds are visible.

I pruned the Bridal Bouquet creeper, and within weeks, there were more buds than leaves. These flowers are fragrant, and resemble a Jasmine variety. One after another, the buds are bloomed. When I water the plant, I stand near it for a few seconds to soak in its fragrance. The flowers resemble the tiny stars; at evenings, the creeper and its flowers look stunning.

I haven't mentioned about my Bitter Gourd creeper. From one puny creeper, I harvested more than eight gourds. I made a curry from those gourds. There are more flowers (Yellow-colored) now, which will turn in to fruits. I'm excited because it's the first time I grew this gourd variety.

And Yay! The two eggplant plants that survived the rodent attacks have flowers, and one of them has an eggplant. Oh, it's White in color, and I love the shine on its coat! The flowers are star-shaped, and are misty White in color. These plants have attracted many bugs. I had to handpick the bugs, and also sprayed Neem oil to keep them at bay. I guess that the plants need one more round of pesticide.

I have sowed a few seeds last week. Hopefully, they sprout and survive to produce healthy harvest. Fingers crossed! That's all from me. Keep gardening!

Click the photo to view the Picasa album.

Fertilizer Friday - May 25, 2012

Regards,
Asha

Plantasjen - Vinderen, Oslo

We visited Sweden and Norway during April-May, 2012. These places were welcoming Spring, and how! You can find florists everywhere in the city, and yes, outside too. In today's article, I share photos of the lovely plant mart at Vinderen, Oslo.

It so happened that we decided to hop on to the Holmenkollen Line, and headed straight to the Frognerseteren. From there, we walked down to the famous Frognerseteren cafe to enjoy the Sunset, hot cocoa, apple pie, and muffin. Oh, what a treat that was!

On the way to Frognerseteren is the Vinderen station. We hopped off the metrorail, and went to the plant mart. Please see their Website: http://www.plantasjen.no/butikk/plantasjen_Vinderen. Oh, gorgeous! The store was packed with spring plants and flowers. The spring bulbs and seeds neatly sat on the racks, tempting people to pick them up. New range of containers and artifacts were flaunted beautifully.

I kind of lost myself seeing the varitey of Orchids, Begonias, Impatiens, Roses, Gloxinias, and other flowering plants. I absolutely loved the Olive trees and the Orange plants. I was specifically searching for Tulip and Daffodil bulbs. Well, I was out of luck because the bulbs were out of stock! The staff were friendly, and tried to suggest stores that I can try my luck at.

I bought a few containers and garden artifact - tiny roses, and iris and gladiolous bulbs (Nelson Garden product). That was a real treat. I wanted to buy half the stores, if only I had that kind of budget and if India customs department allowed it. That's when I wished we had a summer house at the Nordic. Ya, well, what's wrong in dreaming? :-)

Here are a few photos of the store. If you are traveling to Oslo, please try to visit this store; it's a heart-warming experience to be in a garden store of this magnitude.

Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/112599913977326007946/PlantasjenVinderenOslo?authkey=Gv1sRgCJOSl_KP5eOGOw#slideshow/5744985348842532946

Regards,

Asha

Caladium plants after a year

Previous year during May, I posted about my Caladium collection. The plants are back to life this year, and I love them. I had bought the bulbs from Indo-American Seeds, Bangalore. The collection has increased by one new variety - first photo from the left, first row in the photo-collage, which is available at the following location:

Click to see original photo

These plants grew in several containers, sharing the space with other plants. I replanted them in separate containers, and was also pleased to see newer bulbs. For the next two months or so, these plants will flaunt its leaves and colors. Now, these plants sit in a row like good children. :-)

For information about growing the Caladium plants, see:

• http://www.gardenersnet.com/bulbs/caladium.htm 
• http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/g-31-caladium-planting-guide.aspx

To know about the different varieties and names, see http://happinessfarms.com/.

Also, did you know that Caladiums are poisonous? Read more:  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002863.htm

Happy weekend!

Regards,
Asha

Evening tea amidst plants and other things

I hope all of you are doing fine, and that your plants are healthy.

This evening, I put a cane chair at the terrace garden with an intention to sip my cup of hot and strong tea. I stood for sometime to observe my surrounding. The Sun was getting ready to close his shop. The birds were returning home, and calling their young ones to come home. The tender coconut vendor, on the roadside, was also packing up for the day. The road, however, was busy with several vehicles plying. The road will be peaceful only past midnight; I wonder how tired it would be by them.

I looked around and felt awesome to see my plants at their best. It's been raining cats and dogs here; the plants seem to like the rain especially after super hot days. The leaves are showcasing their best colors. The flowers bloom beautifully. Most containers have saplings and offshoots, which is great. Now I need to plan an expansion of the terrace garden to accommodate the saplings. With expansion comes more responsibility, and I don't think I'm ready for it. :-)

With rain comes the pests. Well, the eggplant plants attract a variety of bugs, and ho, such healthy ones! If I spray pesticide, the rain washes it. I have no choice but to handpick the bugs, which is a time-consuming act. I have to wait for a day when the rain is on vacation, and then spray pesticide. I have also observed some sort of a worm inside containers that are placed in shade or on the platform that is gloomy and wet. I am unable to identify this worm; let me try to upload a photo of the worm. It seems to be destroying my Hydrangea plants. I know, I know... I need to take action as soon as possible!

The Kite family, which resides on one of the trees at our neighbor's trees, is happy. The young ones have learned to fly; the parents sit on one of the pipes on another neighbor's terrace, and watch its young ones fly. It's beautiful to watch the parents from my kitchen. This evening one of the young ones sat on a wire but was struggling to free itself and fly away. I watched (instead of running for my camera). Ah, that fighter, struggled hard and set one leg free, and then the other leg was free. And then the big bird flew!

So much activity happens every single day, but I'm not home to experience it. So, this evening, I saw peacefully on the chair, and sipped the tea with satisfaction. I'm grateful to the plants, trees, birds, and smaller animals that had brought such peace in me. Our terrace is no longer a barren and hot place. It is now filled with lovely plants and life. That that brings me immense joy. After the remaining construction work gets complete, the terrace will look awesome. Waiting to experience that!

This blog was only words; will share photos in my next blog.

Regards,
Asha

A glimpse of flowers from Norway!

Hello there! It's been a while since I update my blog site. I was visiting beautiful Sweden and Norway. In this article, I shall share photos of flowers from Norway, and let the photos do that talking. :-)

Throughout this month, I shall upload photos of flora and fauna of the Scandinavian countries, and also link them to my travelogue. Well, I wonder how many days or months I'll take to document my visits. Oh, such lovely countries they are; with friendly people!

Let's say Hello to Glenda, Nick, and other gardeners, by visiting their Fertilizer Friday and Floral Friday Fotos.

Have a fantastic weekend.

Regards,
Asha

Floral and Fertilizer Friday - April 20, 2012

What a busy week it has been! Thank God, it's Friday. I can spend some quality time with my plants over the weekend. My plants are growing well, and resemble good children who require very less monitoring. The plants have new shoots, leaves, and buds; a good sign, indicates that they are regaining their health. Can you believe that the mango tree had an attack of pests, lost most of the flowers, and hence, we will not have a good harvest this season! All the plants under the tree have been affected too. It's sad, isn't it? Well, the pests are under control now, but I wish they can be removed permanently.

The summer is hotter than the previous year. We have shortage of water and electricity. We are desperately waiting for rains. A few places had showers, but we just had a drizzle. That evening sky displayed lightnings and sounded thunders; however, didn't rain as expected. Enjoyed the pleasant evening, and the intoxicating smell of mud after the summer shower. Oh, wish it rains a couple of times; will do wonders to the city and to the plants! Good thing is that Bangalore's trees are filled with loads of colorful flowers. Pretty sight!

All right, join me to celebrate Glenda's Fertilizer Friday and Nik's Floral Friday Photos! This week's story at my terrace garden is that, surprisingly, a Jowar (Sorghum) plant grew, and had grains. I was waiting for the birds to eat the grains, but no one has touched the grains. Ah, the city life and food seems to have spoiled the birds! The spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) has a flower stalk that has emerged; loved the tiny flowers.

Sorghum grains

Spider plant flower and buds

The hibiscus plants have been blooming flowers almost every day. They seem to love the summer Sun, and of course, sufficient amount of water. The Purple hibiscus plant, which is the most delicate one, has a few new leaves; hopefully, the plant grows stronger and has flowers. I absolutely love that Purple color. The anthuriums, bleeding hearts, lollipop flowers, and others are as pretty as can be. The Fuchsia (Begonia fusioides) plant has it first buds. I'm excited to see the flower bloom - may be tomorrow!

Fuchsia (Begonia fusioides)

Guess what these are? Oh, they are ripened Yellow peppers! :)

Happy, happy weekend!

Regards,
Asha

Fertilizer Friday - April 06, 2012

Flaunting flowers on this Friday; participating in Glenda's Fertilizer Friday and Nix's FloralFridayFoto!

Today is my mother's birthday, and these flowers are for her (though virtually). We visited her and pampered her. She cut a cake, and we ate it all. :-)

Choco chip cake

Many flowers have bloomed today at the garden. However, posting only a few photos (, basically, to avoid repetition of photos of similar flowers).

Sunsets are beautiful during summer, especially when there are a few clouds on the sky. Here's a glimpse of the sky during sunset.

Enjoy your Easter weekend!

Regards,
Asha