Jasmine in My Garden

Since two days it is hot here. The rains have stopped.  Just a few showers in the evening. So it is pleasant to work in the garden, early in the morning or in the evenings. Here is one type of Jasmine. I think it is double Jasmine.

Here are the flowers.

The plant is still in the thick polythene cover I bought from the nursery. But it is flowering profusely. You can see the buds.

I am yet to plant it in my garden. It is better to plant it in the ground, if we want lot of flowers. All jasmines are excellent creepers. But it can be cut and controlled as a bush. 

I already have four types of Jasmines. This is one more addition.

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Rain Lilies in My Garden

Every Monsoon season, with the first few showers of rain, these small but beautiful flowers appear suddenly overnight as if bursting out from the earth. They are known as Rain lilies, Fairy Lilies, Rain Flowers, Magic lilies Zephyr Lilies or Atamasco lilies. 

Zephyranthes as they are known technically, are a species belonging to the Amaryllis family. The name is derived from Zephyrus- the Greek god of the west wind, and Anthos- meaning flower. As far as I have seen them, they are available in colours of white, yellow and pink- may be in different shades within the same colour. 

You can know about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zephyranthes 

These are perennial bulbs which can withstand very hot summers of our South India. They completely disappear during the summer months and with the first showers, spring back to life, filling the garden with beautiful small flowers, swaying gently on their slender stalks. 

They can be propagated easily from bulbs. But even seeds can also be used as I have seen.

I used to have all the three colours. But they spread so much that we kept on weeding them out. Now I am only left with yellow ones. I think I will plant the other colours too. Here is a glimpse of these flowers.

They spread like wild fire and it is difficult to dig out the bulbs from nooks and corners of the garden. Still, I love these flowers when grown in posts or beds as they make a very colourful display.

I am busy with my garden. It requires a lot of work as I have been neglecting it for long. Part by part I am reclaiming and redoing it. Mostly my trees and bushes have been pray to termites. So it is really sad to see the plants/trees die away after being in the garden for long time. We are not able to completely eradicate the termites. So i am again plating those lost plants. 

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Rangoli-301

Vara Lakshmi Vratam Special

Friends, I know you are all eagerly waiting for this Rangoli. This is for Vara Lakshmi Vratam going to be celebrated on Friday the 8th. 

This Rangoli can be drawn for this entire month of Sraavanam, specially for Tuesdays and  Fridays.

No Of Dots: 19 in the central row, straight dots, 17, 15, 13, 11, 11, 7, 5, 3, 1 on either side of the center row. You can see them in the pic above. You can also colour the center part too. I have kept this very simple as we do have many things to do on the Puja day.

I have used the Kalsh as the main theme, since we use Kalash during the Puja. Swastika and Lotuses and flowers are liked by Goddess Lakshmi and Gauri alike. The center is Ashta Dala Padma or 8 petaled Lilly or Lotus. I have used yellow(Turmeric), red(Kumkum) and green(leaves) colours denoting the sowbhyagya and auspiciousness. The pots are coloured terracotta colour since earthenware pots are considered best.

Hope you like it. Happy Celebrations and May Goddess Lakshmi bless all of us with health wealth, sowbhagya and abundance.

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