Spring time in my Garden -3

Hibiscus, also known as Rose Mallow, Shoe Flower, China rose is a very beautiful flower and quite common in India, especially in South India. These are grown for their showy and colourful flowers and also as shrubs in the garden. These are evergreen shrubs and flower through out the year. 

They require very less maintenance except for lots of pests and bugs. They also flower abundantly, hence hit with us Indians and other countries, like China, Hawaii and Korea etc....They contain many species which are both annual and perennial varieties. 

These are known as Japakusuma or Japa Pushpa in Sanskrit, Mandaaram in Telugu and GuDDhal in Hindi. These flowers are offered to Lord Ganesha, Kali or Durga, Shiva and Sun God as their favorite flowers. In general used as offering to any gos or goddess in our homes.

I prefer the local varieties to the hybrid ones. The hybrid ones give big flowers in many colours but they don't have the beauty of the local ones.

 This is only one hybrid variety I have as it was gifted to me.

 This is baby pink multi petaled one.

 This is lemon yellow multi petaled one.

This is a different shade of yellow, shade of sandal wood.

 This is lavender coloured multi petaled one.

Below are two varieties of orange colured flowers

  .

 This is tomato red coloured one

The one above is darkest red flower, which is not clear in the pic.
This one below is the single petaled local variety mostly in red, white and light pink colours. But the red one is most popular.

Here is my flower basket for Puja(daily prayers) filled with flowers form my garden.

Hibiscus, is used in ayurveda as it has medicinal properties. Tea made out of these flowers is quite popular in many countries. Paste of these flowers and its leaves, applies to hair make them long, lustrous, healthy and black colour. So women from South India use this as a hair tonic.

Watch out for more.......

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Spring Time in my Garden - 2

Here are the Roses. 

 This is the climber which gives out bunches of flowers.

This is a marble shaded one, a new entrant...

Roses bloom round the year, but do well in mild winters and early summer. I have climbers, button or miniature roses as well as other varieties. Mostly these are hybrid ones and don't have fragrance or have a very mild fragrance. The local varieties of dark pink, white and pale yellow ones have strong smell.

Earlier I had nearly 25 different shades of these roses. But now, I have very few left. I am trying to build up my garden again. But in summer with water problems, it is  very difficult to save these plants.

These plants require lot of care, especially with pests. But still must in every garden. Don't you think so?

Watch out for more.....

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Springtime in my Garden-1

Its flowering time in my garden. Before the summer sets in fully, we are enjoying the riot of colours in the garden. Here is a glimpse of bougainvillea. 

This is the multi petalled one in a shade ranging from pink to orange.

This one is the classic dark pink one.

This one is the single petaled, pink-orange shade.

Though growing in pots, being trained for Bonsai, they bloom at the beginning of summer. If proper care is taken, they will bloom through out the summer season. This is one hardy plant, actually vine with spikes, which can be grown in pots, or as fences or as climbers. They bloom in a variety of colours and the flowers are single, double or multi-petaled. 

They are ornamental plants because of their colourful blooms and can be trained or cut in various shapes. They are easy to grow, as they require very little water. Thier growth varies from slow to fast, depending upon the variety of the plant. With frequent fertilisation, and if grown in plenty of sun light, they bloom well. 

They can be reproduced through cuttings. There are nearly 300 varieties of these plants.

This is a good plant for novices and  beginners in gardening as well as for Bonsai enthusiasts.

Keep an eye on my blog for more......

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Jade Bonsai

Hi Friends, It is getting hotter here. The day temperatures are rising day by day. So we are on our way to summer. Now and then we are having some cloudy days with a few showers of rain.

I was not able to take as much care of my garden as I planned for. So Now I am hurrying up with the last leg of gardening that I can carry out before the onset of summer. I still have a bit of sprucing up to do.

Thank God! because of the showers, the plants are able to survive the temperatures. Next week as we will be celebrating our New Year Ugadi, Mother Nature is gearing up with new, shoots, flowers and fruits to welcome it.

Well do you remember the Jade Bonsai, I had? 

Well I lost it, last summer, when I was not able to take care of it with my ill health. It is really tragic, when you loose one of your plants. But in spite of proper caring, we still loose some.

I once again bought two little jade plants. One of them I made like this.

The other one is still in training pot. The above plant is also still very small. But it already looks like a miniature tree after pruning and shaping it. Still it needs time to grow into a proper Bonsai.

Well I am keeping my fingers crossed for a round of showers, so that my garden will get some respite from the heat....

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Rangoli-308

WELCOME MR OBAMA

Here is my special Rangoli for the Republic Day and Ratha Sapthami:

This 27 dots 7 times to 7 dots- straight dots.

Here is a closer look.

This is my Original creation. Please don't copy or download this and post on your sites as your own. If you want to share please link here.

Since it is republic Day and our guest for the parade is Mr Barack Obama, President of USA, I have designed this Rangoli with, Indian flag, our national flower- Lotus, our national fruit-Mango, USA's  flag and their national flower-Rose.

So WELCOME MR OBAMA

The toffees near the flags are the orange flavored ones which (I remember in my child hood days) were distributed to children after flag hoisting in our schools.

The rising sun you see is not only the new beginning in Indo-US relationship but also because today is Ratha Sapthami. Flowers are our offerings to Sun God.

The butterflies are keeping in with the festive spirit.

Hope you like this

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY......

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Rangoli-307

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Rangoli-306

23 dots 5 times to 5 straight dots.

Sorry for such a bad picture. At present I can't do better than this.

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Rangoli - 305

Here is Rangoli for Bhogi

21 dots 3 times to 3 dots - straight dots

Try this

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Ribbon Embroidery

Hi friends!

Its been long time. Well let me wish you a belated Happy New Year. 

Like every year, this year  I have made resolutions. Let us see how much I can implement them. 

Here is my ribbon work completed at last. I have used satin ribbons and threads or floss (cotton -stranded, pearl and silk  thread). The back ground is unbleached cotton fabric circular in shape.

This was my first attempt at ribbon work, one of my old projects started but not finished. it was difficult for me to stitch on the fabric as the fabric was very thick. But I have completed it at last. I took this up as a test project to learn the stitches and gain some experience before taking up silk ribbon embroidery. 

I wanted to use as many stitches as possible. This was one of my projects where I began without any planning or sketch and just went on adding the motifs, as I proceeded with my embroidery. I love this way as it gives me more freedom to be creative. 

Please do leave your comments and criticisms. I would like to know how I have done this.

Oh! by the way can any one tell me where to get Silk Ribbons for embroidery in India? I would be grateful if you can give me the address please.

Watch out my blog for more........

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Rangoli-304

This is a simple 5X5 block. Four of such blocks have been joined here. You can join any number of such blocks and make it a bigger design. You can join continuously or alternatively leaving a gap in between as shown above. 

This can be used for puja also especially Ganesh or Lakshmi puja or for any other puja. 

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Rangoli-303

Here is a chain Rangoli.

This is 21 dots in the center, then, 19, 17, 15 dots -5 times then 5, 3, 1 -on either side.  Just look at the design and  the dot pattern will be  clear.

Start from the center or start from one of the sides and proceed to the center. This is very simple and easy but looks big enough. If you space out the dots it will be much bigger.

You can use colour powders for drawing instead of the traditional white powder since it is difficult to colour these chain Rangolis.

I drew it in haste, so it is not neat. Sorry for that. 

Watch out for more........

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Rangoli

Friends due to some personal problems, I could not post Rangolis as promised. I am sorry for the disappointment. Though I have created the Rangolis well in advance, I could not post them. I know that now only a few days are remaining for the Pongal festival.

But now, I am going to post some designs shortly. Please bear with me. 

Do keep an eye on my blog please.....

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Rangoli-302

Welcome to the Rangoli Fest

Dhanurmaasam has started from today. So, we South Indians celebrate this month till Sankranti or Pongal as Rangoli Festival. I am sorry friends, I am posting so late. Of late I am not feeling well. 

But from today I will post Rangolis for this entire one month. Here is the first one.

It is 15 to 1 straight dots. Umbrellas and hats. 

Keep an eye on my blog for more.....

Please do spread around the word about my Rangolis and if possible link back to my blog so that many people can use this. Please don't post my Rangolis on your site with out my permission. Most of these are my own Rangolis. 

Hope you respect my request.

While drawing the Rangolis, please chant the name of the Lord. Any name or mantra will do like Govinda, Narayana, Vasudeva, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaayaa, Om Namo Naaraayana etc..... 

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Inchies Sampler-Square 10

In my sampler for Square-9, the theme was rain-heavy downpour of continuous or intermittent showers for long periods of time ranging from 1-2 days to nearly a week or so. So I embroidered an umbrella. 

Well there also days, when it is partly cloudy sky with showers now and then and suddenly you see a rainbow as the Sun appears for a brief visit. You feel so happy when you find a rainbow in the sky. Whether one is young or old, every one loves a rainbow.

In India we call the rainbow as Indra Dhanush. Indra is God of thunder and Lighting. He is also the King Of Devas and rules the Heavens. Dhanush means a bow. So Rainbow is known as Indra's Bow.

A rainbow may mean different things in different cultures and religions. But in general, it symbolises, love, peace, happiness, divinity, creativity, harmony, expansion and so many things. We hear about "the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow". Rainbow and its colours also mean, our dreams, hope and aspirations. 

So I choose this as my theme for my square no 10. I first wanted to do a simple one rainbow across the sky.

But somehow I felt that the square looked empty so I added the rest-clouds, trees, green grass and flying birds. Here it is

It is difficult to stitch something so small. It is a real challenge. I have mostly used pearl threads and cotton stranded floss for clouds. I used all the seven colours of VIBGYOR. 

During the monsoons, for the first few showers, the clouds carry lot of dust particles and look brownish to muddy in colour. So I added a little bit of brown to the clouds.

Hope you like it.

More to come in my next posts....

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Inchies Sampler-Square9

I have jumped to Square 9 now. Square 5 to 8 I will do it later.

Well, the Indian Calendar months of Sravana (5th month-July to August) and Bhadrapada (6th month-August to September) form the major part of rainy season. During these months, there will be heavy to light showers. Sometimes it keeps on drizzling for three-four days. 

After the hot summers, these rains give relief. But the continuous raining is sometimes very difficult for us city folks. Slushy roads, heavy traffic jams, overflowing gutters, slippery roads, very humid climate, power cuts if there are heavy rains and winds have to be dealt with in cities. 

In villages, the farmers are very happy to start their farming work. It is a relief for them and their cattle after a long dusty hot summers. Drinking water and water for farming activities is available only when the local water bodies like wells, rivers, rivulets, lakes, ponds are filled with these rains. There is greenery every where. 

So this is my 9th square:

We have to take out umbrellas to go out in case of the showers. I have used pearl cotton  no 8. The stitches I have used are detached chain, chain stitch, detached button hole and raised satin stitch(actually I have worked slating straight stitches two layers, one upon another for the handle).

Hope you like this. Please do drop in and leave any comments or suggestions. I will be more motivated to finish this early :).....

Keep a watch on my blog for more in my next posts..... 

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Inchies Sampler-Square4

Sorry I could not post for the past few days. It was raining very heavily here. With the festivals and other personal matters to attend to, I could not post my sampler.

Here is square no 4. When there are lots of flowers in my garden(Square-3), it is but natural that there will be butterflies too. Beautiful colourful butterflies, keep visiting my garden through out the day. I have been sharing their visits with you. However, a little glimpse one more time.

So this inspired my 4th square.

Butterflies hovering over flowers. Sorry for the bad quality of the picture. I tried my best but could not get a better one.

I have completed around 7 squares. but sometimes, when I look back at some squares, I feel I need to add more. Any way, I will keep you posted about my WIP of this sampler.

Keep an eye on my blog.....

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Inchies Sampler-Square3

So here is Square-3.

As the season progresses, after a few showers, the plants and trees recover from the dusty hot summers. The new shoots and leaves give way to buds and flowers. The gardens, plains, forests and mountains are dotted with colourful flowers. Even the wild flowers at the roadside are so beautiful to look at. It looks as if Mother Earth(Nature) is smiling at the showers and cool climate through the flowers.

One can enjoy various fragrances of these flowers brought in by the winds.

My garden too becomes colourful with various flowers....

 Hibiscuses in various colours....

  Bunches of roses .....

 The Rain Lilies 

Since Nature is giving so much, it is time to say Thank you to the Lord, by offering flowers during our daily prayers.....

So inspired by the riot of colourful flowers, I chose this subject for my sampler....Hope you like it.

Keep an eye on my blog, for there is more to come....

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