Uncategorized – Love for Gardening

See what bloomed in my garden today

The plant is called Gaping Dutchman’s Pipe. What a complicated name! They should have just called it a Bird vine!!

I saw this plant first when I went to GKVK, a very popular and very big agricultural college near my house. And it was love at first sight! I had never seen a flower like this!

And then I saw it again and again, whenever I went there. And once, I saw a ripe fruit that was rattling, which meant that the seeds inside were ripe enough. Without hesitating, I lifted it, er… I mean, I plucked it off the plant very gently.

Never thought it would grow in my garden. I saw a long vine going helter-skelter, climbing on all the plants a few weeks back, but I didn’t know what the plant was. Thought it was a vegetable.

Came back from Christmas vacations and saw these beautiful flowers. So proud of my little garden for having produced a flower that I have seen very very rarely!

Here are some more pictures that were taken at GKVK agricultural college, Bangalore.

See the little basket the plant produces to hold numerous black, flattened seeds.

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The elusive plant

I have a website, www.greencoverinitiative.com, a Covid-time initiative, which is a catalog of plants and trees around us. I currently have around 500 species listed there, and it continues to grow:)

There is this one plant I noticed first in Goa, growing in the wild. I have 4 plant identification apps on my phone, and none of them gave a good answer as to the botanical name of this plant. Also, noticed the same plant growing in the wild EVERYWHERE, in Thrissur, Kerala.

I am part of a Google group, which has many experts in botany, who help with identifying plants. I posted there too, and the answer I got was Ampelocissus latifolia or Wild grapes.

Reached out to a couple of personal contacts, and I got the name Merremia vitifolia or Grape-leaf wood rose.

Now, Ampelocissus latifolia produces small purple grape-like fruits, and Merremia vitifolia produces yellow flowers. I have been observing this plant from June to Dec 2024, and it has not, so far, produced any flower, fruit, or seed.

When I went to Kerala this Christmas holidays (Dec 2024), my husband Seby and I went for morning or evening walks on most days. And I kept seeing this plant, mocking me with it nameless-ness.

I have also asked my relatives to keep a lookout for this plant, whether it will flower, or fruit, or reveal any other signs that would help me identify it. Anybody here who can help me ID the plant? HELP!!

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Love for Hibiscus

I love Flowering plants. Though my terrace garden does not get sunlight for 4-5 months a year (due to the unique position of our apartment) and I am supposed to grow leafy plants, I cannot get over my love for flowers.

I was a big fan of roses for a while. But those roses you get from nurseries are so fussy. Sometimes, they just die in the first two weeks. Sometimes, they live a little longer, but do not flower much.

If they turn out healthy and start producing beautiful new leaves, worms and pests come and eat up the leaves, buds, flowers and whatever else they can get their evil teeth on.

After all my experiments with roses, I have now switched allegiances and moved to Hibiscus.

Here are my reasons:

1. They flower all the time, even if there is less sunlight.
2. They come in beautiful shades like white, yellow, pink, orange, peach, red, maroon, and a mix of colors.
3. When there are pest infestations on new buds or leaves, you can just spray them away with water.
4. Their flowers and leaves have medicinal uses and are exceptionally good for the hair.
4. They are very very pretty.

So I have made my case. If you love flowers like me, and have had enough of fussy flowering plants, I recommend you switch to Hibiscus.