In Art Lies My Heart

Roses

2011-04-29T14:17:00.000+05:30

As recently published in The Pâdapa Times, I am in love with roses. With the spring in, I thought it’s right time to introduce some to Plantville. Well, today is the day of few words, so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

I have no idea what cultivars these roses are - thanks to people at nursery who are not concerned about all that silly (according to them) details. I wish I knew their names - I mean their individual identities.

(The roses did appreciate the recent spring showers)

The Pâdapa Times

2011-04-25T16:39:00.000+05:30

I am excited to announce the publishing of The Pâdapa Times. The Senior Editor, Ms Pratika Redleaf, of Plantville has been planning this for long but she finally came to me with her first article few days ago and I was excited and thought our green friends and we would be interested in what happens in the green world. So here were are: the first publication of The Pâdapa Times. If you’re wondering, what Pâdapa (pronounced Pa as in part, da as in the (dha) water, pa again as in part) which means plants in sanskrit, so it’s The Plant Times to translate it literally.

(Click on the image to enlarge it)

The Green Romantic Lay

2011-04-11T19:32:00.000+05:30

It bechanced in the Autumn of last year in a little green city of Plantville. The fall of the city was not yet conceived at that time, when butterflies loved visiting the city and reveled in its beauty.

It was then that the most unlikely event bechanced – the love of the immortal (perennial) and the mortal (annual). The love between them was magical though. The moment both saw each other, the air was charged with love.

Ms rosa-sinesis fell for Mr annuus' charm.

(Sunflower - Helianthus annuus - Sûryamukhî)

In his quirky talks and charming manners, Hibiscus felt young again.

Never was there a day that they fought with each other and were the perfect couple of Plantville.

Hibiscus' friends counseled her, tried to speak sense into her but her love for him was blind. Honey couldn't see her friend doing this to herself.

(Cape Honeysuckle - Tecomaria capensis)

She coaxed lovely mortal dames to court sunny, but his love for Hibiscus could not be broken!

(Eggplant - Solanum melongena - Hingula)

(Cypress Vine - Ipomoea quamoclit - Kâmalatâ)

One night, when their lord (moon) was radiant and full and the auspicious constellations were bright and fair, the young lad proposed to the wise beauty.

She felt rejuvenated. Delight filled every cell of her and she bloomed crazily, showing her assent.

(Hibiscus - Hibiscus rosa-sinesis - Prâtikâ)

Then was it decided that the two would be married. The divine knots would be tied. Priest Bee was called, friends and kin were invited.

(Arabian Jasmine 'Grand Duke Of Tuscany' - Jasminum sambac var. 'Grand Duke Of Tuscany' - Jâtî)

(Bride Whirling Butterfly - Gaura lindheimeri 'The Bride')

Lady Autumn wove a lovely robe for her daughter and Athel Summer adorned his son with exquisite garments.

(Ixora [Jungle geranium] - Ixora coccinea)

Gerbera sang a lovely tune

(Gerber daisy - Gerbera Jamesonii)

and the Oleanders danced about.

(Oleander - Nerium oleander - Karavîra)

The butterflies too put a show.

The Priest Bee began chanting the incantations

and came around the city.

He wanted to know if anyone had any objections in this divine union.

(Holy Basil - Ocimum tenuiflorum Linn. - Tulasî)

(Amaryllis Lily - Hippeastrum hybrid)

None looked up except the Old Hag (one of the oldest denizen of Plantville who claims that she's been alive for aeons). Wise one that she was, she remained silent, not wanting to meddle with the ways of Fate.

(Arabian Jasmine 'Maid of Orleans' - Jasminum sambac var. 'Maid of Orleans' - Jâtî)

Finally, Priest Bee declared them Husband and Wife and he said, "May the Man kiss his Bride!"

Everyone applauded for them and thus the perfect couple were married.

Nights rolled by clock ticked away, but the couple couldn't make a child. Everyone suggested that they consult the Old Hag about it and they did so, only to hear, "Your Fate is sealed!"

Hibiscus cried and sought the Priest Bee's help, who tried to help them.

Hibiscus could never bear Sunflower's child. Sun dawned and set many times and she knew that the fate that the Old Hag was talking about was nigh.
Sunny showed signs of wither. Hibiscus nursed him and tried to make his departure easy. She eased his old age pain with her tears.

She lamented for she couldn't borrow her youth to him, but such was thedesign of their creator.

As designed the handsome Sunny soon left Plantville as he'd served his assigned time in his mortal Being. Weep she did not, on that day, but held her calm. From then on, she'd bloom crazily starting from his birth day, until the coming of Athel Winter, in his honor.

Update on the larvae

2011-03-28T15:59:00.000+05:30

Finally, I was successful (well, not completely, but I’ve never come this far ever) in following a larva’s growth.

The orange one with spines and tentacles grew into a beauty, with lovely white and black stripes and looked healthy.

The tiny guy that I picked off the Adenium bud was not to be seen, but the next day, I found him grown to about one and half or so inches long

and looking good.

A bit of googling told me that it could be Oleander Hawk Moth – let’s see…

(Damn! This guy has almost destroyed the plant in just two days!)

The orange spiny looked well the next day too

But the next day, I found him like this.

It didn’t look right to me, but I didn’t want to disturb and left it like so. Later that evening I found it in the same position. I was afraid that he might have already breathed out his last breath. I nudged him with a leaf – nothing happened. No resistance or movement of any sort… Oh My God! That was bad, as I prayed that it be a Gulf Fritillary that I’ve spotted in my neighborhood. [SIGH] So that’s the end of it…

But the green one is growing well and today morning he chomped off my Adenium plant completely. I never forecasted that he’d have such a huge appetite!

I transferred him to the Oleander and when I drove back home for lunch, I rushed upstairs to check on him and the hungry rascal climbed to the top of the plant, happily perching over the Oleander buds. Now, that’s no good, yes, I want him to grow but not at the expense of losing my dear Oleander.

(Looks like an alien, doesn't he?)

I plan to put him in a pot full of oleander leaves. Hope he likes it and that way my Oleander would be away from peril too.

I will keep you all posted about his growth. I pray my dear Adenium sprouts leaves. It’s a gift from my dear friend and I don’t want to lose it!!!

Ideas for giveaway

2011-03-22T12:27:00.002+05:30

Giveaway

"...By the ways, to celebrate my comeback after long to my garden blog and the starting of a new Knitting and Crochet blog, I decided to do something special. I want to host a giveaway of patterns/final products. I need your suggestions. What would you like me to make? You may send links to photos that you’d like me to crochet or knit or just describe them to me.

It would take a while before I give them away as I gotta design them and knit/crochet. It’s gonna be fun!"

You don't have to be a knitter or a crocheter to suggest ideas for this giveaway.

My Knitting and Crochet Blog

2011-03-21T13:54:00.001+05:30

I finally am out with my knitting and crochet blog that I’ve been talking about. Those interested can follow this link: Cables and Posts
I’d also host giveaways there, so keep checking. Have fun! Go yarn!

Indecisive…

2011-03-20T20:41:00.001+05:30

It’s great to work with plants and soil and his week has been productive – slightly. I wish I get extra time, like an extra twenty four hours in a day to get all my projects done. [SIGH] Anyways, I still have few plants to be repotted with cocopeat.

I’ve been having a strange someone digging my pots off late which would cause serious damage to my plants. Thank God they weren’t fatal, but my heart would break every time I see a plant flopped to a side with one of its branches cut, and the soil mix spread on the floor! Fury would run up my nose and out my ears and I’d so badly want to wring that strange someone’s neck of its head!!

I thought it was the squirrels as I had them creating disaster in the past and tried spraying chilli + garlic + onion extract which did the trick in the past, but the episodes continued no matter what. It would sometimes stop few days and again I’d find a planter or two desecrated. I thought it was the rats by their droppings but the garlic extract should have worked on them I thought. So I tried moth balls and toilet cleaner, which worked for a day or two and the episode continued…

Today when I went to water my plants, I found a HUGE garden lizard run away from behind my hibiscus pot. I saw that that pot was dug – shallowly. Nearby, this poor rose plant was half-uprooted and flopped onto one side. I immediately set her right and secured her well back into the soil.

Now, I’ve never heard of garden lizards causing havoc. My understanding was that they were gardener’s friends. Do garden lizards dig the soil? Or was (s)he hunting for insects n the soil? But how did s(he) manage to get the rose uprooted? Beats me…

Or, could it be that it is a she and she was finding a spot to lay her eggs or hide her food? May be this is the first time s(he) visited my garden and it was not him/her in the past? I don’t know how to save my planters now. I am confused. I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Well, I also discovered this buddy feeding on my Adenium today.

Do you see him? No? Here's a closeup.

This Adenium was the one gifted by my friend two years ago on my birthday. Would this buddy destroy my Adenium?

Anyone know what kind of caterpillar this is? Do I let him be? Because I don’t want my Adenium destroyed, but I am not ready to kill a future butterfly either.

While taking a closeup of this guy, I discovered a teeny one in another leaf.

Is this guy gonna be a butterfly/moth too? Hope Randy or someone else can identify and help me decide about these two.

Oh, I almost forgot. I saw this guy feeding on my Jasmine last week and I was sure that this was a moth, but not cent percent, but I transferred him to a different pot of Jasmine that was not blooming. I forgot all about him and now talking about the other two, it reminded me of this one too. I hope he survived and became a moth/butterfly. Gotta check tomorrow. I am ashamed to say that I don’t know how long it takes a larvae to become butterfly. Off to Google…