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Showing posts with label Garden Wisdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garden Wisdom. Show all posts

Sunday, 26 June 2011

Today's Flower: Sunflower

Whoa! This one is really huge, had to support it with my hand.
Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals.  
Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; 
others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock.  

~Henry Ward Beecher, Star Papers: A Discourse of Flowers


A night shot with some creative effects


Entry for Todays Flower # 149 n Mellow Yellow Monday


Have a Super-Duper weekend!

Monday, 27 September 2010

Saying it with Flowers

The month of September has been rather festive for KEY BUNCH with many of us joining in their September Blog Carnival 
&  SAYING IT WITH FLOWERS….

So let me  take this opportunity (a tad too late though ) to  join in the festivities n wish 
Rekha n Sharon @ Key Bunch
 A Very Happy Second Blog Anniversary!
With Flowers n more Flowers…


Way to go Gals……
Here’s Wishing Many More Happy Blogging days to Key Bunch!

Welcoming Pink Gerbera's ....for the Ladies

The Bouquet - Up close

....Dinner shortly!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***********~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PS:

Here’s my entry, as I also take this opportunity to share …
this teeny tiny pc of ‘CLEAN PLANET’ Nugget of Wisdom

To start with we can keep our homes, workplace n neighborhood clean and advocate the same while we practice n preach for a noble cause.

1. Don’t Litter, always use a Bin; don’t just spit (the masala) anywhere n everywhere, use a washbasin; also don’t s%@$ on the roadside, use the toilets. ITS BAD MANNERS!

2. Conserve Water, Electricity, Cooking Gas, Paper, Patrol / Diesel, n other resources. THEY are PRECIOUS!

3. Grow n Nurture Plants. Well one could even ADOPT A TREE.

4. Take responsibility n be accountable for your own ‘CLEAN n GREEN PLANET’ , as far as your immediate surroundings are concerned.

Well….
If after reading my WiseNugget, you too wish to share your ‘CLEAN PLANET nugget of Wisdom, in your own space, 
n  DO YOUR BIT……
HURRY!
~~~~~~~~~~~~*******************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PSS:
You could even win A Wise Clean Planet TOTE!
So what are you waiting for…..

Wednesday, 28 April 2010

Wordless Wednesday

~~~~~~~****~~~~~~~

 Please do visit the link above and find out more about 'WORDS THAT INSPIRE'  April Challenge.
Have a great Wednesday ahead....

Sunday, 28 February 2010

Biding Adieu To February...

From EverGreen Tree
February is a very special month in my personal calendar, because of a series of Flower Shows where the Rose and Gladiolus show at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) gives way to the Fruits, Vegetables & Flower Show at Raj Bhawan / Governor House Lawns  then a Flower Show @ E- Park, Mahanagar & lastly at the Surya Officers Institute, here in Lucknow.

It is always a feast for the eyes and a solace for the soul as eager Lucknowites throng to the venue for the show in full strength, over the subsequent weekends. A riot of vibrant colours in all possible shades, make you feel complete and one with nature & your surroundings. Be it Cineraria or Calendula, Ester or Carnations, California Poppys, or Daisies, Roses or Dahlias……& not to forget the Prized Trophies the winners at the show get to take back for their commendable effort to fill our lives with Seasonal flowers, bouquets and garlands of love, respect for nature & also lots of admiration for their work.

Now, Gardening can be a very rewarding and satisfying pastime for any nature lover. Some people would like the wilderness of an unkept garden while others would prefer the tamed, prim & proper look of the balcony or terrace garden. The options are many & can vary from one to another.

Even as a kid, I have always been drawn towards NATURE….its like a strong magnetic pull….. I fail to understand… a countryside farm, a ranch, orchards & vineyards, National Sanctuaries, Mountains or let’s just say a Simple patch of green with flower beds and lots of trees around i.e. Our very own GARDEN at home.

I can probably sit in the garden, lazing around doing nothing at all…. gazing at the sky, watching the birds taking a dip in the water bath or merely chirping away like the seven sisters, an occasional squirrel hopping about, the sashaying of the leaves in the breeze, a butterfly on a Nectar flower and amidst it all the sound of your own heart beat. Sounds like I have all the time in the world to day-dream, isn’t it? 


Hmmm…

I remember my brothers, our friends & I, used to perch ourselves high atop a Guava Tree Branch or a Mango tree or an Amaarak (Star Apple) tree, growing in our backyard, all afternoon after school, giggling, laughing, and munching at the guavas we had managed to pluck for ourselves. We were like a bunch of Carefree Monkeys having a time of our lives, back then. We had even managed to convince my MOM to set up a makeshift wooden swing for us…. hanging from one of the sturdy branches of the tree.

Some Memories!! & what a heavenly, luxurious paradise!!


I was probably still in school, when I planted my first tree ~ A Christmas tree  i.e. Araucaria in our garden along with my father. It stands tall and lofty even after so many years right at the entrance of our house.

From EverGreen Tree

I have learnt to appreciate the finer points and the detailing associated with gardening, with the passage of time. I still don’t know the names of most of the house plants or flowers…. or the nitty-gritty of it all, but learning is an ongoing continuous process. I intend to keep learning and keep enjoying the bounty that nature has to offer, to us all.

This blog would be incomplete without two very important things:-

1. Garden Wisdom

“Kind hearts are the Gardens; Kind thoughts are the Roots,
Kind words are the Flowers; Kind deeds are the Fruits,
Take care of your garden, and keep out the weeds,
Fill it with sunshine, Kind words and kind deeds”

From EverGreen Tree
2. Garden Party

So let’s have a Garden Party and a Colourful, Floral Holi Treat for all from our Garden.

Hope you enjoy the Party ie the slide show as much as I do.




Wishing Everyone a Very Happy n Colourful Holi...

From EverGreen Tree

S~P~L~A~S~!

Wednesday, 10 February 2010

My Name is RED!


Poinsettia's: 
They each, more or less, look like an X- Copy of the other .
- Isn't it???


Some in pastel hues..... 



Some more Variegated Varieties.... 
Showing subtle differences and Unique shading patterns...


 I Love the Reds.....
From EverGreen Tree

Though its a Wordless Wednesday post, I would like to supplement it with a befitting quote by E.E. Cummings....
"The hardest thing is to be yourself in a world that is trying its best, day n night, to make you like everyone else."

Wednesday, 6 January 2010

Two Together....Gracia n Retro 2k9!



I wanna begin the year with Gratitude....Gracias along with Retro… Re-cap of the Year gone past.

I have been around this blogging platform for a good one year now and still feel like a Newbie, exploring and learning, little by little, at a comfortable easy pace...while enjoying the blogsphere experience here thoroughly!

Gracia First....
I would like to take a moment and few words to thank some good friends I met along the way, here in 2009.

Autumn Belle of My Nice Garden Visiting her blog is a constant source of inspiration with amazing photographs, interesting write-ups and information on flora n fauna from Malaysia – Truly Asia!

Tiggerlot, An ex-Journalist, travels widely and shares her travels with all of us here @ The Galloping Gardener. Her blog is like an e-picture book, introducing all readers to the Elegance and Beauty of elite ENGLISH Gardens.

Thank You Ladies for making me feel welcome @ Blogger and at Blotanical. I truly appreciate your taking the time out to stop by and leave kind, encouraging comments!

A Special mention …my friend Rajee Sood, because she is an Interior Designer and not somebody from the Botanical Fraternity though she does have a green thumb herself, loves Plants, Flowers  and Flower Arrangements.

Her Blog Rajee Sood – Styling and Design is a must visit ….as it has been featured in blog adda’s list of 9 best Indian Interior design blogs.

Retro...
Taking a Trip down memory lane, I thought of re-viewing and re-posting the links to some of my blogs from last year. 


You could merely click on the link below...... and take a quick peek-a-boo at some of my fav and  your fav  blogs.... :):)

Garden Party n Some Garden Wisdom
This century old fountain forms the heart of our Garden....



From EverGreen Tree
Small Wonders -Butterfly Blues 
Its such a delight to silently watch these fluttering small wonders of nature, in  vivid colors n patterns and capturing the live moment, makes it all the more memorable later.

From EverGreen Tree

Bonsai - Nature In Miniature @
Tamarind Tree…. Its Shaping n Styling
Have been learning n practicing  the nitty -gritty of  this Art Form, since the last six odd years  now and I still have a long long way to go....

Here are some exclusive Photoblogs....



From EverGreen Tree

" Reflection "
We cannot see our reflection in running water.
It is only in still water that we can see



From EverGreen Tree
Mast Mangoes - Snapshots of a Mango Tree and off course lot of Mangoes!



From EverGreen Tree

More Mangoes - Nawabgunj in Pictures ..


From EverGreen Tree
 Omnipresent Figs .... - These Figs have a tendency to sprout from just about anywhere!

Flower Fiesta!
Needless to say, I have a fascination for Flowers... and all kinds of Flowers and love capturing them through my lens as and when and where I can. Ah! Its a pleasure to share the pictures here and spread the whiff of Fragrance around. ....They add so much of colour and vibrancy to everyday mundane life....so do take a moment and stop by to SMELL THE ROSES FROM THIS E- GARDEN!


From EverGreen Tree


From EverGreen Tree
Flower Fiesta with ....A Rose is a Rose Is a Rose



From EverGreen Tree
Greetings @ Balsam Delights


From EverGreen Tree
Wordless Wednesday – Droplets


Now, thats quite a few Links I have provided you with from last year....Hoping you enjoy this JOY RIDE back in time with my blogs....


Pls do visit and any comment, suggestion, feedback would be more than welcome. Thank You all once again.

Saturday, 2 January 2010

Saying it with Flowers... Hail 2010!



Where flowers bloom so does hope.....Well...so, Lets all HOPE for a Better n Brighter, Blooming n Blossoming year ahead!


The Garden Light with Mums in the Background


Pearly Droplets on Pink Mums


With a little help from Google...Picasa


Can you spot the teeny-tiny gold spider amidst the flowers?


The Garden Lights, the Mushrooms n Mums


Wishing all.... a great year ahead....
with LIVE... BLOOMING Flowers from the garden....


These snaps have been clicked during Christmas...
 Hope you like them!

Photobucket

Friday, 17 April 2009

Tree Talk by Ever Green Tree

North Indian Summers isn’t exactly ‘my-kind-of’ a season......rather it never has been. The fiery glare of the sun burns my tender delicate leaves & desiccates the new set of shoots which are usually formed at the onset of spring. My hardy bark appears shriveled up, while the roots remain parched & thirsty, craving for water. Yet, I survive......battling the odds; because I am an Evergreen Tree.

We plants anxiously await the onset of spring, followed by sunny summers.... but definitely not the scalding, simmering summers wherein the day temperatures vacillate between 44 - 48 degree Celsius, scorching and blistering our leaves.

Merely complaining and voicing my annoyance & my concern about something as trivial as the hot, hotter, hottest, seething summers proffers a rather cooling, refreshing, breezy respite.

Most people do have an option to stay indoors probably in their air conditioned offices and homes when the afternoon sun is directly overhead casting its strongest glare.

But what about us plants?

What about the school children who have to beat the heat probably cycling back on their way home at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon?

What about the rickshaw puller with beady sweat trickling down his brows, pedaling as he ferries people to and fro?

What about the college goers & others like us who have little option but to brave the torturous hot temperature outdoors?

N. Indian Summer weather is fairly UNPREDICTABLE. One moment it could be bright and sunny and the very next moment, a tempestuous gale could rage, turning the sky from bright blue to a blurry pallid golden yellow.

Moreover, A Mid Summer Nightmare lurks, waiting to come alive and haunt city dwellers.... ........What with locality wise power cuts imposed by the electricity board or a major grid break down, ever so often, whenever such a Herculean dust storm hits the city.

Some of my own aged frail green friends face repeated threats of being uprooted by these strong bellowing winds while still others suffer irreparable damages / scars on their bodice. Absolutely Torturous!

I admit, in spite of the freezing cold, I still have a special preference for winters, because of the embellished, ornate feeling of being encircled by a rainbow of colors. The vibrant flush of seasonal FLOWERS, which encircle the evergreens beautifying every speck of the earth, the gardens, the roadside, the wilderness alike.

On the contrary, summers to me, appears Blanched, with Green’s looking more like discolored, scorched, patchy yellows, browns n grey. A rather disheartening sight!

However, one look at the bright yellow flush of the AMALTAS and the resplendent fiery reddish orange blooms of a GULMOHAR is enough to brighten any bland summer day.

Friends, let’s do our bit, and ensure that we all get treated to Bright Colourful Days, all the year round.

I don't want to stray and broach on the dire consequence of rapidly diminishing Green Cover, a major cause for 'Global Warming' , but instead lets make this miniscule effort together to...

Plant a Tree’
Plant a Hope.

Here's....
Wishing all Friends a Kool n Breezy Summer Vacations ahead.....
.
.
PS: Article published in HT City, 13th May, 2009

Saturday, 4 April 2009

IF

Out of the Blue a Poem by Rudyard Kipling.... If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
****
Photograph: White Easter Lily

Saturday, 14 March 2009

Whatever is, is Right....



All Nature is but art, Unknown to thee;

All Chance, direction which thou canst not see;

All discord, harmony not understood;

All practical evil, universal good;

And, in spite of pride, in erring reason's spite,

One truth is clear, whatever is, is right....

Friday, 6 March 2009

Butterfly Blues...




Little Wonders
from Nature




Little yellow butterfly, pretty little butterfly
I cannot catch you, much as I try.
You flit here, you flit there;
You are here, there….everywhere.
You are so light and airy,
Much like a tiny fairy.
You visit each lovely flow’er,
Sip its nectar like a lover.
Oh! What pleasure, Oh! What leisure,
Oh! What leisure in your pleasure.

- Mumtaz F. Kachwalla @ Nichin Bonsai, 02 I 2008



Happiness is like a Butterfly.
You run behind it, it keeps flying away…
But if you stand still,
It comes and sits on your shoulder….
So.....
Lets all stand still for a moment, while savouring the bountiful beauty of Nature n Butterflies!

Here's Wishin all my friends and readers lots n lots of BUTTERFLIES!

PS: The video n photograph was shot by me …sometime last year… while out in our garden.

Sunday, 18 January 2009

To Ma'm With Love....

Lucknow’s got a special Bonsai Artist in Mrs Arora - the Founder President of our Bonsai Association. A warm welcome awaits all guests visiting the Arora House. There balcony garden houses some of the most exotic varieties of Bonsai alongside an immensely captivating wall mural.


Her brush with Bonsai dates back to as early as the 1970s when she started working with India’s best, Jyoti and Nikunj Parekh, Mumbai, who are the pioneers of this art form in India.

She is trained under world renowned Masters like John Naka, Chase Rosade of USA, Peter Chan of UK and others. She has visited Rome in Italy to attend a workshop by Mr. Sandro Signeri, who runs a famous Bonsai School in Italy, while she herself delivered a talk on Indian Bonsai to them. She also attended the World Bonsai Convention in Washington DC last year, along with her husband.

She has also featured in the very popular women magazine FEMINA, with a caption “Grow oranges on the window sill.”

In the last couple of years, that I have known her, she comes across as a wonderful human being, a good administrator and a great teacher who loves to share her immense wealth of knowledge with as many students as possible, coming from all walks of life.

She encourages each one of her student, to Create & Nurture their very own self designed “Nature in Miniature” and pursue this endearing hobby… as an elixir of life.

“Aunty” as she is lovingly called by most of her students is “Our Guru” literally, as she adorns many a feather in her GREEN BONSAI cap.

Today, she is a name to be reckoned with in the pristine world of Bonsai, as she has been teaching this extraordinary art form to enthusiastic plant lovers for over 30 years now.

Just watching her conduct a workshop on Bonsai with such energy and dedication inspires me as well as, all her students to learn more about this vast subject.

The following lines............. are dedicated specially for Aunty on “Teachers Day” ................. on behalf of all her students and members of the Association:-

Guru Brahma guru Vishnu, Gurudevo Maheshwara,

Guru sakshat perbrahma, tasme shree gurve namah


Guru is equivalent to the God Brahma, he is God Vishnu and he is also equivalent to God Shankar. Not only that, but Guru is equivalent to one and only the God and knowing this I salute my Guru.


**** This photo of Mrs. Arora, is taken with a 380 years old pine Bonsai, by Grand Master John Naka, at the National Arboretum, Washington DC. USA

** This is a copy of my article published in Hindustan Times..... supplement HT Weekend LIVE for Teachers Day, in Sept 2006.

Friday, 16 January 2009

Let There Be Light




Kaaraj Hum Rachaye ge,
Yashaskarma Ganpati Jee Maharaj Ko Bulaye ge,
Riddhi Sidhi ko Saath Le, Moodhak per Sawar woh aayege,
Ghar, Aangan, Jeevan, Parivar, Bheshumaar Khushiyoon Se Bhar Jaaye ge
Aaj ke Is Shub Awasar per, Bhet swaroop yeh Ashirwaad Woh Hume De Jaaye ge ..




"May Goddess Saraswati, who is fair like the jasmine-colored moon, and whose pure white garland is like frosty dew drops; who is adorned in radiant white attire, on whose beautiful arm rests the veena, and whose throne is a white lotus; who is surrounded and respected by the Gods, protect me. May you fully remove my lethargy, sluggishness, and ignorance."