Help Me Caption this Wordless Wednesday Picture/Sketch.

With a little help from Picasa.....

Thank You Dear Friends for your Valuable Suggestions and Help. I truly appreciate your taking the time out to be Creative and think of an apt title for this Picture - Scribbled dense greens, boulders n rocks, grassy patch and amidst them all a sacred building.

Shailja suggested the title - "Where the sun shines soft and warm" .

Thank You Shailja.... I liked the caption very much. .

Here's what  GREEN THUMB, my blogger friend from Saharanpur, India had to say..... "My first impulse on looking at this photograph was to think about the feelings the inhabitant of this house might have, that of oneness with nature and a relative aloofness from rest of the humanity. As the house stands amidst the beautiful natural scenery, I am tempted to caption it - Nature lives here."


Thank You dear Green Thumb....  your heartfelt, descriptive words touched me to the core, with ''Nature lives here".


Many Thanx to Edith Hope and Andrea for their honest words and comment.


Dear Friends,
Pls keep the suggestions coming..... 
Will be great to see n hear what you have to say. 
Thank You,
Radhika @ Evergreen Tree

How well do you know your surroundings?

 It’s a gilding time of the year here in North India as we gear up to celebrate Deepawali - the Indian festival of lights. The autumn air adorns a festive fervor, with a hint of chill….

I sit outdoors gazing up at the sparkling sky above me... pondering on this fundamental Questionnaire about....... ‘How well do I know my surroundings?’

Hmmm….

I am glad I could dwell on some of these Mindful ‘Questions n Answers’…..and share the same here via this blog.

1. What trees grow in your local area? Name n describes five.
The area is well-known for its different varieties of Mango and Litchis.

Neem, Ashoka, Gulmohar, Amaltas, Tamarind n other trees like Fountain Palms etc can be commonly seen flourishing along the urban roadsides.


2. What seasonal flowers are currently blooming in the gardens? Name a few

Portulacas n  Balsam’s then Callendra / Powder puffs, Musanda, Canna’s…n more…

3. Name the most commonly found plant native to your region.

Bougainvillea in an array of colours

4. Name five locally grown fruits, vegetables, respectively.

Fruits: Mango, Litchi, Guava, Banana, Sitaphal / Custard Apple, Bel, Lemon, Cherry, Strawberries
Vegetables: Cabbage, Cauliflower, Ladyfinger, Brinjal / Egg Plant, Spinach, Carrots n more

5. What birds are commonly seen in your region? Name five or more

Myna, Koel, Crows, Parakeet, Robin, Pigeons, Peacock / Peahen n more

6. What other non-human neighbors are native to your area? Name a few

Monkeys, Squirrel, Butterflies, Bees, Grasshoppers, Caterpillars, Ladybirds, Earthworms, Ants, Cockroaches, Spiders, Lizards, Rats, & even snakes.

7. What has happened to your local area environment in the past ten years?

1. Unpredictable weather…. with frequent storms

2. Soaring summer temperatures to as high as 45- 47 degree Celsius

3. Delayed Monsoon with scanty rainfall through the July-Aug.

4. Diminishing Green Cover with Mass Felling of trees

5. Massive Red Stone Structures n Fountains coming up around the city/state
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PS:  Hope you find this basic ‘Q n A’ interesting.......
How about ‘You’ too taking a moment to contemplate and connect with your surrounding environment?

Answer the following set of Questions & Share your observations n awareness ‘with me and all your friends, via your blog.

Looking Forward to ‘Getting to Know You n Your Surroundings’ better !

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Mixed Landscape

Plants used:

Curly Ficus, Ficus long island, China Lime, Golden Durranta accesserised with Lal Bhaji n Spider Plants etc.

A Dream Comes True....

For most people, their first encounter with bonsai is probably in a local garden nursery, but my first brush with this fascinating miniature representation of a tree came during a flower show at the Alipore Horticulture Garden in Kolkata about five years back. Back then, as a post graduate management student, it was love at first sight with Bonsai, when in between lectures; I found time to visit the flower show with my friends.

A chance meeting with Mrs Santosh Arora, the president of Avadh Bonsai Association, Lucknow and a visit to her Bonsai Garden a few years later, brought back the immensely captivating feeling & the resolve to learn more about the subject. The fact that Bonsai is a work of art, resulting from many years of patient care and constant attention by its owner came to light, by meeting Mrs Arora who has been creating some of the most beautiful Bonsai’s for over 30 years now and who has also been instrumental in starting a Bonsai Club in Lucknow and teaching this extraordinary art to new enthusiasts like myself. 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 and create a much admired Bonsai from an ordinary garden plant.

Even in my wildest dream, I had never thought that one fine day this fascination for Bonsai, would take me all the way to China to attend the BCI 2006 International Penjing, Shangshi Exposition & Convention. Attending the week long convention at the Chencun Flower World, Foshan, provided me the wonderful opportunity to travel with Nita Singh, Suman Agarwal & her spouse, Benu Kalsi, & her spouse from Lucknow & to learn more about the various aspects of this art form, from world renowned Bonsai masters & also meet like-minded enthusiast from different countries, across the world.

Chinese Penjing, or Bonsai, as we call it here in India combines the beauties of nature, art and artistic conception of plants by human beings to create splendid masterpieces appreciated by one and all. The Grand Master Masahiko Kimura from Japan demonstrated his skills on a huge Cypress Penjing while Lindsay Bebb from Australia created the impression of Aged Cypress implementing intricate wiring techniques and advanced carving techniques, using his high powered Bonsai tools.

Qingquan Zhao from China demonstrated his skills working on Fraxinus Chinensis to create a beautiful Shui-han (water and land) Penjing. An advanced group style Penjing by Yun hua Hu and Chun-gang Liu also from Mainland China impressively incorporated the idea of placing a flowing water fountain on the curvaceous marble slate with a group of Hai Nan Flambeau tree ( Bischoffia chunii) Penjing. The picturesque jungle created by them was so natural and harmonious, for a viewer to actually imagine the chirping of the birds amidst the trickling flow of water down a stream and the sashaying of the flambeau trees, in this miniaturized Penjing. Qin-fei Zhu, Singapore created the most amazing piece of art with completely defoliated trees of Wrightia Religiosa (Water Jasmine) placed together in a well balanced group interwoven with rocks of all sizes on a 1.7 mts. long marble slate.

Robert Steven, Indonesia while working on Triphasia Trifolia (wild Lemon) to create a windswept Group Planting on Rock emphasized on the essence of the key word “MOTION”. The movement of wind, gentle or strong and the winds effect on the group of trees and their individual branches and twigs.

Zhong- mingLiu/ Ke-ying Xie demonstrated their skills in creating a Lingnan Penjing on various plants using the clip and grow method, advocated by the Lingnan school of Bonsai (Penjing) from Guangzhou. Han-lian Yang / Song-en Wu also emphasized on few trimming techniques after completely defoliating the plant and later trimming the individual branches, sub branches, step by step while shaping the overall personality of the plant into a beautiful Lingnan Penjing.

The individual lectures on Global Penjing and Evolution of World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF) by its outgoing President, Solita Rosade, Latin America; and on different types of Japanese Suiseki, by Arishge Matsura, Japan are worth mentioning.

It was indeed a Dream Come True…… for a novice like me, to meet our very own Bonsai Masters from India, Jyoti and Nikunj Parekh who are the pioneers of this wonderful art of Bonsai in India. A gala get-together was organized for them with lots of singing, dancing, to celebrate the auspicious occasion of their wedding anniversary in China along with lots of friends from across India.

The trip to china has been truly enriching and worth the while, as I now appreciate the variable splendor of nature in the form of a delicate, lovingly crafted Penjing even more. The knowledge gained & the memories of the convention will definitely linger on in my hearts rendezvous for a long time to come…………..

PS: An abridged version of my write up has been published in Nichin Bonsai 2006.