Mums!

The Chrysanthemums are blooming now. All of them have been grown from cuttings taken from last years Chrysanthemums. My balcony currently has pots of Maroon, White, Mauve and Yellow Mums.
The cuttings are mostly planted in pots on my terrace which gets lots of sunshine. Once the flowers start blooming the pots are taken to my balcony one floor below. A picture of my terrace below.
Some more Mums lining my garden on the ground floor.Thanks to the team at Todays Flowers-Santilli, Denise, Pupo,and Sandy Carlson.

Poinsettias!

I think Poinsettias are instant mood uplifters. As I mentioned in a recent post, recently I bought some Poinsettias for my balcony and now my little balcony garden looks so cheerful with Chrysanthemums, Coleus and Poinsettias.
There are also some in a planter adjacent to my balcony.
Poinsettias(Euphorbia Pulcherrima) are native to Mexico and Central America. They are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first ambassador of US to Mexico, who introduced them to the USA in 1825. Poinsettias are the number one potted plant sold in the United States which is pretty amazing considering they are mainly sold during the Christmas holiday season. They are also called Christmas flower.

In their native habitat they grow as perennial flowering shrubs upto ten feet tall. Contrary to general belief they are not poisonous though their milky white sap can be irritating to people with sensitive skin.

The showy colored parts of poinsettias that most people think are the flowers are actually colored bracts (modified leaves).In the middle of the colored bracts are the actual flowers. When you buy the Poinsettias be sure these are definitely still looking yellowish-green and unopened. It should look like they are just burgeoning. A fresh poinsettia is one on which little or no yellow pollen is showing on the flower clusters in the center of the bracts. Plants that have shed their pollen will also soon drop their colorful bracts.
Poinsettia plants are extremely brittle and should be handled with care to not snap branches. They should be placed in a bright area and kept on the dry side.
Another picture of Poinsettias on my balcony in 2009.

Ornamental foliage..time for a change!

All summer my garden and my balcony have been mostly devoid of flowers. My attempts at growing Sunflowers and Zinnias failed miserably. I needed to see some color and soon! So I went to a nursery and treated myself to some bright red Poinsettias and some brightly colored Coleus.

With foliage colored as brightly as that, who needs flowers?!

The Crysanthemums are peeping!

The Crysanthemums are beginning to bloom and I am getting to see the colors finally! Most of the cuttings were taken from my last years plants. Since I had not marked the cuttings I will only know the colors when they bloom. I think I should have a couple of more colors coming up soon! Count so far - Maroon, Plum, White and Yellow.

Looking forward to a flower filled winter

Its been a long time since I posted. I have been lurking around the blogosphere but feeling plain lazy to post mainly because nothing much was happening in my garden. But now winters are here and I am looking forward to lots of pots filled with flowers!
Last week I bought Dahlia seedlings which are now in their pots.
I am planning to use some cuttings (below) from last years Dahlias too.
The Chrysanthemum pots are coming along nicely and have lots of buds.
The shallow saucer shaped pots are waiting for Pansy and Petunia seedlings. Need to go and get some!
The Amaryllis needs to be trimmed and fertilised soon. I just love the show they put up when in bloom. Last year was a particularly good year and almost all my pots bloomed. I have nearly 50 of them now! Quite a few need repotting coz the pots have broken.

The monkey raid

On the morning of the 14th, as I admired the Asiatic Lillies blooming around me I felt so happy.
These were from bulbs bought last year and I wasn't sure they would bloom. The shoots had shown up very late and I expected the Delhi heat to get them before they would bloom. The ones from fresh bulbs bought this year had bloomed and faded away more than a month ago.
Every morning I would look at the buds expectantly. And then, they bloomed and I was sooo happy!
They were exquisite and I was thrilled...
But my happiness was shortlived. That evening a group of monkeys raided my balcony and pulled off each and every bloom. They did not spare even a single Lilly. There were so many buds waiting to bloom but they snapped off the top of each stem mercilessly. I was aghast at the way they targeted the Lillies. It made no sense to me.
I tried desperately to scare them away from inside the glass door of the balcony. But they were aggressive and charged towards us, leaping at the glass and hitting it. There were three of them running up and down the balcony and the adjoining planter. The monkeys were not in the least bit scared of us. So I just gave up and watched them helplessly while they mauled my Lillies.


It was just horrible. I took these pictures when it was all over. Not what I had envisaged for the GBBD post.

I think I have killed it!

About a month ago I bought this beautiful coleus from a nursery. Its leaves were ruffled with serrated edges and a beautiful bright yellow green color. I loved it immediately and kept it on the sunny edge of my balcony. I thought it loved it there...
Until one day last week when I noticed that its leaves had burned. Delhi in summers gets very hot and the temperatures here are already touching 42 C/108 F and the tiled floor of my balcony gets very hot too. I guess it got too hot for it. I am surprised it happened so fast that I did not notice it . I wish I had kept it in the shade.
And this is what it is looking like now. Though the little leaves at the bottom give me hope I am not sure it will survive...

Lilies!

The Oriental Lilies are blooming..
Thanks to the team at Wordless Wednesday!

Today's flowers-Portulacas

The Portulacas are blooming vigorously and I now have a whole row of pots lining my balcony.
Their brilliant colors are enough to brighten one's day!


My thanks to the team at Today's Flowers for hosting this wonderful event.