Evening primrose, climbing snapdragon and gardenia florida

Spring is coming to an end in Lahore and coming heat wave is having its toll on the spring flowers. On the other hand, the semi tropical perennial flowers are coming to their own. This year i grew many perennials from seed. Not common in lahore, i took they risk whether they will grow good in lahore or not. Some produced excellent results. Here are some of those:

Evening primrose, Oenothera pallida "innocence", seeds bought from Chilten seeds UK. Flowers are very fragrant citrus spice and bloom in mid day. They last few days. They are supposed to be a perennial plant in lahore and other hot climates. I hope they survive our hot summers and prove to have a permanent position in my fragrant garden.


Another rare climber i grew from seed and it flowered only after 8 months is, climbing snapdragon. This is asarina purpurea seeds from Sunshine seeds Germany. seeds are small but germination was good. It produces hundreds of buds on a small plant. I hope it will prove to be a perennial in my hot climate too.

This gardenia although not grown from seed but a very fragrant and prolific blooming gardenia florida i have. There are many cultivars of this common gardenia and this one seems to be "Heaven scent". Gardenias likes bright shade and not much direct sun light. They also need humid air and an acidic soil to thrive. Most healthy gardenias have green leaves.

Garden Of Mr Waheed Malik in Lahore

Waheed malik is a very experienced and skilled gardener of Lahore. He is very passionate in growing almost all forms of plant kingdom including cactus, succulent, bonsai, bulbs, climbers etc. He grows hundreds of Amaryllis bulbs on his rooftop and has some rare collection of amaryllis family bulbs. I had the honor to visit his garden and learned a lot of things from him. Let me share some of the flowers blooming at his farm house and one of his gardens.
Wisteria flowering at his farm house. This is one of many types of wisterias he is growing.
This is a bulbous plant which is not common in Lahore. It is a perennial in lahore and has wonderful fragrance. This is Ipheion uniflorum 'Wisley Blue' It is from allium family.
This is amaryllis papilio, a rare amaryllis in lahore, flowering on his rooftop.


This is one of many clematis vines grown in his garden. They do not give profuse flowering but do grow fine and flower regularly.
A lot of dutch Iris. He is also growing lousiana Iris and Tall beard Iris, both of which grow very well in lahore.
This is a flower of some cydonia. Cydonia is relative of prunus and has many varieties which are grown in lahore. He has more than one cydonia i believe.
He is growing Euphorbia in masses.All planted in soil bed. They give a spectacular look indeed.
This is yellow Tabebuia. Tabebuia is from Tecoma (Bignonia) family tree and there are lots of color available in lahore. It is one of many Tabebuia he is growing.

This is prunus growing at his farm. Not sure how much fruits it produces but it looks beautiful.
The pictures above show a glimpse of what he is growing. There are lots of plants i did not cover just because they were not in bloom. I will try to capture more flowers from his garden in coming months will share with you. I will also cover more private gardens of lahore in next few posts. Your feedback will be highly appreciated.

Annual flower show Lahore 2013

Details of Annual spring flower show in lahore for year 2013 are as follows:
Venue: Bara dari Gate, Bagh-e-Jinnah Lawrence gardens lahore
Date: March 23 - March 31, 2013

This year exhibition is better than previous year. The fountains add a very beautiful element to the flower show. PHA and HSP has really put a very impressive effort. Do visit the show.

Heliotropium arborescens and Hyacinth flowers

Heliotropium arborescens "marine" is a a very fragrant compact annual/perennial flower. Flowers cover the whole plant and vanilla fragrance is very strong. I bought seeds from chilterns seeds UK and sowed the seeds in October 2012 and it germinated in November 2012. It started flowering in March 2013. An annual in cold areas but tender perennial in warm climates like mine. Not sure how it will handle the extreme summer heat and monsoon humidity but the fragrance is really worth it. I will save seeds if it forms seeds.

Talking of fragrant flowers, Hyacinth is very fragrant spring bulb. It grows very good as annual in lahore. It is also successfully forced in special water jars. It is amazing that each color of hyacinth has unique fragrance. Sometimes hyacinth gives second flowering stalk too but that it not often. Hyacinth bulb is not worth saving for next year and must be bought again.


For more macro pictures, visit Lisa's Chaos