Flowers of PC Bhurban - Lobelia, hosta, fuchsia, gazania and daylily

This is the second post in the series of garden flowers of PC Bhurban, Murree hills Pakistan. You can see the previous post covering delphiniums and roses here. As always, feel free to click on the image for full view.

The first one in this post is gazania. Now this is almost a perennial in lahore which is lot hotter than bhurban. It is a very drought tolerant plant and very suitable for hottest of the places in your garden.


Then comes the fuchsia. These are not suitable for hot climates of karachi and lahore. They prefer a cooler weather or at least a temperate one. They can be grown as spring blooming annuals in our southern plains but they do not tolerate the summer heat.


Here is another view from the balcony of PC Burban.


Lobelia, another spring blooming annual in lahore but not a common sight due to the small flowers. It blooms in summer in hilly areas of bhurban and murree hills. Planted in masses, all blue color looks just exquisite. Here is the macro view

Another view of lobelia flowers.


Hosta or plantain lily, grown rarely in plains at least in lahore. It is a bulbous plant famous for growing in shade. Its foliage is perhaps more pretty than its flowers and the is the main attraction.


There are some species which can be grown in lahore and other subtropical climates. But it is a plant not well explored here in plains. Does not come true from seed and does not flower early from seed, best propagated through division and not easily available as well.


Last in this post is the daylily. There are many cultivars of this beautiful and east to grow plant. If there is one bulbous plant which can well endure the heat of lahore then it is no other than daylily. In Pearl continental hotel Bhurban there are many varieties of daylily are planted. This was my personal favorite.


The last post on the flowers of PC bhurban will take some time because there are lot of un-identified flowers in the post and i am trying hard to get their names. Meanwhile there will be a series of butterflies of Pakistan and that includes a few species i captured in murree hills and one special butterfly i saw in the garden of PC Bhurban. So the butterfly lovers, stay tuned for next few posts!!!

This post is included in Today's flowers  so do visit there to see flowers from around the world.
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Flowers of PC Bhurban - Delphinium and Roses

This is the third post in the series of hilly area flowers. The first two you can find here and here. If you ever go to murree hills and other gailyat and do not visit the garden of PC Bhurban, you did nothing. One of the most beautiful gardens i ever saw. Very well maintained and well planned. The landscaping is excellent so is the choice of plants. You will find flowering bulbs, shrubs, roses, perennials, annuals etc.

When you enter into PC bhruban, the first row of flower bed, that is all delphinium. And what a sight it is. almost every color of delphinium with full glory. And it is not 6 inches delphinium from a hot climate, this is grandiflora which gets tall to its full extent as this cool climate is ideal for its growth. We, the natives of subtropical climate, are content with its warm weather cousin larkspur though. Here comes the delphiniums, you can click on the image for full view:







If you visit Pearl Continental hotel bhurban chances are you will be seeing one of the best roses display over there. And these are not floribundas or other miniature ones. The giant roses. Bright colors, very large blooms and that too on a single stem.


The white roses are my personal favorite. Roses love temperate climate. Neither too hot not too cold. This is mid May and weather is very pleasant in bhurban. Roses are enjoying it too. What a delight it is, having a cup of coffee among these beautiful roses, looking at the snowy Himalayas. What a treat.  






There will be at least two more posts on flowers of PC Bhruban Murree ahead. So keep visiting for more alpine flowers. There will also be one post exclusively on butterflies of Murree and galiyat. So stay tuned and enjoy these blooms.

This post is included in Today's flowers  so do visit there to see flowers from around the world.
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Sea daffodil,hyacinth bean vine, solanum shrub flowering

Monsoon rains started few weeks ago and temperature has lowered down with increase in humidity. Plants growth rate accelerate in these rains. Many plants are in flowering right now. Here are some of those:
This is Sea daffodil (pancratium maritimum) started sending blooms. The ones in soil bed just started sprouting. Which means they like pot bound for quick blooming. Bloom lasts just one day but they multiply good for mass effect. Ismene festalis, its cousin is also growing good but no flowers yet.


This blue flowering shrub i am unable to ID, any help? I think it is related to solanum family. Blooming profusely in Lawrence gardens lahore. Flowers are not fragrant but blooms are profuse.


This is bauhinia tomentosa,Yellow Bauhinia blooming in lawrence gardens lahore. Not a very prolific bloomer but pretty blooms.


Strangely the buds are pink colored while flowers are entirely of different color.


This is dolichos lablab, hyacinth bean vine. No fragrance in flowers but pretty blooms in lavender color.


This yellow flowering vine is blooming in lawrence gardens lahore but i am not sure which species it is. Still looking for confirmation of ID though.


To see other flowers from around the world, visit Today's flowers
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Flowers of murree hills - aquilegia, chestnut tree and wild flowers

All shots taken in Murree hills and Nathia gali, Pakistan. some flowers are wild while some are grown by home gardeners. The first one is aquilegia or columbine. A passionate gardener in nathiagali is growing these beautiful columbine flowers.



Indian Horse Chestnut tree with botanic name Aesculus indica is a common tree of murree hills. The umbrella shape leaves are beautiful and the flower spikes add to the beauty. 




Another columbine flower planted by a gardener in nathia gali. Columbines grow naturally in hilly areas. They do not tolerate the southern heat of plains thus they are mostly treated as annuals in our southern plains. There are some cultivars though which are perennial in lahore and other subtropical areas.




This pink flowering shurb is a common sight in galiyat in murree. Flowers are from fabacea family (Pea family) and my first guess is Himalayan indigo, Indigofera heterantha. Any confirmation about the ID will be highly appreciated.


This is a wild flower grown in many parts of murree hills. This one i shot in the nathia gali road side. Not sure about the ID though.




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Flowers of murree hills - Nathia gali

During my recent trip to murree hills and galiyat, i captured lots of flowers, some wild, some naturalized. Here is my first post from this series. These flowers i shot in Nathia gali.

First one is hydrangea which likes to be in cool position. Does not grow well in our subtropical climate of lahore.


These plants were grown by a plant enthusiast and you will not find any wild plants of hydrangea over there. There are two variants available there. The tall one which is common one. The dwarf one is perhaps imported one.


Clematis, queen of flowering vine. This is true wild clematis species in murree and nathia gali and other galiyat region. Native to hilly areas. This one seems to be clematis armandi i guess. Fragrant large flowers in clusters.








Chrysanthemum leucanthemum daisy. Another wild flower.


Murree and nathia gali is full of these honeysuckle shrubs. I thought they might be lonicera japonica but it is a climber not a small tree. So it is some lonicera shrub or small tree with mildly fragrant flowers.


The yellow iris flowers. They are not wild but grown in many home gardeners in murree and nathia gali.




Lupin, another plant which likes cool climate. We do grow them in lahore in our fall for spring flowering but flowers are small and stalks are never as tall. This one was grown by a home gardener in nathia gali.


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Plants which love heat

Here are some heat tolerant plans which are flowering even in this extreme summer heat of more than 100F. Cassia fistula, amaltas.




This is society garlic, tulbaghia violacea, a south african bulb. Very heat tolerant. Strong scent in the morning.


Chinese trumpet vine, campsis radicans. Another heat tolerant vine from bignonia family.


Zephyranthes drummondi, being a native of new mexico and texas, blooms in this high summer heat.


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Fried egg tree, sandpaper vine, plumbago and stephanotis in bloom

It is 15th again and here is the post for my garden bloggers bloom day. GBBD is a monthly event hosted by Carol at her website May Dreams Gardens where gardeners from all over the world post the pictures of flowers blooming in their garden on 15th of every month. Do visit her website for more interesting flowers.

This daylily was gifted to me by a gardener and he himself was not sure of the cultivar. Very pretty blooms. Much different than the common orange day lily.


As i am covering trees of subtropics and lahore so here are some flowering trees.And first one is fried egg tree Oncoba spinosa. It starts flowering in May. Attracts lots of bees. For encyclopaedia of flowering trees, do check my post on encyclopaedia of flowering trees of subtropics


This one is most elegant trees of lahore for sure. It is called gul-e-neelam or neelam here. Botanical name is jacaranda mimosifolia. There is another variant of jacaranda, more blue jacaranda but not pictured yet.


This is brachychiton diversifolius there is no local name. There are many trees in india and pakistan of genus brachychiton. The one native of australia brachychiton australis is found in India as well.


There are no leaves or almost none when in bloom and tree is covered with flowers.




This one is another gem for warm climates. Purple Wreath Petrea Volubilis also known as sandpaper vine. You will find flowers of many colors on the vine at the same time. They are blue, then white, and yellowish white as well. Some what shrubby in nature.


Talking of shrubs, this one is a stunning shrub for warm climates. Hailing from South Africa, it is Plumbago capensis There is another variant with white colors but this one is more stunning. Flowers profusely whole summer if protected from afternoon sun.


If there is one vine i wanted the flowers so badly, that was Stephanotis floribunda also known as Madagascar Jasmine, this one need lots of humidity and warm climate and here is the point, it dislikes extremely hot areas. True, it flowers late when mature but it is not a free flowering easy veasy vine. These flowers were shot in Lawrence gardens lahore and note that this is a very old and mature specimen. The fragrance is worth dying for sure.




This post is also included in Today's Flowers. So don't forget to visit for some exciting flowers blooming all around the world.
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Amaryllis spp (Hippeastrum spp)

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