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.


To see other flowers from around the world, visit Today's Flowers

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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.


For more flowers, visit Today's Flowers
For macro monday, visit Lisa's Chaos
For Mosaic monday, visit Dear little red house

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.
For other macro monday posts, visit Lisa's Chaos
For mosaic monday, visit Dear little red house