Abutilon magic

Abutilon belong to the Malva family. They are a close relative of hisbiscus and it is very clear from the flowers shape as well. These are also called chinese lantern. The most beautiful abutilon are megapotamicum but i am yet to get my hands on that. These are abutilon hybirdum i think.


Although blooming in winter right now, i expect them to bloom till spring and then in the late fall as well. I doubt that they will flower in intense heat of mid summer. They need to be prevented from monsoon rains as they dislike heavy rains.


Abutilon make excellent shrubs. They get tall as much as wide around 4-6 feet. Pruning is required on older plants to get in shape. This is my first year with these plants, i hope they stay long with me.

This post is included in Macro monday by Lisa's Chaos so do visit her blog for more macro images

Flowers of Cassia glauca and Crinum amabile

The winter here in lahore is in full swing. Not much perennials you will see in bloom but here are some of the flowers which i am seeing almost daily. The first one is Scrambled Egg Bush with botanic name Cassia glauca. This shrub is almost everywhere in lahore right now. The shrub is everywhere in lahore and also abundant in other subtropical climates. There are many other beautiful cassia shrubs including cassia javanica having pink flowers. Here goes cassia glauca.


The macro is very beautiful. The pollen color contrast with the yellow petal is eye catching.


There are not many crinum blooming right into December but this giant spider lily (Crinum amabile) is still blooming in start of December. A true giant with beautiful flowers. The scent is spicy and fills the air with aroma. Needs a large space to develop.


This post is included in Macro monday by Lisa's Chaos. Do visit her blog for more macro posts.

I have posted this post in the mellow yellow monday as well so do visit Mellow Yellow Monday for more yellow flowers.

Butterflies of Lahore - Denaid Eggfly Butterfly

This is second post in the series of "Butterflies of Lahore" I am covering. Denaid Eggfly Butterfly with technical name Hypolimnas misippus is not a very common butterfly but not rare either. It is mostly found in gardens and you will not frequently see it in the streets. It is present in lahore almost whole summer. Here is the back view of the butterfly.

It is mostly found on ground covers in my experience but i also captured it many times on mums. Very fast mover and not easy to capture but once it stays, it stays for a while and this is the time to capture its beauty. And the side view is much different and more beautiful as well.


These shots were taken in Lawrence gardens lahore in summer of 2011. I could not find this butterfly in any other garden. The side view does imitate plain tiger butterfly though.

Flowers of PC Bhurban - Roses, lavender and Cotoneaster

This is the last post in the "Flowers of PC Bhurban" Series. The first two posts you can find here and here. This post took me a while to identify some flowers in the garden of PC bhurban. For those who do not know, PC bhurban is actually Pearl Continental hotel in the Bhurban area in murree hills of Pakistan. So here are the remaining flowers.
There were many roses in the PC bhurban garden and some i had never seen before. This one is identified as a rose. Very beautiful petals. Here is the closer look at this beauty. Talking of roses, here is another rose, so different from the common red rose we have that i had to ask about the identity of this plant, A rose!!!!
This one is some Hypericum species, most probably St John's wort. This is Cotoneaster salicifolius, Willow-leaved Cotoneaster. A drought tolerant shrub blooming happily in the garden of the hotel.
This one is probably some achillea most probably Achillea filipendulina but it is just a guess. This is Red Valerian, Centranthus ruber. And last but not least is English lavender, Lavandula angustifolia. Butterflies were attracted to lavender flowers like crazy. In our plains, lavandula stoechas or french lavender is more successful than this one. Beauty and fragrance al there with the additional benefit of attracting some wild life. There is still one post remaining regarding the flowers of murree hills and nathia gali and that i will cover in the next post. Till then stay tuned.

For more beautiful flower posts from all around the world, visit Today's Flowers.
For more macro monday posts, visit Lisa's Chaos