Wild flowers of Punjab - Sodom apple, bindweed

This is Apple of sodom or calotrope with botanic name Calotropis procera is a wild flower of Punjab. It has succulent foliage and flowers in almost whole summer in open sun.


Bindweed with botanic name convolvulus arvensis. A very common weed in Punjab. A ground cover in full sun. Self sows. Foliage is different than that of morning glory.


Ipomoea nil chocolate. This is a type of Japanese morning glory with a color not very common. It is also called chocolate rose silk. These vines grow good in our extreme summer heat. I am growing more than 7 colors of morning glories this summer and will post pictures as soon as they flower.


This post is included in Garden bloggers bloom day, a gardening event on the 15th of every month at May Dreams Gardens

Runner up in Dave's garden photo contest 2010

It is of immense pleasure to me to announce that i got the runner up position in the annual photo contest 2010 at dave's garden, the largest online community of gardeners around the world. The category was "Macro" and this picture of water lily got 54 points. You can click on the picture for full view.



Thanks to all who voted for my photo. Although voting and photos were anonymous so nobody knew whose picture this was. It was my first time participating in the event and it was a wonderful experience. I would participate next year as well and encourage all the readers to do so.

I could not participate in Carol's GBBD this month due to EID holidays but i hope this post would qualify for bloom day as it does contain a wonderful bloom and there is nothing else blooming in my garden right now apart from this waterlily. Don't forget to see other bloom posts on Carol's website May Dreams Gardens

Sweet almond verbena, gram blue butterfly and skipper butterfly

Welcome to another edition of garden bloggers bloom day. This is a monthly event hosted by Carol at May Dream Gardens. Visit her website for some intriguing flowers blooming all around the gardens.
This is my second year growing sweet almond verbena, botanic name aloysia virgata. This year i pruned it hard in the last december and the results showed in form of more blooms. I deadheaded every bloom and it kept blooming and blooming.
Every butterfly of the area and every bee visited these blooms having strong almond fragrance.

The first one is plain tiger butterfly with common name african monarch and biological name danaus chrysippus. A very common butterfly from asia and africa found abundant in lahore pakistan.


This is Small branded Swift Skipper with biological name Pelopidas mathias. No other insect is so fond of sweet almond verbena but this skipper butterfly. There were more than 15 beauties luring over the blooms at one time.


Another bee but i am not sure which one it is. She is the one which stays still in air for a long time.


This is gram blue butterfly with biological name (Euchrysops cnejus).She is mostly after pea related flowers but this time she could not resist the fragrance and nectar of these sweet blooms.


Another common bee of our area. She loves murraya and any sweet smelling plant. She is the last one to leave the flowers of this sweet almond bush.


And last but not least, this sweet smelling flowers are no other than cestrum diurnum also known as Din ka raja. Unlike its cousin cestrum nocturnum it releases its scent in daytime.


And this post is also included in the Blooming Friday hosted by Katarina at Roses
and Stuff. Do visit her blog for some enchanting blooms.

For Fertilizer Friday visit Tootsie Time

Crinum, giant potato tree and spider lily

It is a pleasure to be part of Garden bloggers bloom day once again. Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this wonderful event every month. These are all thumbnail images and you can click on each one to view full image.

The first bloom, and because fragrance is my first preference, is crinum lily. They are growing wild in the Lawrence gardens. They bloom in july-October here in lahore. wonderful fragrance.

With botanical name crinum latifolium and common name milk and wine lily they are easiest of perennial bulbs to grow. Two colors are common. The white one below and there is another one bicolor, pink and white crinum.

Another crinum having very interesting buds is Crinum asiaticum with common names spider lily, grand crinum lily. It has the largest bulbs i have ever seen. the fragrance is not very sweet and flowers not very showy but buds are worth capturing.

This is some unknown flower to me blooming profusely in lawrence gardens lahore. any help with the ID will be appreciated.

This is giant potato tree with botanical name Solanum macranthum . Like many other solanum plants, the color of flower changes and you will find many colors blooms on same plant at once. Flowers are very mildly fragrant. A close relative is Solanum seaforthianum with common name italian jasmine, more fragrant than this one, and which i intend to grow from seed very soon.

And last but not least, here comes murraya exotica orange jasmine. The fragrance is divine and unbeatable. Blooming on my terrace in a large clay pot. They bloom extensively in monsoon rains.

Pink rain lily, lotus and ixora flowers

Here comes another garden bloggers bloom day. Thanks Carol at May Dream Gardens for hosting this wonderful event every month.

This is pink rain lily. The botanical name is Zephyranthes grandiflora. I got more than 50 bulbs in this plastic pot. They bloom mostly in rains. But you would find blooms all year round.




I just caught this bumble bee on ixora plant. There were humming birds on these flower too but only in the morning and in strong sun. They were so quick that i could not capture them. Still bees love these blooms. This picture is taken in lawrence gardens lahore.


This is pink lotus. Because i could not see the flower open due to cloudy sky, i could not be sure whether it is nelumbo or water lily


Don't Forget to visit other blogs of GBBD for more beautiful blooms.

Amaltas,Gul mohr, neelam and fragrant ixora

In this edition i will share with you the flowers which are currently blooming in lawrence garden (bagh-e-jinnah) lahore. Remember this is garden bloggers bloom day post and for others gbbd posts go to May Dream Gardens and check out other beautiful blogs showing some marvelous blooms from all around the world.
The first one is cassia fistula or amaltas. Very drought tolerant tree and blooms freely in this heat of over 110F. A common street tree with masses of yellow blooms.
At this time when not a lot of trees are blooming, cassia fistula gives eyes a treat to watch. You will lots of these trees in india and pakistan. In lahore a lot of specimens are planted on mall road.
Day lily is another common sight in lahore these days. There are mainly three varieties availabel here commercially. The yellow one which is cheapest, the orange one which is most common and the red one which is most expensive and slightly fragrant as well. Botanical name is Hemerocallis. And there are tons of cultivars and colors but here only these three are common. Some nurseries do sell other colors but at high rates. This is a perennial plant in our climate although flowers only in late spring and summer.
The tree is probably one of world's most beautiful trees. Having botanical name delonix regia but more famous with common name Gulmohar and flame tree. It is indeed a sight to watch when in bloom as it produces hundreds of flowers and looks like the tree is on fire.
If you look closely at the bloom it has very interesting shape like that of a claw.It changes its color with the passage of time. Remember this tree belongs to the pea family.
Here is what i would call the remnants of jacaranda and i belongs to the famous bignonia family.Remember tecoma?, yap same family.It was in full bloom in spring and whole tree was covered with blue flowers but now only some are left on the tree.
This fragrant ixora having botanical name ixora parviflora is also at the end of blooming in lawrence garden. What a scent!!!!
And now some blooms from my terrace a well. This morning glory the hardiest of all, blooms much earlier than other varities. I planted 3 various colors and will share with you as soon as other colors bloom but right now be content with this one only. And yes its botanical name is ipomoea purpurea.