Butterflies of Lahore - Indian Fritillary

Indian Fritillary Argyreus hyperbius is a not a common butterfly of Punjab. It is originally a butterfly of cool climate and northern areas, migrate to southern plains in winter.

I captured this butterfly in Spring in Lawrence gardens lahore, it was on a Helichrysum paper flower

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Butterflies of lahore - Pioneer white butterfly

This post is another one in the series of "Butterflies of Lahore". You can see previous posts on butterflies in the menu of this website.
Pioneer white butterfly(Belenois aurota) is also a common butterfly of lahore. It is mostly seen in lahore in winter and spring. You can see it often in the Chyrsanthemum flower show flowers.
It is often found on flowers instead of foliage or in open sun. Most of the times it is in gardens but i have seen it on my terrace as well. Like all butterflies it is always found in full sun. All these pictures of pioneer white butterfly are from Lawrence gardens lahore



Because it is a common butterfly in lahore, i guess it is also found in other parts of Pakistan. Probably it migrates from higher mountains to lower plains in winter.

Apart from "Butterflies of lahore", there will be a post on "Butterflies of Murree hills" soon.

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.

Spring flowers of aquilegia, beaumontia, gardenia and thunbergia

I am pleased to be part of Garden Bloggers bloom day once again, a monthly event hosted by none other than Carol from May Dreams Garden . Gardeners from around the world showcase their gardens and show the lovely blooms. Here goes mine. And don't forget to visit my previous post of free tomato seeds away. It will only last till last day of April.

I caught this butterfly at these paper flowers on the flower exhibition in the Canntt lahore. There were two more butterflies which i captures there but these will be posted separate.


My favorite aquilegia. Blooming happily in my soil bed. Not a perennial in my hot climate but blooms long enough.

This is gardenia coronaria. Not much fragrant but the flowers are very pretty. A relative of gardenia florida but it blooms in spring instead of late summer. This one shot at the lawrence gardens lahore.

And this one is the favorite creeper of gardeners of Islamabad. This is beaumontia grandiflora also called nepal trumpet vine. Not as fragrant flowers as famed for but still very pretty blooms.

Gram blue butterfly captured on flower of erythrina suberosa. Will post pictures of Erythrina suberosa and cristagali in next post hopefully.

This is an uncommon gardenia. Gardenia lucida. Very fragrant flowers, a small tree. Blooming happily in lawrence gardens lahore. A plant must have.

You all will be familiar with thunbergia alta and perhaps thunbergia grandiflora (bengal clock vine) but not this one. This is thunbergia erecta. Dark blue flowers. Blooms almost whole summer once established.

And last but not least, this flower also shot at Flower exhibition held at polo ground lahore canntt.

Flower exhibition at Bagh-e-Jinnah lahore 2011

Venue: Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lawrence gardens, lahore
Dates: March 29 - April 4, 2011

Kachnar,Candytuft,gladiolus flowers

Here are some of the flowers blooming in my garden and some of the shots are taken from lawrence gardens lahore.
This one is a small tree, having white flowers in the spring. Not sure about the ID yet. Photo taken in lawrence gardens lahore.




Candytuft with botanic name Iberis blooming in lawrence garden. Planted in masses, stunning flowers.


Bauhinia purpurea with local name kachnar. A street tree in lahore, pakistan. Blooms not only in spring but also in fall sometimes. There are many other bauhinia species growing in lahore including some vines. Perhaps a post specific to Bauhinia is due on me.


The enchanting fragrance and exquisite blooms of freesia. Although these are modern freesia hybird, fragrance is still intense. Watch for my next post of growing freesia in hot climates. Blooming. happily on my terrace in clay pots. They naturalize here in lahore


Chrysanthemum tricolor with synonym Ismelia carinata and common name painted daisy. Local name desi gendi. Comes in many shades of tricolor.


Another beautiful tree from lawrence garden. Will update the ID soon.


This is some variant of jasmine. Not fragrant though. The masses of flowers put a brilliant show in many months of the year.


Gladiolus, grown from bulbs in fall. It has potential to be a perennial in warm climate as ours. Comes in many shades. Top bouquet flower.


This is some jasmine shrub blooming happily in model town park lahore. Not fragrant though.


For other GBBD posts, visit May dream gardens by Carol

Hummingbird moth, stock and california poppy

This one was shot at lawrence garden lahore. I am not sure what it is but it seems to be a hummingbird moth. Though we do not have hummingbirds here but sunbirds. Lovely sight though.
update: This is some species of clearwing hummingbird moth.

 Stock is the most fragrant annual of spring. And bees love them too. This one shot at my terrace.

This bee seems to be too involved in california poppy. Again captured on my terrace.

For other flowers posts, visit Today's Flowers
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Flowers of Sweet pea, linum, anemone and gaillardia

Spring has just started and flowers have started to bloom all around. Weather is still not warm enough to sow morning glory seeds though. Here are some of flowers blooming in my small garden.

This is some hummingbird moth i captured in lawrence garden bagh-e-jinnah lahore. Any identification would be highly appreciated.

Anemone has started blooming in pots as well. The ones in ground are yet to bloom.

Sweet pea also blooming right now. It is called phool matar locally.And what a magnificent fragrance it is. I sowed two types this year. Heirloom miss willmott and second one the fragrant spencer types. Will show you more blooms next week.

Then comes linum grandiflorum. There is another variety of linum with culinary use but with smaller flowers. This one is grandiflora with large flowers. Seeds were gifted to me. Will save seeds for sure.


If there is any plant in lahore which can bloom year round all 12 months, it is none other than gaillardia. Sadly it does not attract much butterflies here.

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

For Macro Monday Visit Lisa's Chaos
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Floss Silk tree - budha

One of the few trees blooming in Lahore right now is floss silk tree also called as budha tree locally. One of the most beautiful tree, it blooms in September to November here in Lahore, Pakistan. Its botanical name is Ceiba speciosa previously Chorisia speciosa.

In Hindi it is called resham rui. The large spikes protect the trunk. Native to Brazil and Argentina it is drought tolerant here and starts blooming as soon as monsoon finishes.



For Macro Monday Visit Lisa's Chaos
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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.

Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia

Here i am again with another edition of macro monday. In this post i would like to share with you some macros of my favorite tree, magnolia grandiflora. This tree is native to southern america and state flower of Mississippi. It is widely cultivated in india and pakistan for its beautiful and fragrant flowers. There are many species, some are dwarf, almost all bloom very late specially if grown from seed.
These magnolias are shot in lawrence gardens lahore. It has very large flowers and the scent is very sweet and delicate. Here is how looks the bud unopened.
Bees love it although i am yet to see any butterfly on it. Remember growing magnolia from seed takes a lot of time to reach blooming sometimes 15 years and minimum 3 years. So mostly it is grown from cutting or layring. It has common name bull bay or southern magnolia as well. A true subtropical tree.
It produces seed mostly after 8 or 10 years. There is another close relative Magnolia champaca or michelia champaca also grown for fragrant flowers as well but it blooms in february here in my zone 10 while magnolia grandiflora blooms in March-April here.


For more macro monday posts, visit Lisa's Chaos

Catesbaea spinosa, frangipani and egg fried tree flowers

Welcome to blooming friday.The intense heat of 110F is not allowing plants to settle right now but some tough beauties are still hanging out there. Here are some of those.

Plumeria rubra also known as frangipani and local name gul-e-cheen is a subtropical fragrant plant. It comes in lots of color with white one the most common. This color is not so common but most beautiful of all.
Water lilies are another tough beauty blooming profusely. These white water lilies are shot at botanical garden of the Government College University lahore.They do not appear to be tropical ones but hardy tropical lilies.They bloom when temperature rises above 70F. Growing inside a large pond.
This flower is what we commonly call fried egg tree. The name implies the appearance of fried egg. Bees love its blooms. It was shot at lawrence gardens lahore. Botanical name Oncoba Spinosa,this one has small spines over the trunk of the tree but not too hard.
And last but not least is Lily thorn having botanical name catesbaea spinosa. I had thought that only fuchsia and brugmansias having inverted flowers but the list has gone one more step now. These are also shot at Lawrence gardens lahore.