GARDENING CHORES

Today our Sunday morning sleep was frequently interrupted by Owsley's "Avva Avva" cries. When he calls me Avva avva of course I can't ignore him and got up reluctantly to attend to his needs ! Once I got up I realized that the plants in pots needed watering.

Hubby joined me and we both did gardening chores for a few hours until the rising sun's heat made us quit.

We planted a Red Jatropha at the entrance to the gate. Jatropha is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees from the family Euphorbiaceae..

The name is derived from (Greek iatros=physician and trophe=nutrition), hence the common name physic nut. It is native to Central America. and has become naturalized in tropical and subtropical countries like India,Africa and North America.

The mature small trees bear separate male and female flowers and do not grow very tall. As with many members of the family Euphorbiacea , Jatropha contains compounds that are highly toxic.

The Hardy Jatropha is resistant to drought and pests,produces seeds containing up to 40% oil. When the seeds are crushed and processed the resulting oil can be used in a standard diesel engine,while the residue can also be processed into biomass to power electricity plants !

I got all this info from wikipedia !

I also planted Rangoon creeper near the gate hoping to see the fence straddled profusely with its blossoms.

Did you know that Rangoon creeper is called Quisqualis meaning "which? what ?'. This name was given by a Dutch Botonist called Rumphus to express his astonishment at the odd behaviour of the species.

It is a charming plant, a native of Burma and the Malayan archipelago. Of course for me it is essentially an Indian creeper.

Already the creeper is profusely blooming on the metal arch at our old house. The creeper is a stunner when it bears loads of pink and white blossoms. On first opening the flowers are white or part white and part pink,but later they become completely pink and darken considerably before withering.

I want to grow a lot of plants that are familiar to me from India. We have named our house Villa Jacaranda after Jacaranda tree that we see in India. These are one of the first harbingers of spring when purple plumes appear and cast their spell. An avenue of Jacarandas is an unforgettable sight when from end to end every tree is swathed with blue.

My early days in Mysore where each avenue was lined with different blooming trees and we used to walk on a carpet of these blooms is etched forever in my mind.

Jacaranda is a native of Brazil and its fifty species are widely distributed in the caribbean islands, South America,through to Florida and Mexico.

It is a handsome tree of of medium height with big leaves divided into such tiny segments that it has the finely cut appearance of a fern.
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