Growing Hibiscus

Hello folks ! Took a little break from my blogging to attend to my tiny garden in the balcony.

So far I have almost neglected the "Spade" and the "Brush" part of my blog.  Recently, one of my readers also rightly pointed out the the absence or lack of it (spade-work and brush-work) in my blog and this prompted me to complete this write-up which was lying in my draft folder.  Hibiscus is one of my favourite flowers.

Hibiscus or Shoe Flower as it is commonly called is a very pretty flower and I have two of these - one orange coloured one and another yellow coloured growing in my tiny balcony. Though I would like to add a few more of these beauties, I am unable to do so due to space constraint.
However, I have managed to make up for this deficit by photographing various type of these species during our travels and now I have quite a collection of their photos

Growing in my Balcony

Since this is a perennial plant, you get to see at least one flower on your plant practically everyday and I feel its a wonderful sight to see it first thing in the morning.

Also growing in my balcony

Its botanical name is Rosa-Sinensis. though the physical structure of these flowers is common to all the species, a few of them do deviate from the normal ones. Then there are the hybrid varieties too. Incidentally the ones which are growing in my balcony are the hybrid ones. I have recently come to know that birds are not attracted to the hybrid variety but regularly visit the common variety. In comparison, the common varieties are hardier than the hybrid ones.

This pink one was taken in one of the gardens in Devanhalli

This plant can be grown easily and needs little maintenance or care. However, watch out for those aphids. These aphids are tiny little creatures and if not treated early, they generally destroy the plant. Mine nearly did. But it survived after I sprayed it with diluted detergent water which is a home remedy for these aphids.

This orange one was shot at our village in Katapady, Udupi district

This photo also taken from our village in Katapady, Udupi District

Yet another Cream and Maroon one also from our village in Katapady, Udupi District

This tiny red one is growing in frontyard of our Katapady house

This beauty is growing in our village in Katapady

I am sad to say that both my Hibiscus plants have recently wilted due to our constant travel.

For Botanical name, gardening tips and in general, you may find the following links useful.

http://www.backyardnature.net/fl_hibsc.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus_rosa-sinensis

http://www.gardenguides.com/video-60028-hibiscus-care.html

Safari - Part II – Nagarhole

Nagarhole is about 11/2 hours drive from Kabini. It is also a wild life Sanctuary. Here, it is said that the sighting of elephants is guaranteed. We were really lucky enough to sight five elephants (three on one side of the road and two on the other) late in the day. But our luck seem to have disappeared suddenly. Cause, at that precise moment, my camera displayed “Battery empty”. And as though this was not enough, my husband’s camera was displaying “use the flash” and he dare not use “the flash” as the elephants were pretty close (to our jeep) for comfort and the sudden use of flash may annoy them and they could come charging.

My husband somehow managed to click a Tusker (who was camera shy) a little earlier in the day.

I however, had to be satisfied with the pictures of flora on the following day after the batteries were recharged. Fortunately the place where we stayed (King’s Sanctuary) was fantastic with a lot of greenery and exotic plants and flowers. I am sharing these with you.

The sight that greeted us when we entered the gates of King's Sanctuary

   Tusker - picture borrowed from my husband

Crested Serpent Eagle - Picture borrowed from my husband

 Bird of Paradise

Heliconia (Lobster Claw)