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

Oregano / "Sambharbalipaan"

Family functions and other commitments prevented me from posting on my blog. In the meantime, I also noticed that my tiny garden in the balcony was getting neglected so much so that some of the plants were growing out of control and one of it was the Oregano or “Sambharpali Paan” (in Konkani language).

Thus started my spade work! Gardening is hard work but very satisfying in the sense that you can actually see them grow ( from a tiny delicate plant to a sturdy one) and bloom.

Oregano is a medicinal herb and in our native village ( Udupi and Mangalore, Karnataka) this herb is grown in almost every house and is generally used for relieving coughs and cold especially for very young children. Its leaves have a distinct flavour.

I also learnt that it has several health benefits and is used in several countries in different ways. Of course we all know that it is used in Pizzas.

It’s easy to grow and can be grown from cuttings as I have done. It also does not need much looking after. It is growing happily in my pot in the balcony.
The leaves are very thick and juicy and only these are used for salads and some recipes.

Watch out for my next post on the recipe.




Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregano
http://gardening.about.com/od/plantprofil2/p/Oregano.htm

The following link will give you some of the Indian names of this herb http://www.indianspices.com/html/s0625oregano.htm