On Saturday, I had some free time to spend in the yard. So I thought of taking some shots of the different sides as it looked towards the end of summer. It is a lot greener than in the period of warm days of March-April. Pre-monsoon showers brought some greener colours, though there are not many plants to boast of blooms in profusion. My daughter's Canon and a fisheye lens were with me. This lens is good where we cannot cover the full view in a frame. Left is the gate, out of pic on the right is our main door. Podranea is at the gate pillar, Limonia is beside it... then a stone trough where I keep water lily and water lettuce, Mother-in-law's tongues, Night blooming Cereus behind the trough, Piper betel, and then two hibiscuses, with Vinca rosea [always a volunteer in my yard. Of couse, you cannot miss the headlamp of our car. I stand on the driveway and look towards south-west.... Our main door is on the left, trodden path to my garden part and scooter shed... the pond is obscured on the right, hibiscus 'tree' is in bloom, rain lilies are showing up [I keep the pink and yellow ones sorted at different places], Jacquemontia vine is on the arch, Curry leaf plant and a hibiscus plant are in front of my room bay, part of my pot plants near the window. All the grass I have for a lawn is Bermuda Grass. Cynodon dactylon. I cut the overgrowth and feed the 'stray' cows that roam the streets.. actually they are not stray, but let off during the day by owners after milking to look for their food, even though they feed them at home [not a good practice]. Standing at the same spot and turning a little to the right, we see now the Almond tree, Fiddlewood tree [I keep the extra Aloes in its hollows and use them as containers!] and in the middle is the Aegle marmelos tree. On the other side of the gate is another Jacq vine, Ixora, Clerodendrum also on the wall, a wind chime hung to the almond tree, Lemon grass in a pot, Bromeliads in two pots [yellowish now]... pond-side bench and another Jacq vine on the arch [that is where the bulbuls are nesting]. I now come to the Fiddlewood tree trunk [behind my back] and look south. The blue barrel is where my small garden is. To the right is Plumeria, papaya [not doing well due to shade of the trees], Spider lilies at the base of almond tree , another group in a tyre planter kept alongside the pond. The small green plastic trellis is for growing Cypress vine. A long stone slab bench is kept under the almond tree and along side it are kept piles of roof tiles [from the old portion of house that was dismantled - they are 100-year old tiles.. that is how old our house is]. Now come and sit beside me on the pond bench and get this view. I had cleared the pond of extra overgrowth of hyacinth and cleared some silt [my own method - not a secret], hence some clear water... the liner has some holes poked by roots, but I'm postponing the replacement of it. Water holds up to about 19 inches while the rest 6 will go through. So I don't fill to the brim. A few bulrush leaves stand out and not to miss the Football lilies. Of course, your eye would have gone towards the 'red' already. At the far end my wife is drying her hair in the sun. It was around noon. I walk towards my garden passage but turn back to the gate to show this view. Scooter shed, pond, etc. Some cacti on the right placed on a stand are also in the frame. Brick container [in red] is also seen. Welcome to Dinu's Eden [see board above]. The pathway I made [paving work] will be one year in a month. The gate is 100-yrs old, taken from the attic. Empty mud pot stands out, sitting upside down!! On the right is the little garden space. At the far end, is our new house, which also we are using. I removed that shade net yesterday as summer is about to end. My birdbath and the row of potted plants. I think they are Lima beans [forgot name] - the vine has grown like a monster. Now this will hamper my tomato plans as it has also covered my tomato frames. Another rain barrel you see on the left will collect rain from the other shed where I keep some junk. On the wall opposite are Jacquemontia, Senecio confusus and not seen is Antigonon leptopus. Stepping into the garden space, we get this... no flowers. During the season, I grew Zinnias. On the far end beds I grow some Coriander and Mint, also some more tomatoes. On the left is my mother's room bay. That was last August. Later all the zinnias were attacked by mildew and it became ugly. It was uncontrollable because of frequent rains. Hope you enjoyed the tour. You can stay here if you like, but I'll give some mosquito repellants to stay 'peacefully'.
The mosquito repellent is working fine so I've decided I want to stay a while and look at everything in your wonderful garden in detail. I think I'll sit with you beside the pond and talk plants with you and your wife. Maybe I can have a quick peek at the bulbul babies when the parents have gone to look for food. I promise not to disturb them. Many thanks for the photographs and the tour of your garden. I have a feeling I will be visiting it again soon.
Thank you for the wonderful tour of your garden. It is beautiful with so many plants, vines, and trees!
Hello Dinu...Thank you for the wonderful tour of your garden. As with your photos, you manage to create an artistry in your garden that draws people to it. I think that's what makes it so special.
