Zinnia flowers are commonly naturalized in the Western Ghats of India. These flowers are popular for their beautiful and wide range of attractive colors. In Kerala, these are commonly grown as ornamental flowers in home and butterfly gardens.
Beauty
Black – Eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia Alata)
The Black Eyed Susan vine is native to tropical countries and naturalized in India. The twiner is often seen among hedges as well as on the ground. The leaf paste of this plant is used in traditional medicine. It is commonly grown in gardens, plains and hills.
Rock Balsam (Impatiens Acaulis)
Rock Balsam is native to Peninsular India. It grows widely in the Western Ghats, occurring in small or large clusters in the hills up to 800 – 2400 meters on wet rock faces. The lavender flowers are showy and stand out daintily from the rounded heart-shaped leaves.
Nebulaic Beauty
The telescope, wrought of tax dollars and scientific vision and that allowed this photograph to be taken, is a wonder in itself. But in the photo, to state the obvious, is evidence of wonder taken to a different order of magnitude. Click the image above to go to where we encountered this celestial beauty, in The Atlantic‘s ever more useful website:
This is a nebula we used to think was a star. Located in a neighboring galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud, astronomers long called this object 30 Doradus, and labeled it a star. It wasn’t until the mid-18th century that Nicholas Louis de Lacaille detected that it was, in fact, a nebula. We now sometimes call it the Tarantula Nebula.
There’s no color enhancement or significant doctoring in this image: Unlike many astronomical pictures, everything shown is in the visible light spectrum. The Hubble Space Telescope took the photograph.
Beauty of Munnar
The hill station Munnar lies 1600 metres above sea level, making it the perfect summer resort of the British Administration in South India before independence. Now famous for its tea plantations Munnar retains its colonial charm. With its sprawling estates, rolling hills, sparkling waterfalls, picture postcard hamlets and undulating valleys, Munnar has all the makings of an idyllic holiday destination.
Marigold (Calendula)
Marigold is a tropical plant found widely throughout south India. The beautiful flowers are mainly cultivated for commercial purpose as temples offerings. It comes in different colors, yellow and orange being the most common. This flowers has a strong pungent odor that is not only used in cosmetics and herbal medicines but in gardening as a natural pest deterrent.
Dahlia
The dahlia is a tropical plant widely cultivated in the Western Ghats of India. In Kerala, as in locations around the world, the plant is popular for its beautiful flowers. This decorative flower is found in gardens and farms of the high ranges, creating a kaleidoscope of colours, sizes and shapes.
What I brought back from Switzerland: Collection of Alpine Flowers
From my recent trip to Switzerland in early June, I took numerous photos of flowers. As my family and I hiked up the Alpine mountains, I was completely taken in by these flowers covered and surrounded by icy snow. This is a story of Alpine flowers.
p.s. Because I am not a flower expert, identifying the names of flowers was a challenging task for me. Thus, I welcome any feedback and hope everybody can help me finish identifying flower names! 🙂
Burnet Rose / Rosa spinosissima
Tanner’s Cassia (cassia auriculata)
Cassia is a tropical plant native to India and Sri Lanka prevalent in the Western Ghats. It is a popular ornamental throughout Kerala due to its year round blooms.
Christmas Star – Poinsettia
Poinsettia flowers are a very common ornamental plant naturalized in the Western Ghats of India. These flowers are popularly used during the Christmas season to decorate churches and homes. In Kerala, it is cultivated for this use.
Colorful Wonderland: Fort Cochin, Kerala
Five hours away from Thekkady is a colorful land of ornate architectures and a hometown of many fishermen that represent the historical harbor city, Fort Cochin, Kerala. The narrow and winding streets are filled with houses and churches that clearly showe their Dutch, Portuguese, or British influence from the colonial time. As I carelessly stroll down the streets only with my camera and some rupees (Indian currency) in my purse, I didn’t mind the stares from the local village people, nor the heat and humidity that made me drench in my own sweat; but, my mind got carried away seeking the remains of what time had left us.
Blue door and window with a wagon
“I found love when I was 6”: A Story of Tattoos and Love
There are many things I could have named this blog post, but I decided it should sound scandalous, it should sound crazy, it should sound epic. I mean, what is more scandalous, more crazy, and more epic than falling in love when you’re is only 6 years old?
Getting a tattoo? No.
Getting a tatttoo at 6? No.
Getting a tattoo of your true love at 6? Now that, my friends, is crazy.
Kamal’s Tattoo of his wife’s name, Meena
Heliconia Caribaea
Heliconia caribaea is tropical plant naturalized in the Western Ghats of India. In Kerala, it is commonly popular for its beautifully colorful flowering bracts. It is often grown as a decorative flower for bouquets as it can last for 6-7 days. The flowers are highly modified into a shellfish claw shape and only the sunbirds feed off their nectar. Continue reading
Reflections in the Rain
The song of the rain washes over me. It soothes my soul and calms my buzzing thoughts. Never would I have imagined forming a sense of respect and admiration for this wet, and often noted, overwhelming natural phenomenon. Yet, the monsoon rains of Kerala are magically revitalizing, relieving, and so much more.
Like blessings the droplets fall on my skin, awakening my soul from its lazy trance. I am increasingly able to understand how artists find it inspiring, how birds find it song-worthy. I am as thankful as the parched earth that I relinquished many of my hesitations towards the rain; my mind is open and ready for more.
When the rain ceases and the sky reveals the sun’s rays, it is a rainbow I hope to see. I find its colors in the cheerful tunes of the birds, the slow rustle of the leaves, and the intermittent chirps of the emerging insects. These few, along with many other, “colors” create a reflection of hope in the puddles of my mind.
As my days increase, I do not expect my puddles of misunderstanding, disbelief, or hesitation to completely dissipate. I only desire that, like I have with the rain, I am able to find positive and inspiring reflections within them.
Yellow Bell Flower (Tecoma Stans)
Yellow bell is an ornamental, perennial plant naturalized in the Western Ghats of India that grows to a height of 10-20 ft . The flowers are yellow and bell shaped when inverted, hence bearing the name Yellow bell flower. Bees, butterflies and humming birds are attracted by the flowers and helping them in pollination. In Kerala, it is widely cultivated as an ornamental as it attracts everyone by its natural beauty. Continue reading
If You Happen To Be On Earth June 6th
According to NASA, transits of Venus across the disk of the Sun are among the rarest of planetary alignments. The last time it occurred, in 2004, I happened upon some wonderful pinhole viewing boxes set up in a Paris park. (The 2004 transit allowed full visibility throughout Europe, where I happened to be living at the time.) Continue reading
Pagoda Flower
The Pagoda flower is a tropical garden plant with large, heart shaped evergreen leaves found in the Western Ghats of India. The small, orange-red flowers are funnel shaped with long tubes. It is the main food plant of the Southern Bird Wing– the largest butterfly of Southern India. Continue reading
Nishagandhi – Queen of the night
Night Blooming Cereus is one of the most popular garden flowers commonly found in the hill ranges of India’s Western Ghats. A member of the cactus family, its flowers are white and strong scented, with the distinction that they bloom only at night and close by dawn.
Railway Glory (Ipomoea cairica)
Railway Glory is a tropical, perennial climbing vine with tuberous roots, spreading extensively in the hills of India’s Western Ghats up to 1000m. The plant blooms throughout the year, growing aggressively over fences, shrubs and trees. The attractive flowers are purple, pink or rarely pinkish white. In Kerala it is commonly planted in gardens and around houses for insulation against the summer heat. It is also known by the names Cairo Morning Glory and Coastal Morning Glory. Continue reading
Environmental Photography Award
Thanks to The Guardian‘s coverage of and link to the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) which
has a history of working in environmental management dating back to 1895. In the succeeding decades, engineers, scientists and other professionals came together to combine their expertise across a broad range of environmental disciplines. The present day Institution was formed in 1987 when the Institution of Public Health Engineers merged with the Institution of Water Engineers and Scientists and the Institute of Water Pollution Control to form the Institution of Water and Environmental Management.The Institution was granted a Royal Charter in 1995 and was proud to celebrate its centenary in the same year.
We will investigate further. For now our attention is brought by The Guardian to CIWEM’s annual awards for great environmental photography. There is an Under 21 category which we hope some of our more youthful collective members (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4 come to mind) might considering an entry to…
Organikos 