In the Land of Apsaras

Cambodia for me is a country of light and darkness- both metaphorically and literally. Years back when I first read about the temples of Angkor in history books, I assumed that the history of these sites is fully known and documented. Well, it is not. There are gaps in our understanding of why these marvelous places were built and abandoned. In my imagination, the scale of these temple was also far smaller than I actually found them. World’s largest religious sites of Angkorwat temples is spectacular in its scale, design and motifs. It was enlightenment at its peak- before nature engulfed it in its roots- literally.

Earlier this month, standing in the Phnom Penh Genocide museum, I felt a chill down my spine. The audio guide in my ears was narrating one horror after the other inflicted by Khmer Rouge, and my mind was struggling to accept that the people whose ancestors in 12^th century achieved such unconceivable engineering feat at Angkorwat , can go so foolish in their attempt to turn the clock back, to carry out such inhuman atrocities on their fellow men and women. And then for two decades there was darkness. And now again, the country is raising a toast to its heritage as well as its future. A zigzag of light and darkness- very much like the Indian myths.

It is always interesting to find your childhood motifs and characters in far off lands. I was mesmerized by Bali few years back to see the sameness of culture. Now in Siem Reap, it was again the statues of Ganesh, Varun, Vishnu and Buddha that reminded me of India’s centuries old international relations. But historically, the influence came to these part not directly from India, but via Sri Lanka. But there is so many Indian tales around Angkorwat that one cannot mistake the cultural continuation. Now that the west-propagated theory of “discovery” of these temples by a lone European in the dense jungles, has been junked, one would like to believe that these monuments continued to be revered by local Khmer people always.

It is believed that the spatial dimensions of Angkor Wat Temple parallel the lengths of the four ages (Yuga) of Hindu thought. Thus the visitor to Angkor Wat who walks the causeway to the main entrance, is metaphorically travelling back to the first age of the creation of the universe. The central tower is Mount Meru, with its surrounding smaller peaks, bounded in turn by continents (the lower courtyards) and the oceans (the moat- Big Barray). The seven-headed naga (mythical serpent) becomes a symbolic rainbow bridge for humankind to reach the abode of the gods. To top it on 4 sides of the city there are bridges adorned with the statues of Devas (Gods) and Asuras (Demons) in the famous “Amrita Manthan” – Churning of sea to get the pot of nectar.

But what many people never realize till they reach Angkor is that Angkor Wat is just one of the many temples in the Angkor. Each temple is unique in its own way. I still dream of the unbelievable roots strangling the ruins of Ta Prohm and the 216 smiling, serene faces were carved onto gigantic towers at Bayon Buddhist temple. I fell in love with the smaller but uniquely built temple of Neak Pean , the entwined serpent . The entry to this temple was through A fascinating fact about all these temples is that unlike in India, existence of Buddhist statues with statues of Vishnu marks no contradiction or inconsistency in their beliefs. After all, Buddha was among the ten avataras of Vishnu.

Yes, all this was very impressive and spectacular. But even beyond temples, Siem Reap was a delightful place. Though we never managed to see the famed sunrise, the beautiful waterlilies and lotus in every pond on both sides of the road was a sight to behold. Equally charming was the Apsara (nymph) motif which was present everywhere. 

The roots of strangler fig tree were so dramatic and were adding to the romance of the place. Not to miss the unique TukTuk as our mode of transport was superb. Luckily for us, mostly during our stay it was a light drizzle or overcast. While it may have affected the dramatic pictures adversely, it was great help to me in climbing those innumerable stairs of temples and other complexes.

Garden Diaries: November (Winter is here!)

“Welcome sweet November, the season of senses and my favorite month of all.”

                                                                            ― Gregory F. Lenz
It seems bit late to welcome November. Yes, the month went by in a jiffy. It was a happy month, as I was traveling to the lands full of waterlilies and coconuts. I saw some beautiful countries and some stunning scenery. But that will be subject of a different post, hopefully soon. By the time I was back to my garden it was already mid-November and finally the arrival of winter was very apparent. If in nothing else the hundreds of Chrysanthemums made it sure that we know about the arrival of flower-season.

My Magenta Mums

A newbie gardener friend asked me the other day, how do I pick colour of flowers while planting seedlings. I had told him earlier that I grow most of my seedlings from seeds saved from last year. I had no response to his question. I do not do colour wise sorting of seeds. Very honestly, I just look at the seedlings and say – “Now come on, surprise me!”.  More often than not, they do. So this time the Mums planted from the cuttings of last year in one long flowerbed turn out to be of same colour…. surprise! The flowerbed made up of bubble-gum striped Petunias (pink and white), Asters (purple, white and pinks) and now, Mums of predominantly magenta   looks very different from what I imagined while planting these. To add some more colour, I have now put a line of Calendulas and Dahlias in it. I hope they will even out this predominance of pinks.

Salvia on the contrary, surprised me in a different way. Other than the usual classic red, this time I am lucky to have at least 6 more colours of purple, yellow and white in my garden. There is one orange colour flower with white inside. It made my heart jump with joy.

 Last year I spent some anxious days planning what to plant in two flowerbeds that are below the big mango tree and thus in shade mostly. I could only think of Cineraria. While it did flower there finally, I had to wait till almost February to see some flowers. This year, I am experimenting with Impatiens for the first time. I had planted them just before I left for my vacation and now- in almost a month, they are already showing a flower here and two there.  I have seen Impatiens in other countries many times but for my garden this is a first. So far it shows promise. It is so difficult to find shade loving plants that have flowers – so, I patently wait for my Impatiens to grow.  

Impatiens so far

Other than these, after months of fighting with earthworms, the lawn is now coming to normal. The other winter annuals- Pansies, geraniums, Cineraria, Antirrhinum (dog-flower), Nasturtiums and Marigolds are coming up nicely. After two unsuccessful attempts even pink cosmos plants are finally growing well behind a flower bed of Mums. In the seed trays – I still have ice plant, Helichrysum (Everlasting flower) and larkspurs. I want to grow a lovely bed of purple larkspurs for a friend who loves them. Though she is not in the same city, I am sure she will be delighted to see images of my garden with larkspur, if I am successful in growing them.

The real delight of coming back home after two weeks was in the vegetable garden. Our radishes are ready to be consumed- white as milk and juicy to the core . Spinach, fenugreek leaves (Methi) and tomatoes are also almost there. Cabbages and carrots are growing well and though I don’t eat them Brinjals are available in plenty. My two Amla trees are full of Amla (gooseberry) and it makes the yummiest of   chutney.

In the early days of November, soon after Diwali, Delhi and region around it faced terrible bout of air pollution and smog. It had reached hazardous level in Delhi NCR but had some effect even in Jaipur. Now that we are back of the bright sunny days and almost blue sky, we should be thankful. Every morning, when I read the news of thousands of birds dying in Sambhar Lake, it pains me. We do not realize the value of clear water, blue sky, birds and flowers, till we don’t have them anymore. I think a gardener can truly appreciate the value of these things and be grateful for them. I feel grateful for each plant that is blooming in the garden, each dose of fertilizer that is nourishing them and each bird and squirrel that comes to share my garden.

Garden Diaries: October (Desperate for Winter)

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

― L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

I truly appreciate the sentiment of the quote above. During my travel abroad, I have seen the glory of autumn when every leaf turn yellow, red or orange. It is just a riot of colours and such  a lovely transition from summer to winter. In US , the celebration of Halloween also comes during the month and Pumpkins of all sizes are decorated.

Octobers in India are not like that. They are, however, lovely in their own ways. In India also this is usually the month of festivities of Navrati , Dussehra and then Deepawali. For me October is a month of sweet-winter sunshine, lovely mornings and planting of winter annuals. As long as I remember, we have been planting our seedlings in October for winter flowers.

But then, there is climate change. It is so real and obvious now that one third of the October is already gone and the monsoon is still around. The millipedes are still digging up my lawns and the clouds dutifully turn up every now and then. The impatient me , is desperate for the change of weather but the day temperature refuses to drop. In the sunny days, it is quite hot and the cloudy days are even worse. The mornings, though cooler than before, have not reached the level of typical October mornings.  The rains have overstayed their welcome and continue to flood my flowerbeds.

Yet, unable to stop myself, I have planted some asters, petunias and salvias so far and I am waiting for rains to go completely before I venture further with marigolds and calendulas, Pansies, Nasturtiums and daisies. I have also put seeds for some cosmos and cineraria and hope that the weather Gods will oblige a dip in temperature to make germination possible.

Luckily, despite the continued heat and rains, Mums are doing fine and finally Balsam is flowering.  Last weekend I also attempted planting some Geraniums in pots and I hope they survive the weather. Same day, I also planted my Petunia stars. It was a nice sunny day and then by the noon, the clouds started gathering. It rained cats and dogs for about an hour. Petunias (much like me) do not like their feet wet. But thanks to the rains, the bed was flooded. Luckily since then, it has not rained and plants have managed to survive the onslaught.

On one such humid Sunday, I found a golden oriole on a tree nearby. I had never seen this pretty yellow bird and was mesmerised by its appearance and its song.  The Green Bee eaters are always roaming around and the kingfisher is often seen in the afternoons on his usual tree. On one Sunday, in an hour, I found Coppersmith barbets, Plum faced parakeets, Grey Hornbill and even a Blue Roller.  But to make my heart glad, about a few days back my favorite family of spotted owlet flew back. The three of them are now often seen enjoying the sun on the neem tree. The other delightful news is about the peahen, who has chosen the roof of our guard room to lay her eggs. She is usually sitting there whole day and only steps down early morning to get some food.

For the waterlilies, our little experiment of burying 8 water tanks in the ground around fountain seems to have worked.   So far, it is only an occasional waterlity or two , but I do hope that in winter months, there will be much more beauty in my little ponds.

In absence of seasonal flowers, plants like Anthurium (Flamingo flower), Mussaenda and some kalanchoes are my saviours. They break the monotony of green and make the garden look happy.

October also turn out to be a busy month for sowing vegetables and filling up patches of hedge . Now that I will be travelling half of next month, I want to complete the work in garden a lot more impatiently. 

Garden Diaries : September (Come September)

“For all I can really do is

stand here

in September’s rain

savoring…

soaking it all in

slipping..

and simply

holding on to poetry

for dear life.”

        ― Sanober Khan, Turquoise Silence

September generally brings respite from the wreckage of rains and the news of upcoming winters. But not this time. Intermittent rains continue to bless the garden and usually the weather is warm and humid. Generally, this weather is good for sowing and thus I took my chance with some winter annuals. But then Rains lashed out on the seeds and ruined them. Mistake . Big mistake. Or should I say my impatience which led to this. But I think when you are a gardener you do at times make this mistakes and then you learn from them. So as of now, except from Mums, no other winter annuals yet planted. With some effort lawn grass has improved but much remains to be done.

Colours of Hibiscus

 There is very little colour in the garden except from Hibiscus – my showgirls of this dull season. I have five colours of Hibiscus and all are on bloom right now. They are found everywhere in Asia and are commonly used for various purposes. My mother in law use red hibiscus for Puja and I have tasted Hibiscus tea, which is supposed to be very good to cure/ control various ailments. Portulaca bravely continue to add flowers but frankly it does not charm anyone except our resident red wattle Lapwing.

Portulaca bed and our resident bird 

But then, a garden is much more than just flowers. Even though flowers remain my favorite element in the garden, today I will discuss about other plants. Last year I planted some herbs in my garden and was moderately successful in growing Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Lemongrass and Carom. At the moment Basil, Lemongrass and Carom are growing like anything and the other two are not doing too well. Though till last month even they were doing fine. I keep on searching new use of these herbs in my kitchen. Mint (pudina) ,tulsi ( holy basil), curry leaves and coriander are anyway staples in any Indian kitchen garden, for our recipes can’t do without them. We are lucky to have Giloy creeper and some Aloe vera plants as well. In winters, I am determined this time to experiment with more herbs. The thing with herbs is that they are useful and it makes growing them even more delight.

Herbs - Carom, Basil , Rosemary and Lemongrass

Other than herbs, there are always some crotons which add to the delight of the garden. Recently a friend and me spent half a weekend discussing how to landscape evergreen crotons and coleuses in shades to add some colours. We have carried some of these plants with us from our previous city. One can count on these and plants like African Grass, Jade, Asparagus densiflorus,snake plant, money plant etc. to remain green and nice, whatever be the weather. That is why these are my choices even for indoor small planters, which I keep in my house as well as in my office room.

Though this month is not the best for garden, in terms of flowers, we already have dragonflies and butterflies doing rounds on remaining cosmoses and other plants. Snails and worms, which end up being dinner for the family of enterprising Hoopoe and Peacock also are in plenty. This year I learnt much about behaviour of the birds with change in weather. It is a pleasure to look for birds after rain has stopped.

I have four scented creepers in my house and at the moment all are on bloom. While Bela, Juhi and Chameli are all white scents , Rangoon creeper (madhumalti) adds colour as well as faint fragrance in the evenings.

I think the rains will finally stop by the end of the month and then the fall cleaning will commence in October. There is so much to look forward to in the days to come. 

Garden Diaries: August (The Magical Monsoon)

“And at last it comes. You hear a patter…you see a leaf here and there bob and blink about you; you feel a spot on your face, on your hand. And then the gracious rain comes, gathering its forces—steady, close, abundant. Lean out of window, and watch, and listen. How delicious!...........the verandah beneath losing its scattered spots in a sheet of luminous wet; and, never pausing, the close, heavy, soft-rushing noise…”

~ John Richard Vernon, “The Beauty of Rain,” 1863

Finally, the Rain-Gods were happy. The city was blessed with beautiful rains, turning my garden into a riot of green shades. The flowers are damaged with incessant rain and wind and the weeds are everywhere. I wanted to work on my lawn grass before the rain starts but as many good things in life, it was delayed and well, now I will rush. There are some uneven patches which I would like to mend and the gaps in hedges which can be easily filled during rainy season.  With more rains came the millipedes and the problem of waterlogging in plant-beds. There was so much work in the garden to just clean and de-weed.

Adenium in Rain

Rains is a lovely period for a garden. You can grow almost all possible perennials and creepers. Rangoon creeper and Heart-leaved moonseed (Giloy) sprang to life with the touch of raindrops. The leaves have filled the bamboo fencing with our neighbouring house. The evergreen plants like money-plant and crotons are showing new leaves and rain lilies are the pride of the garden.

This weather made me lazy and for many days I did not even think about the vegetable beds. Finally we get an expert for treatment of soil and hope that by end of August, the kitchen garden will be ready to grow seasonal vegetables.

"Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans."

                                                              -Marcelene Cox

August turned out to be an interesting month for the birds. We are witnessing a baby boom in the garden as there are nests and eggs all around. The young ones of doves, pigeons, bulbuls are now learning the ways of the world from their elders and the baby peacock is all grown up. The pair of peacock and peahen frequent our garden almost every other day.  And the new adult peacock one day literally knocked on our glass door . It turned out it was charmed by its own reflection in the glass and perhaps wanted to touch the 'other' bird . It persistently knocked on the door and made a very fascinating sight . 

Knock Knock- Peacock 

The other day I saw a pair of Greater Coucal roaming in the lawns. The news of the month however,  is that on last Sunday morning, in the rain soaked garden, I was finally able to click the resident Kingfisher . And while my delight was still new, the very next day,  a full contingent of Kingfisher family, with four cute baby birds in tow,  was found frolicking in my garden . 

Oriental White Breasted Kingfisher

Monsoon sky is a sight to relish. Evening sky showcase so many hues of red and orange and then it turns into the deepest shade of blue-black. With the patterns of clouds changing every moment , I can sit and watch the sky for hours . Even in the nighttime , clouds play with the moon and stars and create amazing nightscapes. The only thing missing so far is a rainbow .  

Evening sky after rains 

I am not sure whether this is already the time to sow winter annuals' seeds or wait till the best of rains are over. Reason says it should be latter. My gardeners suggest that it is already time for early annuals like salvia and marigold to go for sowing . Chrysanthemum plants saved from last year are already up for their first round of pinching . I am also determined to try some new flowers in the upcoming winters. 
 Other than this and the need for always cleaning the garden beds , it is just the magic of monsoon all around . And when it rains, one can just savor the delight of it, preferably with the fritters of your choice. 

Monsoon and the display of green 

As wisely said – 

For after all, the best thing one can do

When it is raining, is to let it rain.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Tales of a Wayside Inn, 1863

Garden Diaries: July (Arrival of Rains)

 In the harsh season of the hot sun

Men and animals alike languish

While the pine burns

The cuckoo unlocks his voice and in quick accord

Both dove and goldfinch sing along

----Sonnet of the Summer Concerto Antonio Vivaldi

As if following an ancient calendar, clouds arrived in my city on the first day of Hindu month of Ashadh. Centuries back, Sanskrit poet Kalidas had begun his famous poem Meghdutam (Cloud messenger) by narrating arrival of clouds on this day. It rained well for two days, pleasing all of us around. The plants half burnt in heat, were suddenly alive, the lawn turned green and the rain lilies bloomed. Even the peacock danced more often than earlier.

The happiness was short-lived. After 2-3 showers, while the weather remained humid and sultry, there were no more rains. But the weather decidedly moved towards better and the rain soaked breeze stayed on till now. The temperature is down by several points and there is humidity in air. It might be very distressing for humans but humidity is great for the garden. Within days, Rajnigandha plants flowered and even the seedlings of Gulmehndi(Balsom) came out like magic.

After the rains 

The next two months belong to green-ness and the white scents. We have Juhi, Rajnigandha  and bela blooming and the entire garden is enveloped in green . Sadly this also means weeds in the lawn and there is no escape from that. A considerable time goes in weeding and weeding again. Scents of course make the air fragrant, especially in the evenings.

Rajnigandha- the fragrance of the rains 

The birds to seems too have found their voices back. In fact early mornings are full of their chirping. So usually around 6 am, I have koel singing on mango tree, Peacock screaming from far away and parrots talking all around. To add to this melody, I have put a metal chime on the frangipani tree in the centre of my lawn. The concerto is superb …that is if you have an ear for these unique garden melodies.

For flowers , I have nothing much to boast right now. Zinnias and Cosmos continue to delight and there are plenty of colorful Portulacas to add charm and colour in the flower beds. Now, here is the funny thing about flowers , it is very interesting how they spread geographically. Historically, tuberose or Rajnigandha is native of Mexico (Aztecs used it first to decorate their house ) and is now an integral part of every floral perfume of Europe( including supposedly Queen Marie Antoinette's perfume called Sillage de La Reine ) . It is also used extensively in weddings or funeral decorations in India  and so on. Even my petite Portulaca are native of  South America( Argentina and Brazil )and are now used all over the world . I have already discussed in previous post about the incredible journey of sunflowers across the globe . Talking of sunflowers,  I was worried that arrival of rains will be end of my glorious crop of sunflowers. But no- I still have plenty of them despite rains and more importantly, despite the families of parakeets. 

Portulaca beds

 Parakeets somehow, seem to be more interested in now almost-ripe mangoes and are always attacking them. At times they also drop the half eaten fruit for the benefit of other creatures of the garden you are not daring enough to go to the upper branches of the tree . 

A plum face parakeet going to attack a mango 

 Interestingly the first day of showers also brought a pair of Black-rumped Flame back and a bunch of little green bee-eaters to my garden.  The flameback or the woodpecker in layman words are beautiful birds and have found a place in Amla tree. There are many younger birds around, including a little baby peacock, who roams under her mother near the hedges and pond. There are several nests with eggs or little birds in them. I even had a cuckoo nest with blue eggs but duly warned by a bird-enthusiast, I never dared to go too near.

Black-rumped Flame back 

This month among the surprised pleasures in the garden – I had two plants of Blood lily (football lily) which suddenly flowered. And just after that, an adenium of dark maroon colour flowered like never before.

Adenium 

I am praying for more rains in the days to come so that I have lilies and more fragrant flowers. I am also determined to grow some vegetables this time. Let’s see what August has in store.  

Garden Diaries- June (Sunny days)

Green was the silence, wet was the light, the month of June trembled like a butterfly.    

                   - Pablo Neruda 

No, the light was not wet at all, in my part of the world. It was dry and blazing sun. Comparatively, the garden was silent – as the birds and squirrels were too hassled with heat. Yet the month of June arrived and is almost half done.

 Yellow was the dominated colour this month. The sunshine was bright since early hours and there were plenty of Coreopsis (Tickseeds) and Cosmos all around the flower beds. Even the hedges were turning yellowish green with the mercury rising to 46 degrees. Of, course there were Amaltas flowers spreading a carpet of yellow on green grass every morning but none of these were the crowning glory of the month. The month fairly and squarely belongs to my sun-enchanted, tall giant Russian Sunflowers. Even when I got the seeds, I was not sure how tall they will be. By the time flowering started, the plants were a good 7 ft  tall and had a thick stem to support multitude of big flowers …….and then, they bloomed.

 Sunflowers, in all their golden glory, are a happy sight to behold— they can brighten up a dull day for me. I always fancied a bunch of sunflowers in a tall vase by the window. But in my childhood, we mostly had smaller varieties of sunflowers, which were easy to grow and gave plenty of flowers. Few years back when I was passing through north Karnataka on a work assignment, I saw fields of sunflower plants. They made an incredibly beautiful sight. It was like a flood of yellow for miles together. Since then, I wanted to grow big sunflowers in my garden. This was my first experiment with Russian Giants and I am elated with the result. There is so much to admire about these lovely flowers.  The multipurpose plants deliver healthy snacks (seeds), useful oil, and attract numerous birds and bees. But that is not all, they have a fascinating history and legend as well.

I may be happily growing them in South East Asia today, but like potatoes, tomatoes, and corn, these sunny plants came from the Americas, though the commercialisation happened in Russia first. Evidence suggests that the plant was cultivated by American Indians in present-day Arizona and New Mexico from about 3000 BC. Some archaeologists suggest that sunflower may have been domesticated even before corn. It was used traditionally as food, medicine, dye, and oil. Spanish conquistadors exported it to the rest of the world (i.e. Europe) by around 1500. For next three centuries, the plant was spread all over Europe and was mostly used for decoration in vases. Talking of decorative sunflowers, it is difficult not to remember the famous Van Gogh paintings of sunflower in a vase or The Painter of Sunflowers, the painting by Paul Gauguin.

The credit of bringing these flowers to Russia goes to Tsar Peter the great. It is believed that he first saw sunflowers in Netherlands and was so fascinated by them that he took some back to Russia. By the 19th century, the country was planting two million acres of sunflowers every year. In 2018 also Russia remains the top grower of Sunflowers, followed by Argentina and China. Interestingly, evidence suggests that the plant got widespread approval in Russia not by the insistence of the Royalty but by the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church exempted the sunflower seed oil from the banned oils during the month of Lent.

History came to a full circle when Russian immigrants to USA in the 19th century brought back highly developed sunflower seeds that grew bigger blooms, and sparked a renewed interest in the native American plant. The native North American sunflower plant has finally come back home after a very circuitous route around the globe. Today in many states of US, they have sunflower competitions to measure the biggest ever flowers.

Talking about the global spread of sunflowers, thanks to space-gardener astronaut Don Petite, who is famous for growing zucchini and Broccoli in space (at International Space Station), Sunflowers also reached space. Well, Mr. Petite came to an amusing (yet true) conclusion when the flower did not turn out as big and grown as its cousins back on earth. He concluded that “plants are like people. They are intrinsically lazy and, they only put out as much effort as the environment requires.” I could not agree more.

Ah, Sunflower! Weary of time 

Who countest the steps of the Sun 

Seeking after that sweet golden clime 

Where the traveller's journey is done…

                    --William Blake 

Coming back to my own garden, the flowers started very slowly and then there was an unparalleled bloom of yellow all around, with one plant supporting as many as a dozen flowers. Well, it went all fine, till a pandemonium of parrots discovered their location and then the nightmare started. The flock ruined some plants within seconds till I drove them out. Luckily, I have many more plants which survived this vandalism. Incidentally, each sunflower's head is made of smaller flowers. The petals we see around the outside are called ray florets. Sunflowers can self-pollinate or take pollen blown by the wind or transported by insects. The flowers not only look like the sun; they need a lot of it. And what is more, they track sun-  a behaviour called heliotropism.  The flower buds and young blossoms will face east in the morning and follow the sun as the earth moves during the day.

What is even more interesting is that these amazing flowers are nature’s prettiest demonstration of famous Fibonacci sequence,a set in which each number is the sum of the previous two (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, ...). This sequence is nature’s favourite as it is found in everything from pineapples to pine cones. In the case of sunflowers, the tell-tale sign is the number of different seed spirals on the sunflower's face. If you count the clockwise and counter clockwise spirals that reach the outer edge, and you'll usually find a pair of numbers from the sequence: 34 and 55, or 55 and 89 , I think it is so because the nature strives to accommodate maximum possible spirals in the available space and this sequence is the most efficient way to achieve this.

Now, before it appears that my garden had nothing but sunflowers during the month, let me quickly add that to break the monotony of yellow all around, my brave little Zinnias continue to provide a colourful spread. They are impossibly pretty and even in this terrible heat give a glimpse of meadow like scene – with butterflies fluttering on them.

This month was exceptionally cruel for poor birds. Global warming is absolutely real and the temperature was soaring – making poor creatures of my garden, queue up to the water pots I have kept for them. In the afternoons, the sight is so dramatic when birds of various species flock together to jump in the water pot for a quick splash. Even my favourite owlet family is often seen near these water pots.

It is almost middle of the month and yet, no showers. Monsoon has actually arrived in other parts of India and I do hope it reaches us soon.