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Queen of Summer



Bougainvillea!! Shrubs that add a lot of colour to the summer months! A native of South America, the bougainvillea is one plant that has really taken to the Indian climate.




Strictly speaking, the 'flower' is the small, white, well...flower- like thing you see in the picture. The surrounding bigger petal-like thing is some kind of a leaf variation. During summer, when the rest of the plants demand water, the bougainvillea shuns water. Excess watering encourages the green foliage. So, during the monsoon months here, this plant is just an ordinary, thorny shrub. There are some varieties with dual coloured leaves for such times...they look ornamental even when not in bloom (unfortunately, none in my collection).

Here's another beautiful bougainvillea .... where the flowers aren't visible.


One nice thing about the bougainvillea is that it can be grown in pots and trained to nice shapes. Since the plants are very hardy, available in 40-50 different types and resistant to pests, they are popular among gardeners and landscapists. Pruned bougainvillea in well maintained gardens look very aesthetic.

Speaking for our garden, our very modest collection of 5-6 colours also serve as a hedge....so, we have allowed them to be a little reckless! Even so, they look beautiful!

I remember reading about some botanical institute in the country (in Lucknow, I think... not so sure) where different types of bougainvillea are evolved and released for landscaping/ gardening purposes. You know someone actually names them too! I remember a couple of odd names..... 'Thimma', 'Wajid Ali Shah',....
One nice name I remember is 'Shubhra'.... for the white bougainvillea :)


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Comments

  1. Nanda Kishor B28 March, 2011

    very nicely written mam:):):):)
    I've posted my experience of Gokarna as you said...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Soumya28 March, 2011

    Thank you, Nanda Kishor.
    Righto! Next stop, 'Manada maatu' :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. ಆರು ಗ ಎ೦ಟುಗೊ!29 March, 2011

    namaskaara,
    aaraatappa idoo? nanda'andu e-mail id. mi0gaLaddu ka0Dattilye! haa0gE illiye comment'ide.
    baililiddeero?

    "Here's another beautiful bougainvillea .... where the flowers aren't visible. "
    idu sari'yo?

    ge0Ta.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Soumya29 March, 2011

    Namaskara GenTa :)
    You have actually taken the trouble to go thro' some old posts!
    You're right...I've not revealed my mail i-d. Yes, bayalilidde...unfortunately, not a very regular visitor/ commentator.
    Re. your last question... the actual flower in the bougainvillea is the small, white flower in groups of 3. The colourful, eleya haangippa thing is known as bract. The actual flowers are visible in single bract bougainvillea. In the double bracted ones, the flowers can't be seen...tumba bagadu huDukidare, you can see a very tiny, flower.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ಆರು ಗ ಎ೦ಟುಗೊ!01 April, 2011

    :( so sad ;) aldo! haangella hudkekka....

    if we find a blog good, we hav to go thru it :)

    BTW ningo English MA' yaa?

    Ge0Ta

    ReplyDelete
  6. ಆರು ಗ ಎ೦ಟುಗೊ!01 April, 2011

    enna blOgu noDyo0diri. hosa hosa ge0Tugo, etc haakuttaa irte. bailili elli iddi? "bare kare"liyo athavaa? elli? kookilu haakire kelto? :P
    register aaydeero?
    ge0Ta.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Soumya02 April, 2011

    Thanks, GeoTa! MA ella allappa!! Heenge...raja udaasinappaga hottu kaLavale geechuvadu :)
    Your blog is good...humourous..very homely to read the Havyaka language :)
    By the way...adallippa i-d ge message kaLsidde..bahusha sikkidille.
    Bayalinge (oppanandallo?) ondondari batte.. bandippaga comment maaDte..Register ayide...oppannana intimations enna inbox inge kelavu sarti battu.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yamini04 May, 2011

    Wonderful pics in a wonderful blog:)

    ReplyDelete

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