sweet distractions

a heart-shaped stone

plant growing out of a sea shell

Why Did My Plant Die? ~ Geoffrey B. Charlesworth

You walked too close. You trod on it.
You dropped a piece of sod on it.

 You hoed it down. You weeded it.
You planted it the wrong way up.
You grew it in a yogurt cup
But you forgot to make a hole;
The soggy compost took its toll.
September storm. November drought.
It heaved in March, the roots popped out.
You watered it with herbicide.
You scattered bonemeal far and wide.
Attracting local omnivores,
Who ate your plant and stayed for more.
You left it baking in the sun
While you departed at a run
To find a spade, perhaps a trowel,
Meanwhile the plant threw in the towel.
You planted it with crown too high;
The soil washed off, that explains why.
Too high pH. It hated lime.
Alas it needs a gentler clime.
You left the root ball wrapped in plastic.
You broke the roots. They're not elastic.
You walked too close. You trod on it.
You dropped a piece of sod on it.
You splashed the plant with mower oil.
You should do something to your soil.
Too rich. Too poor. Such wretched tilth.
Your soil is clay. Your soil is filth.
Your plant was eaten by a slug.
The growing point contained a bug.
These aphids are controlled by ants,
Who milk the juice, it kills the plants.
In early spring your garden's mud.
You walked around! That's not much good.
With heat and light you hurried it.
You worried it. You buried it.
The poor plant missed the mountain air:
No heat, no summer muggs up there.
You overfed it 10-10-10.
Forgot to water it again.
You hit it sharply with the hose.
You used a can without a rose.
Perhaps you sprinkled from above.
You should have talked to it with love.
The nursery mailed it without roots.
You killed it with those gardening boots.
You walked too close. You trod on it.
You dropped a piece of sod on it. 

a poem that's simply beautiful along with being beautifully simple

Morning Delights

Morning Glory Morning Delights...

 opening up....

in full glory....

 the show is done for now- flowers closing up as the evening sets..

beautiful bougainvillea

Bougainvillea is one plant which delights me very much on account of the diversities it presents. The stems are so tough and thorny (one little spike is sure to give you a couple of days of a swollen finger) while it's flowers are paper thin and are just as delicate as they are beautiful. Bougainvillea comes in a wide variety of colors; pink, white, yellow, peach, orange, red etc. However the most common colors are pink and white.

The bougainvillea you can see in the pics is one of the cuttings of a huge creeper growing in a nearby park. I got these cuttings saved when the monthly pruning was done but unfortunately I was not successful with its propagation. Any how they kept my little garden cheery for a week or so.

Morning Glory Follow Up

I've transplanted the morning glory that i propagated, in a separate pot and its doing fine...

It has already sprouted two beautiful little leaves and a tendril..

Successful Experiments

I tried propagating morning glory and Tabernaemontana divaricata (which we call safeda or chandni tree here in local terms) from herbaceous stem cuttings, and had excellent results.

 attractive bottles ;)

Inspite of all the discouraging content on the internet which says that propagating things without rooting hormones is mostly a failure, i had success WITHOUT it. I just put the cuttings in water and they sprouted roots. However you should keep in consideration that the stems are semi-hardwood- neither too old nor very young. Just a week or so old. This is because the mature stems find it difficult to adapt to the new medium and the young ones are too undeveloped for it.  I also find it better to peel off a little surface of the stems.

Morning Glory-initial stage

first root growths

mature roots ready to transplant

Chandni- initial stage

first root growths