Spring, finally is in the air

Finally, winter lifts its blanket and unveils the curtain to reveal the long-waited colours of spring!!! As I had written before, nature had already started early on to lay out its radiant colour palette this year, and the environment became soft with a southern mild breeze, fresh in the early and later part of the day. Although, post-global warming, the midday sun has attained much warmer temperatures then expected. Still, with the singing of cuckoos, the welcoming mango blossoms around, much loved burst of bougainvilleas, fucshia, pink and yellow and the blooming of gold-yellow marigolds, large and small continue to amaze and arouse our mind and soul. Like many places of tropical sun and rain, the day passed in a festive mood draped in spring colours and flower ornaments. 

Colour schemes set for the arrival of Spring 2012

I have always spoken of marking the seasonal changes, nothing is more noteworthy then the youthful blush of spring. As you look around you can feel the change in the air, in the mild breeze, in the sun coming up and getting brighter, and the temperature getting warmer. Everything seems to be opening up and getting ready to welcome the tropical spring. Most of all, the colours, they seem to be so radiant, so fresh, the mauve, pink, fuchsia-magenta shades in the many different kind of flowers, starting from chrysanthemums, to dahlias, large petunias and how can one not mention the fiery colour spray of the fuchsia bougainvillea bracts as if they just told their leaves, "we don't need you now, during the spring burst". This is the time for pollination and the time for the colour pigments to hit their seasonal high, they need to attract the bees, hummingbirds and other insects. Biologists have been continuously studying these pigments of vast interest, they are so many in number and so amazing. During the fall and spring, the pigments lay out their colour palette, bringing the brilliant hue of the fall and spring. It's not the pigment, green chlorophyll nor the red-yellow carotenoids, its mostly the anthocyanins, a subgroup of flavonoids responsible for the spectacular colours of red-purple-mauve-pink-fuchsia-magenta. Would you believe the same chrysanthemum plant, that had white flowers during the foggy winter days without sunlight, is now covered with the purple-mauve flowers!! It's been studied that in the white flowers, the pigment is broken down by an enzyme and now in the presence of sunlight, the mauve pigment accumulates. The pigments, as we know, absorb specific wave lengths of light and reflect specific ones that give their visible colour. They are important for protecting the flowers-fruits-plants from UV and photodestruction by the sun rays, besides setting the ground for pollination attracting insects with their bright colours. The other vital pigments are chlorophyll, the green pigment and the many red-yellow carotenoids, which are mostly responsible for photosynthesis, the food making in plants, besides photoprotection. These are the wonders of nature, happening since billions of years, yet we remain ignorant even as we pass by them on a daily basis. The least we can do is admire the beauty displayed by them and their splendid treat of colours all around!!!

Roses are truly Red, but they have other colours to offer too

This is the final pleasure treat of our tropical winter. Yes, our roses are finally blooming. My mother always had a corner for roses in her garden and I have watched them grow since my childhood. I also tried planting them in our garden in early summer, for them to bloom in late summer when I lived in the west. Then, I tried to include them in my pot plant garden collection on the rooftop. During my moves I had to part with them, giving them away to my dear friends. Now, I have finally added them here again, this time and they have been kind enough to bring about a wonderful bloom right away, after three months of preparing, feeding, cleaning, pruning and weeding. Yes, they do need love and care, but they have a lot to offer, warmth, smiles and lots of joy. Just watch them closely, each one of them as they open up into large full blown roses, slowly but carefully. Their colours are just simple, alluring beauty.  Some are soft, as a touch of gentle dew, others are bright, as in bright, happy red, still others are a deeper romantic red. Some of them bloom as a single "solitaire", looking just like a solid colour of smooth marzipan, others are packed dense petals and keep on opening up as if unwrapping mystery. Some of them fold their petals neatly, working meticulously, as they open up. Their blossoms also differ, some they say "bloom like a fool", all of them together, and the climbing bush is filled with large rose buds, all ready to open up simultaneously while there are other small shrubs that bloom continously, one group after the other. Watch their colours and textures as they are lined up here, they are just breathtaking, each "a piece of beauty, bringing joy forever" !!

Waiting for the vines to bloom as Orange Jasmines, bloom through the tropical winter

This year our tropical winter has been draped early in dense fog with a cold spell for weeks, then mild warm,  then raining, then chilly again with a cold spell and  may be, mild warm will follow, thus is it has been, up and down and so have been the flower blossoms in our tiny collection. The phlox and asters flourished inititally and the marigolds were steady and handsome from the beginning and continuing sturdily with form and colour. But the 'mums' got stuck on the way and blossomed slowly. After all of this, finally, the Dahlias simply bloomed taking a grand approach. But interestingly during all this we found that the lovely green remained in the shrubs and plants as the fog and rain took away most of the dust. All of them though survived the harsh foggy, cold spell, chill rain in their own way. They all but loved the mild sun, which appeared from time to time and helped them through. I saw the flower buds in the Flame vines aproaching for the first time this year and also in the "night jasmines-Queen of the night", the plants know more than us when its time for the change. But guess what! The orange jasmines have now, also bloomed through the tropical winter. They don't bloom in the real hard winter and come in the springtime but here they blossomed several time throughout the year. Their orange like sweet fragrance was simply alluring and the flowers look just divine. The shrub is an evergreen variety and the green is truly an olive one-take a close look!