Singapore daisy on concrete

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Grass nest

A spotted munia pair have built their nest in our hanging garden. Unlike the previous nests this time they've converted a live grass into a nest. Hoping to get better shots of the nest in future.

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Canna flowers n pods

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papaya buds-n-flowers

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woven leaves red-ant hive

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Singapore cherry

This little red fruit is liked by some birds and bats. The tree is usually umbrella shaped and provides a nice shade. It sheds a lot of leaves which decays quite quickly enriching the soil around the tree.

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cucumber flower

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Banana sapling to bunch

This banana sapling arrived from Sirsi along with a canna sapling on Nov 2nd. I planted them in the narrow open space at the edge of our apartment's parking space. The soil was contaminated with construction waste. I removed cement chunks, pieces of brick and pebbles. The soil was mainly charged up naturally with organic waste, which is a slow process.

Nov 3 2022

One morning, a few days after the second anniversary of planting, the plant was just growing taller but no sign of flower. Normally a banana plant bears fruit in a year's time. I had a thought of cutting it down and planting something else. It so happened Pushpa noticed a bud protruding from the stalk. I dropped the idea and continued watering like before.

Jan 22 2025

We would check the flower frequently which transformed into tender banana hands. Development was slow. By mid December 2024 the banana stalk had taken a nice shape. However I knew it was a long way to harvesting it. On March 9th morning we checked the stalk and saw a couple of yellow bananas. That's when we decided to harvest it.

Mar 9 2025

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Amaryllis Lily

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Aloe vera flower

This is the second time this aloe vera plant has flowered in the past two or three years. I guess it flowers once a year. The flower transforms into pods, each pod containing one seed.

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Bee sucking nectar from Tulasi flower

On a rainy morning, a honeybee sucks nectar from a Tulasi flower.

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a cluster of Samanea saman trees

This ancient cluster of rain trees occupies a big triangular area right besides Kalghatgi road in Saraswatpur locality. Within the cluster is a govt school which is completely concealed by the trees. Decades ago Saraswatpur was 80% vegetation and 20% buildings & roads. There were tiled-roof bungalows completely surrounded by trees and plants. Presently, a number of bungalows have made way to apartments and muti-storied buildings, and in the process vegetation has vanished. I just hope this cluster of Samanea saman trees are around for many more years if not decades.

Rain tree flowers are unique with needle like petals.

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Zigzag twigs of bird eye chili plant

Here's a collage of a Jeerige Menasina Gida ~ bird eye chilli plant and twigs. This plant is approximately two years old. Since it is planted in a small planter there's not much growth, it's about 18" high. Once a chilies are harvested from a branch, the branch starts drying out. I happened to notice the twigs zig-zag formation which is quite interesting.

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a few floral shots of Mar-16th

Balsam

Kaama Kasturi

Crape Jasmine

Hibiscus

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yellow cucumber creeper

Yellow cucumber seeds thrown in a planter sprouted and grew into little creepers. One of the creepers has borne a few flowers as well.

The creeper's tendrils have held on to a steel bar hung on another planter. Within the coils of the spring are little insects which infect certain plants.

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shots of an African Tulip tree

The 50' tall African Tulip tree next to our apartment is completely bare except these buds, two flowers and two or three pods. These pictures were shot with a Canon 600D & EFS 55-200 mm lens.

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early morning shots

This coco-bowl was placed on Tulasi plant as a bird-feeder. Pounded rice grains would be put into the bowl for the Bulbuls which frequent come here in search of food.

 

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Goldfish

This photo was shot on the new years day of 2008 at a popular restaurant of Dharwad.

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Hakkaraki Pallya

Hakkaraki is one of the edible plants. It's leaves can be eaten raw, goes well with jolada rotti. It has a slightly bitter taste and said to be good for health. Hakkaraki grows on its own during rainy season i.e. June to September. It's usually found in black soil fields. Farmers rarely grow it as a commercial crop.

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a 250YO Ficus

While browsing Google Maps around Dharwad, I happened to notice a spot marked as "250 years old Banyan tree." A user had uploaded a few pictures and a video of the tree. The tree looked huge and curiosity took over. The spot was under 5 km from my place, on the eastern side, situated in black soil fields. I decided to go there by cycle.

May 5, 2023. I left home around 5-40 am. The route passed through several housing layouts behind JSS campus and enters the rural part. The route shown on Google Maps was accessible except for one part. Early morning air was refreshing, no traffic on the road, it was peaceful. The tree is about a 100 meters from the road, a dirt path went right upto the tree.

The tree is situated in a private property. Letting the grow bigger in agricultural land was a noble gesture by the land owner. The tree trunk is surrounded by several aerial roots which have transformed into several trunks. The leaves were oval shaped and velvety. Its a Ficus. Oddly I couldn't hear any birds in the tree.

Meanwhile, Sun had just risen over the horizon.

The little structure below the tree seems like a house of the land owner. Bottles and other trash lay in a pile next to the wall. Looks like this house is a late evening meeting joint. I think the previous owners of this land had larger holdings hence they let the tree grow. As the property was passed down from generation to generation, the area reduced. This building here seems like a recent construction, probably the owner is a young chap with less regard for Nature. Had the owner cared for the tree, that building wouldn't be sitting there. 

Also with changes in agricultural practices, oxen have made way for tractors. Tractors damage aerial roots which in turn affects the tree's expansion. I feel this tree may not grow further unless human activities around the tree's base is banned.

Remembering the Big Banyan Tree near Bengaluru... I saw it first early 80s. We had walked under the tree's branches, touching its countless aerial roots spread over four acres. In the 90s the tree was pretty much the same, we had noticed a few dying trunks. Late 90s a fence was erected along the perimeter. Ideally there should've been a buffer space between the tree's edge and the fence. The buffer space might have let the tree expand further. Sadly, most officials in-charge of tree protection cannot visualize the future and take action which serves the purpose for the day. I hope, one day humans become caring about trees, especially the trees which have been mentioned in ancient Hindu legends and scriptures.

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