Snug as a bug in a ...bud

I was going through the set of pictures I took last morning when I saw this one- a set of tine pink flowers, barely three millimetres wide and extremely  pretty. In this picture I noticed what looked like a tiny bug. 

A closer look revealed a bug that was snugly ensconced in the bud that had flowered just moments ago. Very routinely, when you go through pictures taken at very close range, you notice things in the picture that you didn't while you took the photograph. This was one such happy surprise

The blooming of a powder puff flower

We have all, in all probability seen this flower, popularly called the powder puff flower. As a kid, I've wondered how the bunch of stamens would look like in the bud form.
I recently got a chance to see this first hand and here is a look for you too.

If you notice in the right bottom of this picture you'll see a green bud, made of tiny green beads. Each of those grow and split open to reveal a single bunch of stamens, looking wonderful against the green of the beads.

This then opened up further to make more room for each of the stamens to bloom. At this stage each set of stamens is coiled into a form that loosely resembles a rose bud

In full bloom, there's room for each stamen to stand tall and here is when you see the powder puff in all its glory!

If you see minutely, each stamen too makes a pretty picture. More stamens, more chance for pollen and pollination. 

These wonderful flowers are in bloom from December till April every year. For the technically inclined, they are part of the Mimosaceae (Touch me not) family and the botanical name is Calliandra Haemacephala

good morning grasshopper!

On my usual jaunt taking pictures of flowers early morning at Tambudki, Bardez at Goa, and I came across this tiny (less than 2 cm) grasshopper on this flower. While the colour makes it stand out, notice how the wings mimic a formations of a leaf!
I also thought the dabs of green, melon red and yellow made for a good colour palette. What do you think?
PS: Look carefully and you can also notice another bug, still getting out of slumber from inside a cozy flower.

Doing the dew: 2 - Early morning at Pavna

Another dew drenched bud catching the first rays of the sun at Pavna. Glorious, isn't it?

Doing the dew

I notice that dew settles differently on different plants and flowers. Here's a tiny bottlebrush, early this morning. Doing the dew.

Starting a new series: 'Opening Today' buds waiting to bloom

I was going through my catch of the day (we are at Pavna for a holiday and everyday I hook up the memory card into the computer and look at my catch of the day) and sighted this lovely bud, about to bloom.
So here, I'm, starting a new series called 'Opening Today' all about buds waiting to bloom.

The Shamrock in full bloom!

The Shamrock is in full bloom and it's a treat to see this plant with purple leaves and tiny very delicate flowers. To see how they look before they fully bloom check out the earlier picture here  http://reach4sachin.blogspot.in/2010/05/our-happy-shamrock.html

Bees and pollen baskets

This is another amazing facet of nature. Pollination - the critical intersection between the animal world and the plant world, the moment when life regenerates itself  - is something that happens as a by product of bees collecting pollen!

The back legs of bees have small indentations called pollen baskets. The bee uses its front legs to brush and comb the pollen to make it compact and fit into the basket, till it reaches the hive. Once here, it will remove the pollen from the baskets and store it in the honeycomb. Pollen, mixed with nectar/honey is stored for baby bees to feed on till they become pupae!

Here are two bees, one from Allahabad and the other from Bangalore with filled pollen baskets!

bee pollinating a white passion flower. fascinating!

It is absolutely fascinating how nature works.
Here's a bee pollinating a white passion flower (passiflora subpeltata). Notice how the pollen laden stamens are angled just so that the pollen rubs off on the bee and can easily get transferred on to the pistils!
There are about 300 known varieties of this vine and the white passiflora has been classified as a invasive/ pest. It does bear passion fruit, but the ones on this variant are'nt edible.

which flower is this?

you will never give this flower a second glance unless you happen to look at it closely. it is the flower of the corriander plant. very beautiful indeed

the oxalis flowers!

wonderful surprise this morning!

the oxalis we've had for the last eight months or so flowered for the first time. it was very exciting as i got this sapling after looking for it at several places and trying to propogate it from a colleagues plant. the sapling gave me lots of tense moments as it looked very unhappy and didnt grow well for a couple of months.

after changing spots, for different levels of sunlight and watering finally it looked happy with new leaves et al a month ago. so seeing the flowers was a great feeling.

drenched

finally the rains are here. after weeks of stifling heat and drying plants, this is one of our pointsettia plants drenched in one of the first showers.

our happy shamrock

we first sighted a shamrock plant a couple of months ago, we called it butterfly because of how it looked. the guy at the nursery didnt part with it as it was his last one and he needed it to propogate more saplings.
we found one in a nursery on the way back from karjat, it is and looks very delicate, and so we were a little worried when we repotted it.
we noticed some buds a couple of days ago. and now our shamrock flowers are blooming. positive sign that it has settled and is happy

newfound passion for gardening: our cactus

have discovered gardening. and its been a complete revealation. you're likely to see and read a lot about it , and frequently. begining now. here's a top view of the cactus, planted in our old buttermilk jug. its happy and reaching for the stars