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| Rajnigandha/ Tube Rose |
In my last post, nearly four weeks ago, I'd shown you my Rajnigandha buds. And I've been meaning to write about the flowers, but my new job keeps me busy and the flowers have been slow to come. From the the first bud to the withering of the last flower, it has taken at least two months. They've been really slow but it's been well worth the wait.
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| Flowers Bloom One at a Time |
The cluster of buds, open one at a time, from the outside. And I think it took nearly a month for the first bud to bloom. The flowers aren't spectacular to look at. It's the fragrance that is absolutely irresistible. The scent is so heady, so intense, yet not cloying. I wish Blogger would allow me to post its scent for you. Let me at least post the link to a song about it, one of my favourite Hindi film songs - "Rajnigandha Phool Tumhare".
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| Night Bloomers |
For those who don't know, "Rajnigandha" loosely translates to "night-fragrant". The flowers open at night. It's a good choice for a moon garden. Rajnigandha or Tube Rose are bulbs that are suppose to bloom in summer, but I've been lucky. Of course, I've fed them quite a bit as I was told they need lots of nutrition.
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| Withered and Gone |
Every day as I reach home, I pass a flower bazaar fully stocked with Rajnigandha garlands. These garlands are very popular in India, especially at weddings. I think the flowers are known to have aphrodisiac properties. I read somewhere that they're also used in therapies, as they are amazing de-stressers. One long sniff of the flower filled me with calm and goodness.
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| Small Haul of Pink Mooli |
Apart from Rajnigandha, the recent highlights of my garden have been pink mooli and capsicum. While I thought pink mooli would be more attractive than the white ones, the white ones actually yielded much better. Perhaps it was because the pink mooli seeds were 100% organic and traditional. These pink mooli were really tiny, about half the size of the white one, which was not too large either.
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| Pink Mooli Leaves: More Sharply Lobed than White Mooli Leaves |
My capsicum have actually flowered and fruited. I let the leaf curl be. And still they've managed to produce a few fruit. I expected them to be yellow-red, but they're plain old green :( Think I mixed up the seeds. At last I know what a homegrown capsicum is all about: really crunchy.
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| Capsicum/Bell Pepper/Sweet Pepper Flower (You can't miss the leaf curl) |
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| My First Tiny Capsicum. Next to a Teaspoon for Scale |
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| More Capsicum |
