Buds & Blooms

Its spring time! The year has gone by in a jiffy bringing back the lovely season of buds, birds and blooms. It is always wonderful to see a sea of sunshine sweeping the flora which keeps springing everywhere. Plants look happy with the numbing winters behind them. The warriors among the plants, who survived the frigid winters, are standing tall, fully eligible to enjoy the conducive weather, like this fiery red Kalanchoe. And then there are those, like Camelias, which will make their first appearance in my garden this spring. The Annuals which were planted way back in November will now get a chance to show off their blooms. It almost seems like nature’s way of providing delayed gratification to a gardener for having observed restraint throughout the winters. And isn't it gratifying to see the blooming Calendula which appears to radiate a gorgeous glow from inside... Spring has traditionally been represented with the color yellow, and the nausturtium along with the calendula is an apt representation of the season. I was gifted the seeds by a patient which was her way of showing gratitude. But as I see it bloom I feel more grateful to her, than she would have, for this lovely gift. Within a fortnight the theme of the garden has changed from the monochrome of Winters to a riot of spring colors. But everything is not as hunky dory as it appears, on closer look,I found the Hibiscus to be teeming with mealy bugs and it gave me jitters.Spring also brings some problems along with it! Well, a few bugs cannot dilute the sweetness of spring and a good season has to be naturally loved by all life forms; be it bugs or mosquitoes. So they are welcome here provided they do not mess around much with my spring blooms. That seems to be the sentiment of these pansies lost pensively in deep thought The buds and the blooms, together on plants, offer a lovely present and promise an even better future. Spring won’t last forever. And thankfully so. All good things loose their charm when they become a routine and we don’t want the charm of our precious spring season diluted…do we?