Butterfly Pea

Don't worry, I wasn't kidnapped by aliens, my long absence from blogosphere was due to all the travelling we were doing during Nov and Dec last year. This was part of our "life is too short to accumulate leaves, use them now " initiative.


The butterfly pea in full bloom

This is a lazy gardener post, so we'll get right to it. All the travels meant my plants had to pretty much fend for themselves. This isn't too hard on them because I believe in the "tough love" approach to caring for my plants. See bottom of post for how tough love works.

The Butterfly Pea - Clitoria ternatea 

I've always wanted this vine for as long as I can remember, and I finally got the seeds from a colleague a couple of months ago. This creeper is native to India ( and parts of Tropical South asia), called Aparajita in Hindi, Konkani - Sankh Pushp because of its Conch shell like shape. It is available in 2 common colours - indigo blue and plain white. I have the blue colour species which I grew from seed. It is ridiculously easy to grow and requires very little care. It tolerates drought well.

It is a legume. Sound familiar? Remember biology classes? These are plants that fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil. So planting this will actually improve the quality of your soil ( Yay! ).


  Flower in profile, with a young seed pod

Growing from seed

The seeds, if you get them from someone will be in the form of dried pods. Peel open to reveal about 5-6 little black seeds . If planting in a pot, place 2-3 seeds per pot (for a medium pot). Use a tool to make a tiny depression for each seed. Just chuck the seeds in the holes and water over to moisten the soil. Wait.

Waiting can be quite long, I found one plant germinating weeks after planting, I had forgotten all about it.
I re-use bamboo skewers from barbecues as vine supports for this creeper. They don't really need a support if grown on ground, they form into a bush on their own.

The Flowers





The bud is actually hard to spot, and you'll be surprised by a massive flower one fine morning. 1 - 2 flowers can be expected every few days on a new plant. The flowers are edible and wikipedia says that they can be dipped in batter and fried. I haven't tried this myself.

The flowers last a whole day and then fade and crumple. Eventually a seed pod - like a flat french bean will start to form. Leave it alone until it dries to a light beige brown before harvesting.

Should I grow this Plant ?

Lets recap, the plant is easy to grow, it produces pretty blue flowers, doesn't need lot of water, parts of it are edible and it improves soil quality. If that wasnt enough, it is used in ayurvedic medicine to cure a variety of ills ( see wikipedia link for details ).  What more reasons would you need?

Best Wishes from me and K on Makara Sankranti ( which falls on 14th January every year). Incase you were wondering why it comes on the same day every year, when most Indian festivals don't, its because it is a Solar event. The other festivals follow the lunar calendar.

This is a harvest festival, so I thought of having a little harvest of my own, Im leaving you with a photo of my crop of Basil.


Tough Love - How it works 

 1. Do not over water. There are dozens of news articles on how people are over watering their lawns and gardens and adding to the water shortage problem. Plants need less water than we think they do. 

2. Keep plant species that are native to the climate and temperature. They will react better to the conditions and need less care. 

3. For balcony gardeners, make sure the plants are arranged to make max use of Light and Shade areas of the balcony. For indian climate, avoid the harsh direct sun where possible, the less water is lost to evaporation, the less water is needed. 

 Ofcourse, this will come naturally to you if you are lazy like me, and forget to water your plants anyway. :) 

Signs of Over Watering 

Lower leaves will go yellow 

Plant looks unhappy and wilted 

Roots will be rotting in the soil 

No new growth seen 

Young leaves will turn brown 

Leaves may seem limp and droopy

Munia Mania

It all began when i noticed my Lemon Grass in the kitchen garden looked like it had been pruned by a 5 yr old. At first I thought it was the cook doing some gardening and gave it no further thought. That was until on a sunday morning while making tea, I heard soft twitters from the balcony and peeked out the window. I had caught the lemon-grass thief in action!



I moved over to the other bedroom window and from there I could get a good view of them ( yes, there were of them ). One sat on the grill as a lookout, while the other picked at a leaf ( they are tough leaves and difficult to cut ). All the while the one doing the picking would give out a soft 'chee' sound periodically. When it was done, it made a 'ti tee ti tee' like sound and the two of them took off with a long green streamer of lemon grass behind them.



This wasn't the first time I had seen a Scaly Breasted Munia (also called Spotted Munia). It was the first time I had heard it though. This has been a daily occurrence since June, there are 2 of them outside the window tweeting away as I type this out. They visit in the morning and in the afternoon.They are nesting in our apartment campus in a Ficus.

Last week there were four of them sitting on the grill near the plant. They are now used to my presence and I was able to open the window slowly and push out my lens between the grills and take these photos. 



Spotted Munia Info (Lonchura punctulata)

Spotted Munia are a species of Finch   They are native to India. They look quite distinctive so are hard to confuse with other birds. They are sparrow sized. Male and Female look exactly alike. Research says that the male sings more than the female and has a slightly darker head.


Nesting season is June - August ( monsoon ). It seems that the Munias are dedicated builders, they seem to be showing no signs of stopping. I don't know how much longer my lemongrass can take the constant pruning. They must be having the most fragrant nest in the neighborhood.

Spotted Munias are easily spotted in flight by the long green streamers they fly around with as they ferry them back to the nest. Ive seen them nest in Ficus quite a bit. We even had one nesting in a potted Ficus in the Office open air cafeteria.  My first sighting of them was at Madivala lake.




Food: Munia eat grass seeds and small insects. They dont seem to like rice grains or mixed dals, because I put a few out and they weren't interested.

Are there other Munias ? Yes there are indeed : 1. Red Munia - Avadavat ( seen only once and record photo by K in Manchinbele ) 2. White Rumped Munia - seen in Ranganthittu 3. Silver Bills - seen in Maidanhalli and Manchinbele 4. Black Headed Munia - Seen in Ranganthittu  5. Green Avadavat - (north and central india) very rare and Threatened species.

Highrise Birding

Living in an apartment building in the middle of the city doesnt mean you are bereft of birds. The Munias are not our only visitors. Other birds that we see on a daily basis from our 9th floor abode:

Large Pied Wagtails
Purple Sun Bird
Bush chat - male and female
Blue Rock pigeons ( these I dont encourage )
Tiny Bats ( we had one as a house guest for a day )
Red rumped swallows

Other birds we've seen from the terrace or on walks around the campus:

Shikra (regular sighting)
Spotted Owlet (regular sighting)
Jungle Myna (not the regular myna, these have a tuft on the beak)
Tree Pie
Kites
1 Peacock - ( I kid you not! )

We saw the peacock a month or so ago, walking on the terrace of the neighboring apartment building. We still cant believe it ourselves. (Checked with people, its not a pet). I also saw a few years ago an egyptian vulture on top of the ITPL building. There is a forested area not too far way, so I'm guessing the peacock, tree pie and the monkeys come from there.


 
Can I get these birds to visit me?


Certainly, You can grow lemon grass for starters. ( just kidding ).

A bird bath is a good bird magnet. But it will encourage pigeons ( which make quite a mess ) so unless you have a large balcony or terrace, I wouldn't recommend it. Place an earthen ware pot filled with water in a shaded area. Place a stone in the middle ( as an island ) for smaller birds.

The best way is to attract small nectar drinking birds like sunbirds. Plant native species of Hibiscus ( Red, Pink, White) or the Blue Clustervine, Yellow Trumpet or butterfly pea vine and with some luck, you will soon have a few sunbirds drop by.

The Hanging Gardens

Stokes Aster - recent addition (more on this in next)

When we moved, I had to leave behind my rooftop garden with most of its plants, flowers and all the birds, butterflies and other little critters.
Sad though it was, its been 2 months since the move and the lazy gardener is now officially back.

My problem ofcourse was not unique. In the region of Iraq, in 600BC (then called Babylon), queen Amytis was going through a similar problem. She missed her trees, flowers and gardens. Her better half King Nebuchadnezzar II found a solution by creating for her the hanging gardens of Babylon.

Faced with moping queen Rohini, king Keshav too applied his mind and came up with a simple solution for a 9th floor garden. Combining a need for security from monkeys(will discuss this in another post), saving floor real-estate and aesthetics.


Our version of the Hanging Gardens :)

While moving, I took with me a baby chrysanthemum, my blue veronica, mexican heather baby plants and oregano. The black tulsi and the kadipatta did not survive the move. I also took a small cutting of a baby sun rose that was growing in our old building.

Im happy to inform that all are well and growing quite happily. I have also acquired a few more recently, here is the list:

1. Rain lily (White)
2. Tulsi (Green) my mom took a black one before we moved out.
3. White Alder
4. Stokes Aster (lavendar)
5. Star Cluster (Red)
6. Moss Rose ( really large variety - dark pink )
7. Portulaca Yellow and Pink
8. Chrysanthemum (Pink)
9. Rose (Red)
10. Song of India
11. Asparagus Foxtail fern

My parents just got back from a trip to Katpady (they were there for the Rath Festival).

Imagine their surprise when they see that the backyard of the house has been colonized by passion flower vines! I asked Mum to get me a cutting. I potted it this morning, and its blooming! ( Yes, I feel like shouting from the roof tops - but I cant obviously.. so I Twittered instead )


when you wonder if there is a god, just look at this!

Urban gardening is an art and it comes with its own problems and advantages. This is my first experience with container gardening and I have a lot of new plants too, some that I'd never even seen or heard of. I will share my learnings in subsequent posts. Wish me luck!

Skyblue Clustervine

I love the star shape that forms

I first saw this adorable little creeper at a nursery on the way back from Manchinbele. On impulse I bought it and set it on our fence. As it grew, we liked it so much we got it a friend and set it on the other side of the terrace. ( Nothing like a little competition to speed things up, I thought ).

Sure enough, the two actively compete in terms of flowers and height. Among one of the happiest plants I have seen, it is common in most software parks and let loose on fences. It is not invasive. Its a twining vine with stems to 6 feet or more in length. It is a rapid grower, mine has reached nearly 5 ft (in 3-4 months).

Its a lovely bright green plant with small leaves in the shape of elongated hearts. The blue flowers stand up to face the sun, incase you are letting it loose on the ground. The Flowers come in clusters of buds and take turns flowering. The flower is the size of a 1 rupee coin. After flowering, the flowers fold up like an umbrella and drop off.


A closed flower, note the leaves

Details:
Common name: Skyblue Clustervine, Pentantha
Botanical name: Jacquemontia pentanthos
Family: Convolvulaceae (Morning glory family)
It is a perennial( blooms all year round) and is an introduced species in India.

Can I eat it?
No idea. But birds sure like it. Our friendly neighborhood sunbirds cant get enough of it. They visit twice a day ( morning 9:30am and afternoon 1:30pm )
Also seen eating the flowers are younger members of our Jungle Crow family, a group of 3 flower peckers and a whole bunch of jungle mynas ( we counted 5 ).


Purple Rumped Sunbird Female, they visit daily

Care and Growing:
It needs almost no care at all, though if you'd like more flowers, you may want to water it once in a while. :) It likes the sun, as much as you can provide. Its pretty little blue flowers open in the morning and close before sunset.

Experts recommend that we avoid watering the vine excessively, always leaving the soil dry for a few days between one watering and the other. This pretty much describes how I operate; watering once in a while, when guilt strikes.

It can be grown in containers or pots, I have placed it in ground on our terrace. Since it doesnt spread laterally, it can be easily grown in suspended baskets or left to climb over a balcony.

Till date, I haven't seen it being attacked by any bugs, so it would be safe to assume its a hardy little fellow. Insects seem to like it, I have seen butterflies, bees and a praying mantis on it.


Purple Rumped Sunbird Male, (see the purple flash on its tail, from which it gets its name)

Where did it come from?
Originating in Tropical America, it is Native to the Florida Keys. I was alarmed to see it marked as endangered in Florida.
This plant has been said to be natively growing in the following regions:
Punta Gorda, Florida
Coushatta, Louisiana


For the botanist:
herbaceous vine, slender; lvs ovate, acute at tips, bases subcordate, 2-5+ cm long; flrs axillary, densely cymose on peduncles longer than the lvs, usually only 1 to 2 open; corollas blue (may be white), 10-20 mm long and wide when open; capsule enclosed by sepals; seeds glabrous, bumpy; hammocks; Collier, Dade and Monroe [ incl. Keys] cos.


This one has been photoshopped a bit, to darken the white background

Making more Skyblue Vines
It can be propagated from cuttings ( softwood or semi-hardwood cuttings ). I haven't tried this myself. Its relatively cheap ( 10Rs ), so I just buy another one. I haven't the heart to watch a cutting die.

Where to buy
Easily available in most nurseries. Ive seen it in Jeevan Bhima Nagar and in those near Mancinbele.

Sources:
Flowers Of India
Plant Files
Florida Endangered Plants

Birding @ Bagmane TechPark

White Cheeked Barbet

When cooler weather makes it increasingly hard to leave ones bed in the pre-dawn hours to go birding; one wishes that the birds would be kind enough to drop by home for a photo session.

Sometimes, they do just that. We're having a good run since the last week. For a previous post on the "wildlife" at bagmane, see this post - Nature at Work


Night Heron

In case anyone is wondering what happened to the Pied Kingfishers, I have seen them at the other lake (near the Oracle Building (formerly iFlex).

I was rather surprised to read in the TOI that the White cheeked barbet is endangered. Check this link for the article. I also smiled to note that the barbet was "tiny", it may be small, but compared to a sunbird, its a giant :)


Verditer Flycatcher

The other day, while looking at a few parakeets that were creating quite a din on the terrace, we spotted a small blue bird in the distance. A bad photo identified it as a verditer flycatcher. A few days later, the little guy obliged us with a few pictures on a sunday afternoon. It sat pensively, looking at the lake, in the bright afternoon sun. It also caught a bee a little later.

I did a little research on the Verditer FC:

Breeding season ( March - October ) Breeding grounds are in the himalayan foothills
Can be seen in Southern India from October to February, and in the north from September to March.
Diet : tiny flying insects. Birds may maintain a feeding territory.

Source : RiverBanks.org


Golden Oriole Male

The Golden Oriole is a recent discovery as is the Verditer Flycatcher. The female was also present, but sadly was more shy, and gave poses hiding behind a very distracting twig.

A little research on it:
This species O. o. kundoo has its eye stripe extending beyond the eye in the male. It is a visitor to the northern parts of India in Summer and moves southwards from August to September. Breeds - May to August.

Source : Popular Handbook of Indian Birds By Hugh Whistler

Bird List

Golden Orioles - 3
Purple Sunbird
Purple Rumped Sunbird ( M & F)
Small Green Barbets (3)
Spotted Doves (Pair)
Drogos (group of 3)
Night Herons ( 4 at a time )
Egrets (seen at the lake)
Pond Heron 1
Rose Ringed Parakeets (4)
Verditer FlyCatcher - 1
Great Tit - 2
Tailor Bird - 1
Large Pied Wagtail
Pariah Kites
Bats (large and small)
Koel (M&F)
Cormorants (several)

All the birds here are photographed on the same tree that is on the edge of the lake. I would attribute the huge numbers of birds to near by DRDO, which has extensive green cover.

PS: The Oriole and the Verditer photos have been post processed.
Next post will include details on what was done. I'm also finally learning to use Photoshop after watching Keshav use it with great success. :)

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