In the morning...

I drink the tea Ashwin makes me, and stumble onto the terrace like a zombie. If I am up early enough, I sweep a part of the floor.  Even a zombie can see that garden waste is SO pretty.  And that bougainvilleas create litter :| I put most of the waste back into the pots because it is awesomely nutritious. 

Bougainvillea = Lots of sweeping to do.

I use the gaps when I'm waiting for water to fill in the bucket  to go around and see what the plants are up to. (Old-fashioned bucket+mug roxxx - almost no wastage and you can pour the water right onto the roots) Sometimes, there is a bit of pruning to do. Pay no attention to my pruning technique - I don't have one.

I bet I am holding it all wrong

I am very pleased to see that the rose bush whose leaves had been gobbled up by caterpillars is now sprouting new leaves. Poor Ashwin had to take them caterpillars off one by one. Gross. When we wish for butterflies to visit our flowers, we forget that caterpillars are gross.

Rose bush recovering from a caterpillar attack

I see the sun-loving plants doing well - as if to announce that summer is HERE.

Orange Portulacas

Telosma Cordata or Sampangee. I wish you could smell them from the picture! SO divine.

This is the awesomest thing that's happening right now - I had tossed some over-ripe Strawberries into a pot a few months ago just to see if they'll germinate, and forgotten about them. While sifting through the weeds in the pot last week, I found out that I HAZ STRAWBERRY PLANT!

Strawberry plant yay!

After googling all sorts of descriptions, I found that the weed obscuring the strawberry is called Roundleaf Bindweed. It is of medicinal value, and its tiny white flowers are very pretty. But I'll have to pull it out to save the strawberry plant. Luckily, it has spread to another pot too, so I can still have it.

"Roundleaf Bindweed"

A plant with a funky name (mother-in-law's tongue ) tells me not-so-subtly that it needs a bigger pot

Mother-in-law's Tongue with its pot split open.

This pretty plant with purple leaves and small purple flowers is called Purple Heart. It's resumed blooming now after a break.

Purple Heart

A weed I decided to keep many many months ago, has climbed up an ugly drainpipe and is now producing pretty little yellow flowers. They are too high up for me to reach with the lens I have on, so I decide to take better pictures later (left) It's getting uncomfortably hot now, so I stop lingering and get on with the watering.

Unknown creeper on the left. On the right, well, water.

I spot quite a few thirsty crows waiting for me to get the hell out of the terrace.

So I fill the bird bath and go inside.

In case you were wondering, the whole routine usually takes me just about 20 minutes - such a small investment for so much fun :)

{Sorry for the very long, self-indulgent post!  This will be the last plant-related post for a while, I promise!}