The Buddha Belly

This laughing Buddha was a wedding gift by a dear friend, and since then it has occupied the pride of place in my drawing room. It is always a warm and happy feeling to look at someone with such a merry expression on the face. Moreover, it is quite heartening to see a well fed rotund belly, resting comfortably on a relaxed and happy body in the era crazy for size zero; I am always on the lookout for such realistic inspirations:-)
Like this laughing Buddha, which has made the indoors a gay and happy place, its namesake – Buddha belly plant – has added vivacity to the outdoors.Jatropha podagarica or the Buddha belly plant, as it is known because of its wonderful belly, is an eternal favorite of mine. Whenever it found a place in the posts, it has always received an inquisitive comment from the fellow bloggers.
I procured the plant from a local nursery for its merrily swollen belly. It flowers all the year round. During winters, though it loses its large lobed leaves but the coral red flowers hold.As the climate gets colder the leaves have started falling off giving the plant a denuded look but the beauty of the belly will remain unaffected.



The plant does have great vibes as is evident from the butterflies flocking to it. My daughter loves it for the seedpods that explode launching the seeds several feet away.







Ultimately, this is one happy plant which helps brighten up the mood, and for a good luck charm – I occasionally rub its belly too!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - November 2009

November GBBD is always special as this is the best season here to be outdoors before the frigid December winters envelope the plants in a dense fog, sending them into dormancy or freezing them to death. Although, probably as an adverse effect of global warming, one gets to see blooms in mid December also.
These are the plants which grace the garden here in NOVEMBER
Portulaca
Calliandra or Powder Puff
Shrimp plant or Pachystachys lutea
Buddha Belly or Jatropha Podagrica
Lantana
Gaillardia or Blanket Flower
PlumeriaWater Lily

In The Night Garden

As autumn nears to an end, the night air has acquired a slight chill. But despite that it is a pleasant feeling to take an evening walk amidst the plants; it is rejuvenating, de-stressing and, thanks to these sweet smelling plants – a perfectly natural, low cost, aromatherapy.
It is rather unfortunate that the sense of smell cannot be conveyed through the blog post, but hopefully the night time photos will stimulate some olfactory nerves to give an idea of the soulful aroma of Plumeria pervading the night time air.
The sensual delight of a perfumed garden – no allusion to the 15th century scripture – inspires me to have more of these aromatic plants like this Hedychium.
During day the Nyctanthes or Parijata presents a lonely sight, but it is with the fall of dusk that the flowers bloom and start exuding their soulful aroma.
The sweet faint odor of this Jasmine pervades the evening air and depending on the direction of airflow, its intensity and character keeps changing, keeping the senses active yet very…very relaxed.
The most psychedelic of the pack has to be the queen. Queen of the night or Cestrum nocturnum has the strongest presence in my garden among all the aromatic plants. Every life is besieged with a thousand worries and a million anxieties but the time spent with children and plants is a catharsis brought about naturally, silently and effectively.