Blooms of Bayshore -Final

Just around the pond beside jade are many flowering plants. I have not been successful in getting the names of all of them, but what i do have is some snaps for record. Shall keep updating whenever i get more information. Readers can help.

The big bright yellow flowers near to the road stand out among them all. With a red background formed by Reuellia Elengans and its own dark green leaves, it gives a colorful mix.

yellow allamandas

These are the Allamanda flowers (kolambi poovu in malayalam). They are a common tropical shrub found in most gardens and wild in the tropical region. The flowers which are trumpet shaped come in various colors - white, pink, purple, orange and yellow which is the most common variety.

purple allamandas

Family : Apocynaceae. It is interesting that the white sap of these plants are medicinal. They have antibacterial and anticancer properties. But direct exposure to the sap may sometimes cause skin irritation, itches and can cause rashes. 

Creepy Daisy is another common tropical plant which has bright yellow flowers but are much smaller and typically used by gardeners as a ground-cover. As the name suggests they are partial creepers and grow as weeds.

creepy daisy

Their bright yellow flowers which bloom all through the year and in plenty attract a lot of honey bees. Just about every other flower had a tiny bee or butterfly resting on it.

busy bee on the daisy, wedelia trilobata

Family : Asteraceae
Botanical Name: Wedelia Trilobata
It belongs to the same family as that of the sunflower, hence the same petal arrangement and similarity in looks.
Rarely, in some traditional medicines, wedelia is used to treat hepatitis, infections and to clear the placenta after birth. Am sure we would not even dreamt that there would be something medicinal about this weed !!!

Near the pebble path beside the pool is a shrub with tiny lilac colored flowers hanging down in bunches. The more attractive part are the bunches of tiny bead sized bright orange seeds hanging all over the shrub. A well named plant , golden dew drops, attract a lot of humming birds into your garden if you have them.

Golden dew drops

It is also known commonly as Pigeon berry or Sky flower plant. If i read right, the flower is known Nilkanta in Hindi.
Botanical name: Duranta Erecta
Family : Verbenaceae

pretty lilac flowers of golden dew drops

Going ahead the curve beside tower jade is a blend of bright colored flowers commonly known as "Peacock flower" for their petal shapes and long pistils. Named Rajamalli in Malayalam, they come in shades of pink, bright orange with a mix of yellow and plain yellow.

pink Peacock flower

Peacock flowers and buds

Botanical Name: Caesdpinia Pulcherrima
Family: Ceasalpiniaceae , the same as gulmohar.

orange gultura

Rajamalli Poovu orange colored

Gultera , as it is called in Hindi, is the national flower of Barbados.

yellow peacock flowers

I couldnt stop clicking the vibrant flowers and have so many snaps of them, especially since it also had a lot of butterflies and humming birds hovering around.The birds were too restless and constantly moving around flowers that were in plenty. I managed to get a shot of a dragon fly which somehow chose to sit on a dry branch rather than the flowers!

dragon fly on a dry branch

4gms of extract from the root of this plant is also said to induce abortion in the first trimester....Yewww! :)

All around the condo scattered around is one flower and we have many shades of it too. "Rugmini" in Hindi and "Thetchi poovu" in malayalam, we have its yellow, red , pink and white varieties around the condo.

pink thetchi poovu

Family :Rubiaceae
Botanical name: Ixora

ixora flowers

The red flowers are most commonly used for worship. This along with tulsi leaves and a flower named "Mandaram" forms the favorite garland of presiding deity of the famous temple in Guruvayur, Kerala.

 techi poovu, red ixora

There are many more that i found, but could not find details about them. Have not found their names yet nor have i processed the snaps properly. So not posting them in this series. I am assuming the blog has been colorful enough already; hence choosing to avoid them.  If you find time someday early in the morning, do go out yourself to check out these vibrant lives around Bayshore Park. You would be surprised at how fresh and peaceful you would feel in their company!

Blooms of Bayshore -Part 2

Walking ahead near the promenade area we find the bright yellow and orange flowers. The Canna flowers are a common sight in parts of the world that receive plenty of rain. It is known as Canna Hybrid or Canna Lily. In my home land it is "malayalamised" and christened as "Kaana Poovu" or "Vaazha Chedi" since the leaves and stem resemble that of a Banana.

Canna Hybrid

Botanical Name : Canna Hybrid, Family : Cannanaceae. It is known i guess as "keli" in Hindi. The flowers are typically orange or red or a combination of these two colors with a slight mix of yellow here and there.

Purpose is mostly ornamental. But the interesting facts came out when i read more about these plants. Their seeds are used to make beads for jewelry. The rhizhome (swollen underground stem) is used for starch and in animal fodder. The tender shoots are used as vegetables and young seeds to make tortillas.
Some remote regions in India produce alcohol from this plant! WOW...dats some use i could have never imagined.
Some musical instruments like Kayamb are made from parts of the plant in a french ruled island named "Reunion", SW of Mauritius.

Another interesting fact is that in Thailand these flowers are popular gifts during fathers day. I wish i could post some better images that came out of photoshop but the blog allows only limited formats.

a variety of Indian Shot Flower / Canna

Now comes a flower that i have grown up with! Literally found in every other house in Kerala, its a standard tropical shrub. Different colors, different varieties... The Hibiscus flower of Chembaruthi in Malayalam. "Gurhal" in hindi if i am not wrong. The most common flower color being red, followed by white. I have seen pink, yellow and orange of these too. Rarely seen flowers that have double shades as well.

Chembaruthi Poovu or Gurhal flower

 Family : Malvaceae. The shrub is mostly used for ornamental purpose, but it has many other uses in my home state.

Hibiscus flower

Hibiscus and Bougainvillea are the most common shrubs used for landscaping on road partitions, on highways around India ...esp southern states.

One more snap of Hibiscus

I have a different variety in my house at Trivandrum which has double the petal layers and the pistil is smaller and thicker. We used to make garlands of the petals along with jasmine and other flowers in the garden for special occasions and pooja. The leaves of hibiscus are ground into fine paste and the green juice is sewed to make something called "thali". It is applied on the scalp to prevent dandruff. This also cools the scalp and is a big stress buster. Used in mostly all Ayurvedic hair treatments. Mom used to put couple of these leaves into the hair oil along with Tulsi and Neem leaves. 

to be contd...

The Colorful Blooms of Bayshore Park

We all suffer from longsightedness occasionally. Our eyes wander around things far off so much that  we often miss out of the beauty surrounding us completely. There is a saying in malayalam that goes "muttathe mullakku manamilla". (Meaning the jasmine in your own garden doesn't have an enchanting fragrance").

So today morning I set off for a stroll around Bayshore park discovering that fragrance. It was indeed a very refreshing walk. The air was clean after a rainy morning and the earth smelled fresh. My new DSLR gave me company while i went on a clicking spree.

I should mention two people on this blog. My husband for presenting me the DSLR i have been waiting so long for. We bought it last month to celebrate 2 birthdays (mine and his) and our anniversary.

Dedicate this series to one of my favourite teachers at school, the one who propelled us to look at the beauty of nature around the campus. My interest in life science (biology)  and nature has been because of him i guess. This series is for Mathew Sir.

Clicking was an easy job. But after that came the task of finding some details about each of these flowers and plants and a little this and that about it. Googling the names for some of them took long, then came the task of finding details of their botanical names and family. I hope that its come out clear and neat , the way i intended it to be. It has been couple of days of effort and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed preparing this.

Bayshore is famously green.  Being one of the biggest condos in Singapore,with lots of trees and open spaces. It is one of the biggest reasons that we moved in here - the open space and greenery, the trees and flowers , fountains, beautifully maintained.

There were flowers in all shapes sizes and color. Starting off on a series of blogs that will bring together the blooms i saw at Bayshore. Walk with me around the condo and have a look at the vibrant colors around. 

Straight out of the elevator and into the lobby , i was welcomed by the tender looking bright red flowers that bow onto the walk way near the taxi bay. I dont know their local names or the indian ones, but they sure look pretty.
Botanical Name - Ruellia Elegans from the Family : Acanthaceae.

Ruellia Elegans!... Elegant indeed.

 They are used mostly as ornamental plants. Some vareities of this family are medicinal but some others are known or suspected to be poisonous too.

slightly improved image of the same flower 

Their bright colors attract humming birds and butterflies. It is true as i could see couple of humming birds and dragon flies around. Could not get a click of that though.

Red flowers near the play area pond make a beautiful sight.

Walking down towards the taxi stand , there are these giant trees which give a typical rainforest look. They are all over Singapore. Most of the trees around the condo have their names kept in a board near by. All of these trees have parasite plants over them. Some are orchids (non flowering) and others are creepers.

Bougainvillias..opposite the shopping complex. Though they hang over the open canal with some slurry water, these flowers change the image and look of the place completely.

Bougainvillias or Paper flower

Botanical Name : Bougainvillia spectalis. These plants belong to  the family Nyctaginaceae.

 Kadalasu Poovu in Malayalam (Paper flower)

These flowers are mostly limited to their ornamental usage. They grow indoor also with limited sunlight and bloom all through the year. The sap from their stems sometimes causes itch.

to be ctnd....

the best of lullabies

Kannin vaathil charathe...kanna ninne kandotte?
Ennathoro mutham njan ...thannotte?
aararo...araaro...araaro...ariraro....

My latest like among the Lullaby genre in Malayalam. Sid likes it too and has this sparkle in his eyes when i play every time.

These songs are extra melodious. The one song which is my all time favorite and one that i have been singing for Sid from his first days is the one from the movie "Vatsalyam". I sing this almost every other day in the last two years and that too on demand. Goes like..

Thamara kannan urangenam...
Kannum Pooti Urangenam...
Achane pole valarenam
Ammaykku thanalay marenam
Ambili mamante kombilla kombane kayyiledukkenam...

The beautiful lyrics make is more meaningful , blend with K.S Chitra's gifted voice; the song is so mesmerizing.

There are other old songs as well...making a note of ones i have heard and can remember right now for people looking for collection.
---  Alliyilam Poovo...Mangalam Nerunnu.
---Kilukil Pambaram from kilukam
---Unni Vavavo from Santhvanam
---Ven nilavo chadanamo...from Pingami. Dont know if it can be classified exactly as a lullaby though.
---Paatu padi urakkam njan - from an old movie named "seetha".
---Unnikale oru kadha parayam - cant make my mind whether to classify this as a lullaby or a sad song :)
---alurangi arangurangi...from mamati kuttiyamma
---vaavavo vaave .... ente veedu appunte veedu
--- Rari rariram Raro..padi raakili paadi ..from onnu muthal Poojyam vare. G. Venugopal's amazing deep voice making it even more magical. Wonder why he dint come up as big a singer like others of his times.
---chanchadi aadi urangu nee...from makalkku. i wish it was a malayali singer rather than Adnan sami for this one.
---muthumani thooval tharam...from kauravar
---manasin madiyile from Manathe vellitheru
--- there is one in Pappayude swantham Appoos which i am not able to recollect. And its not olathumbathu. There is another song as well which is a sad lullaby.
Additions are welcome...


But the one song that tops all of these is of course what every Malayali must have heard and grown up in...
Omana thinkal kidavo...
Nalla komala thamara poovo..

The famous lullaby was composed by Irayiman Thampi, for the new royal baby,  who later became His Highness Swati Thirunnal Maharaja of travancore. No wonder the man was a art lover - famous for his passion for paintings, music and dance.

Changing times

For someone whose best company has been his laptop, mobile and internet; it was a pleasant surprise when he walked in home after a long tiring day at work with a bunch of roses for my birthday. Classic case of evolution i must say. From being geek to...whatever!
January is a month of celebrations for us. First the wedding anniversary, then comes my birthday' followed by his. All in adjacent weeks.