Spring to Summer: Its Paeony(peony) Time

More spring flowers this time. The clematis is starting to flower and I am hoping to put out more pictures in the near future. The paeony plant (also spelled as peony) in our garden is wonderful when it flowers as evident in the picture above and we look forward to seeing them every year.

BTW, more shots are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/thenovicegardener/May28

Spring rocks

We were in Philly this weekend to take a nice walk down the river front and snaps some pictures of Spring flowers before they make way for the plants. We snapped some pictures of cherry blossoms and dogwoods and magnolias. Ill post it as an album soon but here is the best pic of the lot. Its a close up of a flowering cherry.

Spring is finally here

OK. I can proclaim it this time. After a bunch of false starts Spring is finally here. One of the lesser known things about Spring is that there is a lot of color. Note the pictures in this post and you'll see. Other than the sudden spurt of green all over the place (literally), there are purples and pinks and blues and whites that make Spring very pleasant (and not just weather wise).

The pink flowers belong to the Pink Dogwood. The white ones are from a cherry blossom tree (Sakura). They are spectacular and trust me, they are much better in person.

Nor'easter, Virginia Tech and Nandigram

The world is changing and nothing captures is more than the events unravelling at this moment. A rare April Nor'Easter hit the northeast of United States resulting in massive rains, snow and the inevitable flooding. Upto 6 inches of rain has fallen in a single day in some places. The picture above is taken at a nearby creek which "barely" felt the effect of the Nor'Easter. If this is barely, you can well imagine.
Here is more info on the Nor'Easter: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/04/16/storm.ap/index.html

Today, a tragedy of unfathomable proportions stuck Virginia Tech, my alma-mater. A shooter (brain dead) armed with 2 guns (where do these people get these guns?) went around shooting students and staff in VT resulting in 33 people dead (as of this moment) and more injured. Why?. My sympathies to the parents, friends of the affected folks and the people of Blacksburg. Sometimes you wonder if there is a sense of justice in this world. For more on the shooting and the developing story, head over here:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html

Finally, in yet another tragic incident of great ramifications, the CPI-M party sanctioned the rape, death and destruction of the town and townsfolk of Nandigram, WB, India. This happened a month back and until now, nothing has happened. I ask the President, what are you waiting for?. Dissolve the Goverment, arrest every minister of the party and launch a high level investigation into this Darfur like incident. Thats the least we can do in response to a "Jallianwala Bagh" event in the 21st century.

For more on this, read here:

http://news.google.com/news?q=nandigram+massacre&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=zcu&um=1&sa=X&oi=news&ct=title

Garden 2007:02: More First Signs

The Magnolias are flowering and so are the cherry blossoms. I managed to get a snap of a magnolia tree this weekend and here it is. I am waiting to snap the cherry blossoms soon.

More on the Magnolia can be found here and here. And if you are a movie junkie, here is the reference to the Paul Thomas Anderson ensemble drama starring Tom Cruise.
My limited understanding tells me that this is a Magnolia soulangeana.

Garden 2007:01: The First Signs

It has been a weird winter with pockets of brutally cold weather peppering an otherwise mild 3 months. It has been worse so for the spring bulbs that have been shown hints of the new season only to be swamped with snow the very next day. I think its finally starting to improve and the spring buds are out now.

I have posted a sample pic here. More can be seen here.

Born again blogger

I am back. I've been away from blogging for a while. Lot of things have kept me busy. It's spring again and what better time to restart. Today there are blogs everywhere. Opinions and thoughts on diverse matters are but a drop in an ocean. I figured I'd do something much simpler. From this point on, this blog will be predominantly focussed on the mundane yet absolutely fascinating world of gardening. There will be other posts of interest but the predominant theme would be gardening, flowers and herbs. So if you are a novice gardener who is trying to make sense of things like bulbs, perennials and hydrangeas this will be a good spot. I hope to trace the evolution of my garden this year with snippets and photographs. More soon.

It's good to be back.

Pause...

Shot earlier in the summer, this was in the middle of a ramp to a highway...for a moment, everything paused for this magnificent scene in nature to unfold.

 

Its Boston, baby !

Shot earlier this Fall in Boston, MA at the Hynes Convention Center (September 12, 2006)

Fall in the Collegeville woods

Shot on Oct 21, 2006 by the Perkiomen Trail in Collegeville, PA.

 

WP: Limbaugh mocks Michael J. Fox ad - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

WP: Limbaugh mocks Michael J. Fox ad - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

Everytime you think politics cant get any worse, along comes something like this.

Fall Colors - 3

Shot at Valley Forge National Park, King of Prussia, PA on October 18, 2006.

 

Fall Colors-2

This is Fall colors - Pennsylvania style (shot on 10-14-2006 in NorthWest PA)

 

Fall Colors - 1

Here is the first of what I hope will be a series of Fall pics from Southeast PA.

 

Chikungunya and Dengue

Chikungunya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chikungunya has become the next big disease to make a significant impact in India. Thanks to sanitary conditions and lack of proper medical awareness, the disease has claimed many a life and is threatening to cause many more deaths, especially in South India. Read more about the disease and spread the word on how to prevent it.

Recently, Delhi has started reporting cases of Dengue fever. This has also caused several deaths and hundreds of people are in hospitals.
Read more about Dengue, its symptoms and the cure here:
Dengue - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Past and present

This picture was taken from inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Specifically, in the foreground is the Temple of Dendur exhibit and in the back is NYC. One if from 15BC and the other is 2006 AD.

Incredible India - in Hamilton, New Jersey

A very gratifying sight. I always felt Indian tourism wasnt promoted as well in the US. Not anymore. This shot taken in the sleepy NJ transit trainstation of Hamilton, NJ confirmed its happening...and I love it. 

The Joy of Gardening - 3

Capsicum, mint, coriander and chillies - All in the comfort of our own garden. 

The Joy of Gardening - 2

A picture of our flowers - in Fall. This year, the flowers have lasted for an unseasonably long time. The flowers themselves give a great sense of accomplishment with regards to our gardening efforts all year. 

The Joy of Gardening - 1

Fresh from our very own chilli plant. More on this in future posts.
P.S. This is a day's worth.