Seasonal Flowers

 

“A flower’s appeal is in its contradictions – so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect.” – Terry Guillemets

 

Impatiens tended to by the hubby

Another winter is here. The Impatiens are in full bloom. I sit here, marveling at the range of colors. Science teaches us that a flower absorbs all other colors in the light spectrum, except for the color we see. So, the red flower is absorbing the VIBGYO, except for red and the yellow flower is absorbing VIBGYR and reflecting the yellow. Now visualize a flower bed; each flower exhibits individualism in absorbing a unique set of colors and at the same time exhibits teamwork in lending a different color in the bunch. Would we not want to be the same as human beings? Bring color, absorb the unwanted vices, reflect the wanted virtues and add color to this world in a state of harmony.

 

Petunias

Last year we had only Petunias in our balcony garden. All flowers bloomed in a purple and wore a monotonous look. This year, we did not want to take a chance and added Impatiens for variety. The Petunias are now in full bloom and their burst of colors is jostling with the Impatiens for attention. We would like to believe that a little competition brought out the best in the Petunias.

The Sunflower standing tall

Seasonal flowers evoke many memories. I grew up in a small but beautiful and open south-west facing flat in Bombay. In one corner of the balcony, Mom had a deep and wide concrete flowerbed. Through the year, Mom worked to tease green shoots from seeds and tend the plants to grow the season’s flowers. Sunflowers, Zinnias, Balsam, Flocks, Verbena, Petunias, Chrysanthemums, Marigolds are some I vividly remember. As the season got over, she neatly snipped off the flowers just before they started to whither and these went into a variety of vases in all our rooms. I recall one birthday (in July), when she made me a hairband with colorful Balsams. At the same time, I remember a day when she toppled over her most favorite vase (Czechoslovakian crystal and a wedding gift) and stayed quiet and withdrawn for the greater part of the day. Such happy and sad memories, together make our lives. Mine are intertwined in this array of colors.

The fragrant lilies with nestling insects

We changed many homes between Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi but seasonal flowers remained a constant in our lives. So much so that my sister and daughter are nurturing this hobby with full acknowledgement to the passion that Mom inculcated in them. Some blooms, like this red Dahlia, I have photographed in Mom's garden almost three decades back. Lilies find their way from garden to vases, as they have done in the family for generations. 

Dahlias across the generations

Cherry Blossoms

The Wistful Wisteria

The daughter has taken this love many miles away and sends us pictures of Primroses as we had only read in Enid Blyton's books. Her garden has many rare flowers like Wisteria, Anemones, Morning Glory, Tulips and Daffodils. The sister, occasionally, sends a good morning message with some rare flowers from her balcony garden.

In all its Morning Glory

 

Enid Blyton and the Primroses

I continue to stand by and take pleasure. In my teenage years I used to take photographs and make out handmade greeting cards with prints of the flowers. Now, I doff my hat to the husband and ladies and put up a post or two on Instagram. In the rush of life, it is important to take those moments to appreciate beauty and thank those who bring it so endearingly in our lives.

Pansies from Daughter's and Sister's gardens