Tree with flowers on stem!!

Judas Tree

Hello plant lovers... 
Today let's learn about a beautiful plant/tree..

Yesterday I saw a photo of this tree on Facebook..quickly googled and found out about it. And here I am, happy to share it with you..

Judas tree / Cercis siliquastrum

Cercis siligastrum, commonly known as the Judas tree, is a small deciduous tree in the flowering plant family Fabaceae, notable for its rich display of deep pink flowers in spring. It is native to southern Europe and western Asia.

This species forms a small tree up to 12 m (39 ft) tall and 10 m (32 ft) wide.

Deep pink flowers are produced in spring, on stems of 1 year or more of growth. That is the unique characteristic of this tree.

Also, flowers appear with five petals and fused sepals. This flower form is common in the pea family (Fabaceae). Leaves appear shortly after the first flowers appear. These occasionally have a shallow ridge at the apex. The tree produces long flat pods that hang vertically.

The flowers are edible and are said to have a sweet-sour taste. They prefer deep, well-drained soil and a position in full sun or partial shade.

  Cultivars include:

  'Afghan Deep Purple'

  'Alpha' - white flowers

  'Potnant'

  'Cornea'

  'Fructa Rubra'

  'Penduliflora'

  'Rubra' - Dark pink-purple flowers

  'Sterilis'

  'varicata'

  'White Swan'

The tree is susceptible to aphids, scale insects and psyllids (especially Cacopsilla pulchella) as well as diseases including canker, coral spot and verticillium wilt.

Propagated by seed, cuttings or budding.

This species produces hardwood with an attractive grain. It is used in veneers. (veneer: a thin decorative covering made of fine wood applied to a rough wood or other material)

I have attached all the photos from the website. Enjoy watching..

Judas tree wiki

-Bhuvanshri🌸

#floragardening21

The Story of My Chrysanthemums

Survivors....

 In Belgium the marigold season starts from September. Last year we bought 4 colored plants. They bloomed well.

My living bouquets

I kept the plants outside with a plastic sheet to cover them during the winter. Last winter was very severe and it even snowed in April. As you can see in the pictures, my plants were weakened.

Survivors

But the plants protected them with their own branches. I was very surprised and happy. Then I started taking care of them.

 First I removed all the dead branches and added soil to the pot. Watered regularly, they started growing well.

Then when summer started, the aphids started eating all the new growth. So I dissolved turmeric, garlic and ginger paste in water and sprayed it on the plants. It was back to normal after a few days.

I had to come to Chennai for a 2 month vacation and my neighbor was watering the plants and when I came back in September they were already growing well.

 

Then it's time to wait for it to bloom. I didn't do anything extra special, just with regular watering and the perfect climate, my chrysanthemums started to bud.

   

Now they are in full bloom. Although I did 40% of the work 60% of the credit goes to my plants, for surviving and looking so beautiful.

  

They are currently living inside the Greenhouse...

Note: If they could speak, "I am the one who goes through all the hardships, but why are you  feeling so proud?" would be their question to me😄.

                                                         

- Bhuvanashri 🌸😊

"Beeeeee", a dancer !!!!🐝

 Honey bees !!! Aren't these marvelous beings?? And many of us have heard that they have defied the concept of aerodynamics. Well, it isn't entirely true. Bumble bees(the chubby ones! not the transformer you have seen in the movie😉), move their wings back and forth rather than flapping up and down. You can imagine bumble bee as a faulty copter yet flies in and around.

Bumble bee on a lavender stem 

They're just born that way. What I like about them is, they do the job regardless of who is around and how their work place is. It just cares about the nectar and order the queen gives. 

Today I was just sitting close to a small patch of French marigolds in my garden and found two bees dancing here and there for the nectar. I love to take pictures and videos of  the flora and fauna around us. So here I was taking a video of them and you know what they did not even flap a wing because of my presence and continued to jump from one flower to another and so on. Also I wasn't welcomed there but they did not care to harm me in any way. 

It looked liked an "Opera ballet" with these two sentient beings as principal feature. Though we fear them when found in colonies, they still won't harm us, unless and until we disturb their environment. Honeybees are little helpers for passionate gardeners and farmers. They're great pollinators. 

                                                

Many know only about the familiar bees around us, but there are some wild bees that have been mistaken as hornets and have highly declined in number due to pesticides and other ways. Prevent over usage of chemical pesticides. Support organic farming. 

Hoverfly on a corn flower

Hope we make world a better place for all beings, not just for humans🍀.

-Bhuvanashri🌸