Birthday Present !!!

Plant ID: Hyacinth Orientalis

Different colors of Hyacinth at display

This year birthday, my eldest daughter gifted me a beautiful plant like her, named Hyacinth. Ofcourse, my husband who is my all time sponsor is behind the gift ;). 

Hyacinth and Tube rose

As I continued to look at the shape, beautiful flowers and fragrance of the Hyacinth plant, I realized that they resembled tuberose.

That led me to look for similarities between them, then ended up on Wikipedia.

As I suspected they both belong to the same family.

Tube rose:

Tube rose

Wikipedia link for tuberose/sampangi : Agave amica

Agave amica (sampangi), formerly Polyanthes tuberosa, tuberose, is a perennial plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agaveidae, the sap of which is particularly used in perfumery.

Now, widely grown as an ornamental plant, this species was originally native to Mexico.

Hyacinth:

Purple Hyacinth in full bloom

Hyacinthus is a small genus of bulbous, spring-flowering perennial. They are fragrant flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae and commonly known as hyacinths.

Native to the eastern Mediterranean region from Turkey south to Palestine, although more widely naturalized.

(H. orientalis, native to Southwest Asia) This species was very popular. Over 2,000 cultivars were grown in the Netherlands in the 18th century, its main commercial producer.

This Hyacinth bears a single dense spike of fragrant flowers in red, blue, white, orange, pink, purple or yellow. A form of the common hyacinth is the florist's less hardy and smaller blue- or white-petaled Roman hyacinth. These flowers need indirect sunlight and moderate watering.

 Hyacinth grows from bulbs, each producing four to six linear leaves and one to three spikes or racemes of flowers. (A raceme or racemoid is a cluster of flowers arranged on a short flower stalk with unbranched, flower-bearing shoots).

A raceme

In wild species, such as H. litwinovii, there are 2 racemes, and the flowers are widely spaced.

In H. orientalis, usually six to eight, it grows to a height of 15–20 cm (6–8 in). Cultivars of H. orientalis have denser flower spikes and are generally more robust. This is the type I have in my house now.

I got a pink rose bulb 2 years ago. You can see in the picture that I planted it outdoors in open ground. It was not as big as growing indoors. Could be due to bulb size or hot weather. So you can grow the plant indoors or outdoors. Depending on the climate and the size of the tuber, the flower size varies.

Hyacinth bulbs are poisonous. They contain oxalic acid. Handling the bulbs can cause mild skin irritation. Protective gloves are recommended.

Preparation of Hyacinth bulbs for indoor planting:

1. When buying flower bulbs, always choose large, healthy-looking bulbs.

2.This will ensure that the bulbs store plenty of nutrients for long lasting blooms.

3.You can buy pre-chilled bulbs for immediate planting or if you buy regular bulbs, keep them chilled for at least 6 to 10 weeks before planting.

4.You can keep the bulbs in a cool basement, or in the refrigerator, but keep them away from fruits and vegetables because the ethylene gas they produce can damage the bulbs.

5. When the leaves emerge, move the pot to a sunny window and give it a slow release nutrient fertilizer.

6.It usually takes 3 weeks for the flowers to open after the first leaves appear.

7. Hyacinth flowers usually grow 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm) tall.

8.The flowers are self-supporting, just support it with a small stick if you notice it falling down.

9.Sometimes you get two or more flower heads from one tuber.

Caring for Hyacinth Bulbs After Blooming:

1. Hyacinth bulbs grown in containers (pots/containers) can be treated as annual plants and replaced every year or the flowers can be removed and leaves die naturally.

2.They use photosynthesis to store nutrients for the next season.

3.After the leaves die back, the bulbs can be transplanted to the garden where they will bloom again the next season.

Side note: I'll also post how my Hyacinth journey goes later.

Thank you

- Bhuvanashri🌸

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🌸