Garden geek

Evening primrose, climbing snapdragon and gardenia florida

2013-04-22T18:52:00.000+05:00

Spring is coming to an end in Lahore and coming heat wave is having its toll on the spring flowers. On the other hand, the semi tropical perennial flowers are coming to their own. This year i grew many perennials from seed. Not common in lahore, i took they risk whether they will grow good in lahore or not. Some produced excellent results. Here are some of those: Evening primrose, Oenothera

Garden Of Mr Waheed Malik in Lahore

2013-03-26T17:17:00.000+05:00

Waheed malik is a very experienced and skilled gardener of Lahore. He is very passionate in growing almost all forms of plant kingdom including cactus, succulent, bonsai, bulbs, climbers etc. He grows hundreds of Amaryllis bulbs on his rooftop and has some rare collection of amaryllis family bulbs. I had the honor to visit his garden and learned a lot of things from him. Let me share some of the

Annual flower show Lahore 2013

2013-03-25T11:41:00.001+05:00

Details of Annual spring flower show in lahore for year 2013 are as follows: Venue: Bara dari Gate, Bagh-e-Jinnah Lawrence gardens lahore Date: March 23 - March 31, 2013 This year exhibition is better than previous year. The fountains add a very beautiful element to the flower show. PHA and HSP has really put a very impressive effort. Do visit the show.

Heliotropium arborescens and Hyacinth flowers

2013-03-19T13:59:00.000+05:00

Heliotropium arborescens "marine" is a a very fragrant compact annual/perennial flower. Flowers cover the whole plant and vanilla fragrance is very strong. I bought seeds from chilterns seeds UK and sowed the seeds in October 2012 and it germinated in November 2012. It started flowering in March 2013. An annual in cold areas but tender perennial in warm climates like mine. Not sure how it will

Flower exhibition in Karachi 2013

2013-02-20T16:56:00.000+05:00

The 62nd Pakistan Flower Show 2013 will be taking place at DHA Seaview Public Park on Thursday the 28th of Feb. The Flower Show will end on Sunday 3rd March 2013. The timings are from 9 AM to 10 PM.

Amaryllis Graffiti and Kashmir Dahlia

2013-01-28T18:41:00.002+05:00

Kashmir dahlia is also called indian dahlia here but it is not from india. It is from holland. It is propagated from cuttings. These are raised and grown in cool areas like hilly mountains of Murree and then brought to warm areas in winter. It needs protection from fog and sever winter. It likes to be fed well and needs lot of energy to put large flowers. It goes dormant in summer and keeping it

Plants having cosmetic value

2013-01-23T17:39:00.000+05:00

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Garlic vine, Thunbergia alba and Sprekelia

2012-12-28T12:53:00.000+05:00

Garlic vine is a beautiful climber from bignonia family. The flowers and leaves emit garlic odour hence the name garlic vine. Botanic name of garlic vine is Cydista aequinoctialis. It grows very good in Karachi and Lahore. It flowers in fall and spring. In my experience it suffers from pests in fall specially mildew so you may need to spray it. It likes hot and humid so Karachi suits it better

Winter growing vegetables

2012-11-20T11:35:00.000+05:00

Sowing of winter vegetables in mild winter climates start from September and October while fruiting goes till February and March. Find below the calender for winter vegetables. Note that this calender is not for northern areas, only southern plains. Some of the commonly sown vegetables in winter include Broccoli,Potato, Onion, Lettuce leaf, Cauliflower, Turnip, Peas, Spinach, Carrot, Beets,

Winter and Spring flowering annuals

2012-11-11T13:55:00.000+05:00

Fall is the real gardening season in all climates where winters are mild. Southern plains of Pakistan are no exception either. This is the reason that major gardening activity is in winter in lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and other lowers plains areas. The plants which grow in summer in cool climates of UK and Europe grows in winter of lahore. This is the reason many winter annuals grown in lahore

Rare Morning glories on my terrace garden

2012-10-21T13:00:00.000+05:00

I love morning glories because they are easiest to maintain,pest and disease free and they flower in the poorest of soils. Not to mention they are easiest to grow from seeds as well. Japanese morning glories are the uniquest of all and they have very beautiful rare patterns. Here are some of these i grew from seed and they all are growing on my terrace in pots and some in soil bed. All are grown

Butterflies of Lahore - Indian Fritillary

2012-09-17T10:27:00.004+05:00

Indian Fritillary Argyreus hyperbius is a not a common butterfly of Punjab. It is originally a butterfly of cool climate and northern areas, migrate to southern plains in winter. I captured this butterfly in Spring in Lawrence gardens lahore, it was on a Helichrysum paper flower Lisa's Chaos GBBD Mosaic monday Our World Tuesday Outdoor Wednesday Wordless Wednesday

Flowers of Rose cactus and Dwarf white bauhinia

2012-09-10T11:25:00.005+05:00

There are two unusual plants i saw recently, both blooming in late summer here. Both were blooming profusely. It is a delight to see some new perennials flowering in the summer heat of lahore. Here they go. Rose cactus with botanic name Pereskia grandifolia is basically a cactus but a tree flowering cactus. It can attain a height of more than 15 feet and an equal spread. The main attraction is

Flowers of Ivy Gourd, Desert petunia and Firecracker

2012-09-02T18:29:00.002+05:00

There are many shrubs and plants which suit very well to the hot climates like lahore but very under rated. Perhaps they are common but the beauty of these common flowers is not given the appreciation which they deserve. Take for example an Ivy ground flower. Although not famous as an ornamental plant for its flowers but just take a look at its flower which is as pretty as it goes. Another

Butterflies of Islamabad - Clouded yellow butterfly

2012-08-27T14:52:00.003+05:00

Another butterfly which i captured during my visit to Rose and Jasmine garden Islamabad was clouded yellow butterfly Colias croceus. It was sitting on the rose bush not on the flowers. Because roses are not good pollinators hence not attracting much butterflies. Roses of this garden were very ornamental though. I did not see this butterfly in lahore but it can be found in lahore i guess. Here is

Giant Crape-myrtle, peacock flower and katsagon

2012-08-12T15:38:00.005+05:00

There are lots of flowers in bignonia family which are ideal to the climate of lahore. Some of them are heat loving and flower profusely in hottest months in summer. Some of them are still blooming in monsoon. Let us have a look. Giant Crape-myrtle with botanic name Lagerstroemia speciosa It is elder brother of common Lagerstroemia indica shrub, but it is a tree not a shrub. It flowers when only

Sunbird on my terrace garden

2012-07-21T17:56:00.000+05:00

Humming birds are not common in lahore, pakistan while sunbirds are common here. I did see a humming bird moth in Lawrence gardens but we will have to be content with sunbirds for now on. This sunbird is a regular visitor in my terrace garden. Mostly after seedspods. In the below pictures it is after spent flowers of senecio vine. These spent flowers will be used probably for his nest

Wild flowers of Punjab - Sodom apple, bindweed

2012-05-15T02:16:00.005+05:00

This is Apple of sodom or calotrope with botanic name Calotropis procera is a wild flower of Punjab. It has succulent foliage and flowers in almost whole summer in open sun. Bindweed with botanic name convolvulus arvensis. A very common weed in Punjab. A ground cover in full sun. Self sows. Foliage is different than that of morning glory. Ipomoea nil chocolate. This is a type of Japanese

Growing Society garlic, Tulbaghia violacea in warm climates

2012-05-10T14:03:00.000+05:00

There are not many bulbs capable of flowering in the summer heat of May and June in lahore. When temperatures are over 100F very few plants grow well. Society garlic, Tulbaghia violacea is one of these. From garlic/onion family, this south african bulb is very heat tolerant and a perennial in warm climates. It grows from a rhizome just like most onions and garlic do. Flowers are fragrant though

Love in a mist, dwarf morning glory, double daylily

2012-04-28T11:55:00.003+05:00

It is early summer here in lahore but weather is still not hot because of recent rains. This is the reason most of spring annuals are lingering into the summer. Here are some of the flowers blooming in my small soil bed these days. First is Dwarf morning glory, convolvulus tricolor is finally in bloom. I tried several times to grow it last year but could not succeed. This plant i sowed in

Butterflies of Murree - Common four ring butterfly

2012-04-26T14:06:00.000+05:00

Continuing the Butterflies of Pakistan series, the next few posts will be covering the butterflies of Murree hills including Nathia gali, Bhurban and pipeline track near donga gali. The first one to start with is Common four ring butterfly with botanic name Ypthima huebneri. It is found in mostly Asia, including Burma, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Singapore. This photo i took in Nathiagali

Seed germination tips

2012-04-18T13:43:00.000+05:00

Growing from seed is an addiction. Only those who are into it know the joy of successful seed germination. Here are some tips for successful seed germination. I hope other members will also contribute. Note that these are general tips, some seeds need special treatment. 1- Large seeds germinate easily and quickly as compared to small seeds. Large seeds can be soaked in water to let the

Winter lilac, Buddleja Asiatica in my garden

2012-04-16T13:46:00.000+05:00

Winter lilac, Buddleja Asiatica is a very fragrant buddleja suitable for growing in hot climates. It flowers in spring here in lahore and possibly other warm climates. Another species of buddleja, Davidii does not like very high temperatures, thus, do not grow as good as asiatica. Although Davidii has advantage of flowering in summer off and on where as Asiatica flower only once in an year

Kitchen gardening - Punjab government project

2012-04-05T10:58:00.001+05:00

This is another good initiative by Government of Punjab for the promotion of kitchen gardening in Punjab. The chief minister deserves appreciation for that. Although the free vegetable seeds distributed by Punjab Government were not of very high quality (at least which i sowed) but they are going to right direction. I am sure many of the gardeners from Punjab will go ahead and start planting the

Kitchen gardening - which vegetables to grow in summer

2012-04-03T14:10:00.004+05:00

Here are some of the vegetables which are grown in summer in lahore, karachi, peshawar and other similar climates. The best time to plant these vegetables is from February 15 to March 31. But you can plant/sow them any time between March and May depending upon the type of vegetable. For seeds, mix old manure or leaf compost & soil in 1:4 and for seedling transplant or mature plants in 2:5.