#mysore trumpet vine

[rowan--photography]

peace lily and mysore trumpet vine

April 2024

[crudlynaturephotos]

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Tuesday 14 February 2023

A vigorous vine from southern India Thunbergia mysorensis (Indian clock vine, Mysore trumpet vine, lady's slipper vine, brick and butter vine, rhubarb and custard vine) climbs through trees in the tropical montane forest where it is pollinated by sunbirds. Where it has naturalised in the Americas the nectar is a source of food for hummingbirds. The heads of visiting birds become dusted in pollen, which is transferred to other flowers.

Jill Raggett

[gurukulabotanicalsanctuary]

Peter Pix: Nurturing plants, animals, land and community - 2

Guest post by Peter Oppenheimer, long time friend and well wisher of Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary

A note from Peter to accompany the photos: 

After dozens of inspiring visits to the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary spanning a period of 5 decades, I have come to understand that nothing short of a Conspiracy of Nature is going on there.  The derivation of the word inspiration refers to a stimulation and activation of the spirit within us. Respiration (or breath) refers to a repetition of such an activation, allowing us to live.  Similarly, to conspire literally means “to breathe together.”When I sit quietly in the midst of the jungle gardens of the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, I can palpably feel the conspiracy of nature whereby my outbreath (expiration) of carbon dioxide is absorbed by the profusion of plants around me, helping them to survive and thrive.  And in return, the oxygen, which they are in effect exhaling, is the source of my inspiration and the sustaining principle of my life. A mutual exchange of vital energy. This conspiracy is at the heart of the astonishing work of immeasurable import going on daily at GBS.Over the years, through still photographs, a video presentation and writing for publication, I have tried to pay tribute and communicate the depth of my admiration and affection for the many people who are working tirelessly and without much fanfare to learn from, care for and amplify the lessons of, this precious microcosm of the vast natural system which is at once our source, our sustenance, our inspiration and our destiny.  The photos presented in this blog posting are from my latest visit to the Sanctuary during the last week of December 2019 and the first week of January 2020.  I hope they reflect the spirit of dedication, good will and humor which are the hallmarks of this wonderful community, a community informed by and identified with the natural world in which they find themselves and their life’s meaning.

View from the sanctuary  of the neighbourhood

Approaching full solar eclipse December 26th 2019

Left to right: Moly, Shantha and Valli, on the verandah awaiting eclipse

Leela at the cowshed road

Total solar eclipse

Shailesh by the community kitchen

Janu  at  the kitchen

Moly watering plants along the Tower road

Wood-fired community bath-house under the tree ferns

Blue water lilies in the kitchen-side pond

Purvy in the garden by the library.

Looking down to the library through the elephant ferns

Seena in the ornamental garden

A walking iris  in the ornamental garden. Also known as the apostle  plant, poor man’s orchid, and fan iris.

The visitor’s cottage where Peter stayed

A malabar pit viper in the garden

Pradeep of the Green Phoenix team (far right) with his nephews and mother at their home

Vinutha, an apprentice on the 10 month Ecological Nurturance programme, crosses the stream.

Looking towards Koodal (meaning confluence), enroute to the Green Phoenix rice field.

A trumpet vine in flower: Thunbergia mysurensis  or  the Mysore trumpetvine.

Green Phoenix team members and relatives, apprentices and guests harvest paddy. This is a fragrant variety called gandhagashaala. 

The Maratha and the Panichchi: Girish (apprentice) and Kanakki (paddy harvesting teacher, old friend and neighbour of the Sanctuary). Harvesting rice.

Balan of the Green Phoenix team.

Supi after lunch, washing up at the stream

Jaimon of the Green Phoenix during threshing

Suresh of the Green Phoenix during threshing

Srilatha, friend and neighbour. Also family to Nisha and Sajji (members of the Green Phoenix)

Suresh and Balan demonstrate winnowing

Nikita enjoying herself at threshing

Peter: photographer and old friend, stepping up from the stream. 

Blue tiger butterflies gather on crotalaria bushes by the forest track.

***

To close with, a note from Supi: Peter’s pictures comprise a wonderful archive of the Sanctuary and surroundings over many years. They have their own folder in our computer too -  Peter Pix!  The combination of wildlife and flowers and  landscapes and people surprises and invariably delights the person who stumbles upon them. Organized by year, the collections say something about Peter himself, whom  and what he saw that year, and how.

Sadly for us, but better for the planet, Peter says he will not travel by air for the next few years. We will miss his winter visits. 

Thank you Peter!

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Sunday 15 March 2020

In the tropical glasshouse of Cambridge Botanic Garden, UK, the pendulous racemes of Thunbergia mysorensis (Mysore clock vine, Indian trumpet vine, lady slipper vine, brick & butter vine, doll's shoes) were creating a dramatic display. This vigorous, evergreen, twining climber is from southern India where the flowers are pollinated by sunbirds. In the Americas where it has naturalised the abundant nectar is a food source for hummingbirds.

Jill Raggett