Silk cotton- The red riot...!

The Red Silk Cotton or Bombax, is a native of India and Malaysia and flowers between the months of January and March. The Silk Cotton is commonly called the “Booruga” in Kannada.

This tree gets completely leafless and bursts ablaze in a riot of large cup-shaped red/crimson flowers. These simple yet alluring flowers attract a variety of birds creating a constant symphony of bird-song during the peak flowering season. The next time you spy a Silk Cotton, don't miss stopping by, to try your luck at sighting some interesting birds...

The large green fruit of this tree look strange as they dangle mostly in pairs and when they dry and turn brown, they burst and spread out tiny seeds with soft strands of fluffy silk/cotton attached to them creating an ethereal sight.

As kids I remember fixing the the green cup-shaped calyx around the buttons on our dresses and collecting these lovely flowers by the bushel... And not to forget how we used to entertain ourselves for hours with the soft silky fluff from the pods... As an artist I have sketched/painted/coloured this majestic tree and the elegant flowers a number of times. More than the flowers, I find the light umber trunk with it's interesting rough spiked bark full of character! I love the way the slender spiky branches form an aesthetic maze and could stand for hours under the tree admiring these lovely lil nuances... :)

It has been claimed that virtually every part of this tree has medicinal value!

The handsome Silk cotton featured in this album stands tall outside the old Karnataka Science College Boys hostel near the Jai Bala Bheem Vyayamshaala.

My love affair with heritage browns

A rendezvous with a stunning old twosome

One afternoon, while on a break from school to visit the chemists', I stumbled upon this handsome old ficus (Hatti Gida) tree casting stunning shadows on the wall of, hold-your-breath, an even older (More than 70 year old) charming bungalow...!!

I could have not asked for a better deal... My rendezvous for the day was fixed, the instant I set my eyes on this impressive two-some... A full hour spent there, and boy, my day was made...!! :) :)

Tabebuia- The yellow spectacle...!!

The Yellow Tabebuias all over Dharwad are lighting up, and this one in front of the University Tower is in full bloom without a single leaf in sight...!

This Tabebuia is the oldest and largest around and puts up a spectacular show every spring...!!

Dharwad has quite a few "Tabebuia" trees spread out in different areas.

The Tabebuia flowers in lovely shades of yellow, bright pink, mauve and pale pink/mauve. The yellow and pink Tabebuia were widely grown and seen in Bengaluru, our garden city of yore, during the 70's, 80's and 90's! It was introduced to the avenues of Dharwad/Hubli somewhere in the early 80's by the horticulture dept. And today, we see quite a few of these splendid trees adding to the beauty of our quaint lil town Dharwad !

The Tabebuia, also known by its common name Yellow poui, is a native of Central and South America and the national tree of Paraguay. The inner bark of Tabebuia has antibacterial and decongestant properties and is hence used in herbal medicines and to brew tea, known as lapacho.

In Dharwad, the Tabebuia are the first to bloom in spring ! An interesting phenomenon I've noticed is, like the Gul mouhar or other flowering trees, the Tabebuia does not go through stages to reach this amazing point of full bloom. It's almost an overnight occurrence ! One morning you see the tree almost bare and the next you find it having burst in spectacular bloom...!

The delicate almost wispy tubular flowers are packed in tight bunches in most species and in some they are sparse bunches of two or three flowers. Whether in bunches or single identities, these flowers always succeed in evoking a sense of awe and a spontaneous A "Wow" ! simply slips out without a second thought...!

If the flowers evoke an obvious awe, the leaves are not to be left behind and in fact vie for rightful attention. For, they too have a distinct identity and manage to be a perfect foil to the wispy flowers. They spread out like an open palm with five pretty sap green leaves. Now could the bark of the Tabebuia be left without mention? Nah ! Stand beside a Tabebuia and observe the light ocher bark. It has a very interesting serrated/grooved wavy pattern. The artist in me is always intrigued and arrested by this interesting pattern and I never fail to stop and literally gawk open-mouthed when ever I happen to pass by a Tabebuia !

 The first tantalizing glimpse of the yellow bounty, through the fence...

 And another...

And there, the spectacular sight...!
And now my heart was beating faster and my pulse racing with excitement... But there was still the fence between us... And I knew, I had to now make it a sprint... to be beside this stunning golden spectacle...!!

 And there it was, right before me...!!

 And then, after having spent a few minutes gawking shamelessly in admiration at this wondrous spectacle, I went up close and spent the best hour of my life under the golden canopy...!! :)

One last longing look over the fence, before I headed home... :) :)

My tryst with sugarcane and fox tail grass...

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust