Skip to main content

the humble bougainvillea - a travel companion


A Riot of Colours - Bougainvillea

This blog has been conceptualised keeping in mind Mother Nature with all her colours, beautiful and joyful. My hubby and I want to portray and showcase all the beautiful places to visit which have their own individual fascination. And since Mother Nature is a riot of colours, be it the sky, lakes, mountains, flora, fauna etc. I have labelled my very first post - A Riot of Colours - and have showcased the humble Bougainvillea as this is something I have seen all over India, providing beauty and charm and elegance in its own humble way. I see it as a constant travel companion. So it accompanies us as we begin this journey of discovery of God's creation - the wonderful, marvelous, beautiful WORLD he has created .

The photograph above the title is courtesy - www.mlewallpapers.com/imgmap.php










Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea glabra), commonly called Paper Flowers, are climbing plants whose brilliant colors are feature of Mediterranean countries. Colorful papery bracts, usually appear in clusters, surround tiny flowers. Bougainvilleas are very easy to grow as hedge or in pots. Plants can be propagated easily by cutting. They need warm weather and full sunlight to flower. Native of Brazil, this flower is named after a French navigator Louis A. de Bougainville. Pictures of bougainvilleas in this page were taken from Thailand and Vietnam in 1999. You can search for more information about this plant on Google: http://www.flowerpictures.net/


Scientific Name : Bougainvillea Glabra
Family : Nyctaginaceae (four-o'clock family)
Common names : Bougainvillea, Paper flower
Flowering Season: March to May
Colour : Red, orange, yellow, pink, white, purple, scarlet, lavender








Usage - Use bougainvillea to decorate fences and arbors with explosions of color. Every Mediterranean style structure should have at least one bougainvillea guarding the entry or framing a window.

Bougainvillea is a great vine for large containers to decorate hot patios and plazas. It can be trained as a shrub or clipped into shapes. Gardeners in colder zones will enjoy growing bougainvillea in containers that live outdoors in summers and are brought into cool interiors in winter. Let plant rest - let soil dry out between watering and do not fertilize (it will drop it's leaves but will leaf out again in spring).

Bougainvillea is also used to create beautiful flowering bonsai specimens.
Further pictures of bougainvillea arching over a gate or entrance like the one below can be found at : http://www.allposters.co.il/

Bougainvillea Garden - Established in the year 1976, Bougainvillea Garden has acquired a prime position in the tourism arena of Chandigarh within a short span of time. This exceptional garden is set in Sector-3, and exhibits more than fifty attractive varieties of bougainvillea plants. Bougainvillea Garden is comprised of a total area of 20 acres and the park houses bougainvilleas that is shaped in to different forms like an arch, pavilions, a cluster of bowers, and arcades. These thorny shrubs are just right for bonsai type planting. The annual Bougainvillea festival conducted in the park is very popular and it attracts large number of people. Apart from these paper beauties, the park also holds fitness tracks, which provides a good walk and morning exercise field amidst a colourful brigade. Take a walk through the Chandigarh Bougainvillea Garden .




There were blooming bougainvillea bushes all over Rajasthan... so pretty!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Coonoor & Ooty

COO N OOR & O O T Y This is the Coimbatore - Metupalaiyam - Coonoor - Ooty circuit. I haven't been there yet but the beauty of Coonoor and Ooty has capitivated me from what I have read about them. These 2 beautiful hill stations are topmost of my list of places to visit next. One has to first go to Coimbatore and then move onwards to Metupalaiyam (located at the foot of the Nilgiri hills) which is the popular entry point for the toy train journey and road route to Ooty via Coonoor . You can get to Metupalaiyam directly by train from Chennai. Mumbai doesn't have a direct train service to M. It takes 1 hour to by road from Coimbatore to Metupalaiyam. It takes 3 1/2 hours by road from Coimbatore to Ooty. If you need to stopover at Coimbatore enroute to Ooty, there are several hotels available. COIMBATORE Hotels - 1) Aiba Regency – Tariff Rs 495 - 1600. http://www.hotelaibaregency.com/Contactus.html 28A, Geetha Hall, Opp. Railway Station, - 0422 - 2303737, 2303747

Kodaikanal

KODAIKANAL Picture courtesy of - http://www.flowersofindia.net/ KODAIKANAL is a beautiful place is in Tamil Nadu, situated on Palani hills at an altitude of 210om. It is one of the most popular hill resorts in India, a charming hill station. near Madurai. The beauty of the ideal hill station lies in its woods , lovely lake and bracing air. It is approachable from Ooty/Coonoor which takes 7 hrs via road. From Coimbatore it takes 3 1/2 hrs via road. Peculiar to this region is a unique shrub, named as Kurinji which is found in KodaiKanal. This shrub has light, purple-blue coloured flowers , it flowers in every 12 years. It will flower next in 2016. Hope many of us are lucky enough to witness this. picture courtesy - http://travel.paintedstork.com/blog/2006/11/photo-essay-flowers-galore-kurinjis.html Kodaikanal is the best place to stay during the hot summers, and to avoid the heat and haze of plains. This place also provides an opportunity to hike in the quiet shola forests. When to Visi

My Panchgani Diary

My     PANCHGANI    Diary THE IDEA - The rolling hills and silver oaks invited us to visit them at Panchgani. We had heard a lot about the breathtaking view from every corner of Panchgani and were intrigued. So finally, we decided to make the trip in December 2009. Yes! My mother and I are just back from the cozy town of Panchgani. THE PLACE - Panchgani is around 21 kms (30 mins) before the other more popular and populated sister hill station, Mahabaleshwar. It is in the state of Maharashtra, India and an ideal place for a quick getaway. The travel agents tried very hard persuading us to go to Mahabaleshwar instead but we were firm on our decision. http://www.indiatravels.org/panchgani.htm tells us About Panchgani Panchgani earned fame when John Chessen, a British Warrant Officer founded it in 1854 and formulated it with a grant from the Governer of Bombay. He chose the place to experiment and to create it into a European-style health resort. The ancient building, Parsi c