Passion: My balcony garden@San Diego....blooming and thriving...

With the limitation of space, sunlight, portability, watering in rented apartments, I am developing a tiny garden on my balcony..I hope to expand my collection and have a full-fledged beautiful backyard someday when we will have a house..but, for now, these make a nice start......

They do screen the fence, prevent dust, hide the trash receptacle, add fragrance to my sitting area and de-stress my study-strained eyes....

The Arabian jasmine.........
So far, its the best yielding-vine......

Areca palm.........

Cardboard palm..........

Dracaena.......

Ixora............

Mandevilla or Sun parasol........

Crimson one...

Pink one...

Pothos.........

Spineless yucca....

Flamingo plant....

Star jasmine.......
Ite is too small to flower now......but, I hope, when it will start, will bloom vigorously and permeate the air with heady fragrance...

Bougainvillea.......
It takes the prize for brightening the balcony....

Hibiscus....
President hibiscus........

Carolina breeze variety........

Both hibiscus variety together create  a stunning juxtaposition.....

Rose.............
Pink variety......

Orange one........

Gardenia.........

African marigold..........
I must say this plant is hard to manage...very prone to water-logging and fungal infection...

Sunburst caladium.........

Vinca.......

Baby sunrose...........

Portulaca..........

Some bug is destroying its floral buds and in order to protect it, I have to keep the pot in kitchen sink every night...gardening is not easy!

Coleus......

Arrowhead vine......

Mums............

Red one... blooming and going by the buds, they will keep doing so for months to come.......it gives a feel of fall being just around the corner.........

A brown mum...

and a yellow one.....

Also, dozens planters......multiple bags of potting mix.........a water pitcher...other basic gardening tools...

Finished look of the garden......... 

After  hard toil and dirt, the garden got a face-lift...the newly installed trellis is guiding the vines nicely...lending a fuller, lush look...I expect a thriving look in coming weeks.....Currently, the jasmines, bougainvillea, mandevilla, mums and portuloca are flowering....Pothos and arrowhead vines growing luxuriantly..........it looks lush, pretty, colorful.......

I always knew the therapeutic effect of plants and a garden...........

I am already feeling the beneficial changes.....in the morning I could wake up just with the motivation to spend time there...and the hummings are visiting more often...

Ever since, I have developed the balcony garden, I realize it more than ever....It's still in budding stage..yet, already infusing joy, fragrance galore...

A nice nook to have tea and read......

Bowlful of fresh blossoms to make potpourri..........

Fresh flowers for the vase......

That's not all.... an edible garden is shaping up side-by-side, which I am much excited about...I will post about it in subsequent posts..........
Quinault strawberry.........

Coriander...........

Mustard...........

Malabar spinach.........

Also, I have planted few blue plumbago, geranium, cape honeysuckle and Japanese honeysuckle from twig cuttings...it will be months before they can bloom...waiting is tough!!

A great gardening center is located just beyond our house...and potting mix comes cheaper than I thought.....about $4 for a 20 pound bag of poultry manure, bat guano and kelp-rich soil....fair deal.

Yet, I always felt the kitchen scraps must not be just dumped away...

...they should be transformed into compost somehow....but a tiny balcony and bug menace were hurdles...anyway, I devised a plan and started a project of composting in a big ziplock bag....hopefully, it will work and I can be happy about yet another step towards sustainability.......

Gardening bug must have bitten me hard........but, I must put a full stop or a long pause in my plantpurchase spree.........the balcony is crowded now...But, I am happy to fit them in big enough pots, to last them few years...and hopefully by that time, we can have a piece of land of ours....

There is  the obligate share of pest problems...myriad bugs are showing up...grazing away the leaves, ravaging the buds, fungi wrinkling the vines....some rose buds are dropping off, three of my six marigold succumbed ....to some disease or was it over-watering? I am too novice in gardening to say...Despite the setbacks the little garden is doing well...blooming day after day....providing joy and inspiring...

Plant: Empress tree and Catalina cherry tree.........

I am a plant enthusiast...by it I mean to be familiar with every plant I come across..that's my way of bonding with nature...

When I moved to San Diego county, after living two years in Orange county, I had expected to see many new plant species..

In fact, I got disappointed in that regard..

I got two see only two new species..yes, only two!!

An empress tree..........

and a Catalina island cherry......

I should have realized that both these counties of South California share almost same climatic and edaphological characters...and their botanical profile will largely overlap...

Anyway, I loved both these trees... empress tree for its large heart-shaped leaves and profusion of pale purple flowers..the wild cherry tree for its deep green leaves and red fruit clusters...

Plant: California pepper tree as source of allergen urushiol, trigger of skin allergy...

Back to allergy anecdotes...plants spanning from multiple families are known to be allergens.

Family Anacardiaceae  tops the list of such villainous plants...poison oak, poison sumac, poison ivy, cashew, mango, peppers...

This is a California pepper tree...common to South California landscapes...it has beautiful curtain like drooping branches and green-red pepper con-size fruits...

but don't be lured to touch them..they contain the vicious allergen urushiol...can easily trigger allergic reactions...

Not only the living tree, but its dry parts too...the other day I become a victim of it. Saw this bird nest fallen from a pepper tree..in curiosity to check if there is any egg or fledgling inside, I handled it, not even in hands, but shoes...perhaps, it released dusts which came in contact with my skin..I had barely reached home, saw these big hives (urticaria in medical jargon) on my necks and below..it has subsided, but yet to heal completely, even after two days...

 Hope, the information helps predisposed people like me...

Plant: Moth plant blossoms and pods....

Fragrant flowers of moth plant........

These vines entwining the Mission San Diego fences  are currently laden with myriad lovely blooms..such a treat to bask in their scent and fresh looks...but, they belong to Apocyanaceae family..better to stay away...

For those interested, this is how the pods look like..

The pods are bursting and the silky, fuzzy seeds are floating in the breeze..

The leaves in autumn...

Place: Sand dunes in Utah....

When we went on our road trip to Zion and Bryce National Park, this  spring, we didn't have the faintest idea that there can be a sand dunes in accessible distance...

Coral Pink sand dunes state park, located between Moquith and Moccasin mountains offered us a firsthand experience of desert...the dunes formed by wind erosion of Navajo sandstone  was beautiful in its ochre color vastness...

The dune buggy tracks.......

We saw flocks of mule deer and jackrabbits in its vicinity, among the scrubs..the park brochure says one can spot kit fox and coyote too, though we could not..

Place: Amazing flora of San Diego zoo....

By popularity and visitors San Diego Zoo happen to be among the top 3 zoos of the world..
But, the zoo does not mean its fauna only...in fact an amazing wealth of flora thrive there...

Mammoth plant....
This fuzzy fruit of tennis ball appearance is called Osage orange or mammoth fruit..........
A plant species dating back to the woolly mammoth era..It used to be the extinct's animal's diet..
Deprived of the dispersal agent and changing climate may be, very few species remain now..
I saw this tree in San Diego zoo..just near the elephant odyssey..

May be it has been strategically planted there to give a feel of the extinct giants and their environment..

Rainbow eucalyptus trees....
Rainbow eucalyptus trees standing at the entrance....

When you visit next time, make sure to gaze at the vibrant colors...

Passion: As I complete fourth year in this Country.....

This 4th July marked completion of my 4th year in this great Nation...

In 2011, I arrived here and ever since, exploring its natural world has been a passion with me...

This blog depicts chunks of those findings...

Amidst the duties of studies, research and publications, I feel good to have visited 7 National parks, many State parks, regional parks, ecological preserves, beaches, and hiked more than 30 trails...

Some random pictures from the outdoors..

In front of USS Midway museum, stationed at San Diego Bay...

A Spring afternoon at the famous Balboa Park...pink trumpet flowers were putting up quite a show...

Early summer in historical Old Town..jacarandas were cynosure of all eyes..

At rocky shore of Point Loma ..

Coral bloom time in Lake Murray...I can remember,  Christmas festivities were in the air..