Passion: My watercolor painting......

With a decade of biomedical research and publications, I am better known as a science-enthusiast..

Not many know that I started as an art lover ...but science overtook it....

Now, I paint occasionally, when get saturated with science jargons...

I like watercolor...its inexpensive and it has some degree of unpredictability....lots of scope to experiment...

My spouse got some of the latest paintings framed........

'Leafless birches',  ' Autumn glory'......

'Jacaranda alley', 'Waterfall', 'Persimmons', and 'Tuscany landscape'.........

I frequently post my painting progress in my other blog..link of which is:
http://seemaiphonephotos.blogspot.com/

Passion: Adding to the patio garden........

My little patio, container garden had already 30-something variety of flower plants...

Though, a fruit plant would make it wholesome....

I have been fascinated with kumquat tree ever since I saw it first.....small plant, with bauble like, oval fruits..and it does well in pots...

So, I got one at $20.....

While I was at the Garden center, got some more flower plants, that I had been longing from some time...

A croton plant (Codiaeum veriegatum)........

Kalanchoe.......

A Mandevilla, for my previous one had perished due to my ignorance and over-watering...

The finished look of the developing garden......

Summer is about to arrive...my Arabian jasmine has started flowering....the ixora plant that shared a pot with the jasmine was given a pot of its own, and its already thriving...the croton plant is just a sapling, which I am excited to see in  bushy form...

My last attempt at growing food plants was an utter failure.......the cilantro and mustard plants after a encouraging start succumbed to bugs........lack of enough sunshine was a culprit for it...

Leaving behind the fiasco...I have sown some more seeds....cilantro, mustard, arugula, Swiss chard, spinach.........let's see how they fare...some of them have already germinated....
Even, I have planted the cut top of pineapple.....to be seen if its survives......

With all its successes and pitfalls, gardening is an extremely rewarding form of hobby..a passion..

Nature: A single tree sustains multiple lives.....

It was World Environment few days back....on 5th June....
Activists and nature lovers hailed it and its pivotal role in safety of the planet...the risks it is facing...
However, it did not get as much press as it should have got.....

Here I am posting my own observation.........
There is this medium-size jacaranda tree in our backyard........So many depend on it..........
House finch.....

Song sparrow.....

Hummingbird........

Mourning dove.........

Monarch butterfly....

Also many bees, crows, bushtits, phoebes, other butterflies........
Yeah, a single tree sustains numerous lives......Do protect each existing tree....and plant new..

Plant: Rubber rabbitbrush.......

Whiledriving through the Sierra foothills, along Hwy395......in autumn..one can not miss the yellow blooms carpeting both sides of the road...extending into the horizon.......
Its rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa).........also called chamisa...

Framing the distant blue mountains, they accentuate the landscapes.......

Passion: Revamping the garden........

We moved from San Diego to Irvine.......with us moved our container garden.......

In the previous house, the pots were in the balcony, which did not get enough sunlight....so it often caused water logging, fungal attack, and bug infestation....blooming was few and far between......even I lost my caladium, vinca, portulaca, marigolds, mums, mint, strawberry, a rose, a mandevilla vine...

So, when we saw this house with a big enough porch getting ample sunlight...I envisioned immense prospect and we sealed the deal......

Now a week-into this house....the garden is established......

Apart from the old plants....I got some new plants........

Calla lily........

Purple mini rose.....

Red geranium........

Coreopsis.....

Hydrangea.....

Asiatic lily.........

 Yellow hibiscus......

Portulaca......

Petunia.........

The garden looks pretty interesting....with most of them blooming......

Birds are visiting..........song sparrow, mourning dove.......

I have some spare pots, which I am planning to fill with some more colorful plants...

Gardening indeed is the other name of  'hope'...and despite getting soiled and encountering earthworms, larvae, aphids......its so much therapeutic.....

Will update on the garden progress shortly........

Plant: Cottonwoods........

Cottonwood tree...Found near riparian areas..........

What aspens are to sub-alpine regions of Sierra mountains, cottonwoods are to South California...after all both are from the genus Populus of Salicaceae family...

Autumn look.........cottonwoods in Sierra foothills..........

Spring bloom...

Autumn.....

Winter....

Cottonwoods in Irvine...the popular Jeffrey open space trail...

Plant: Poison oak.........

Poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) grows luxuriantly in wilderness of South California......

The green shrub attains yellow, red, pink, purple hues in autumn.......which looks striking against the grey-green chaparral flora......

However, its important to know that its a dangerous allergenic plant.....If the leaves rub against human skin, it creates blisters and inflammations........
Eradication of the nuisance plant is tough as well.........as burning releases the harmful essential oil..so, it should be avoided..