Ferns, Magnolia, Banana, Hibiscus, Fig

A large fern in my front garden. I am specially proud of this plant that I started growing from a very tiny plant. Its a light green fern that has adapted very well to the bright sunlight and thrives with a bit of watering and manuring from time to time. Also ferns seem to be self propagating and grow in large thick clusters. I have had this plant for close to 2 years now and plan to repot it in a month or two.

I was driving by on my way to work and I found this bright red plant for sale with a roadside vendor. I was really struck by what looked like a brilliant red ball of flowers. The guy selling it told me that this plant was called Fireball - not sure what its botanical name is. I think its related to the Poinsetta family of plants - need to double check though. Its red curled up leaves that look like flowers put a fierce display of red in the garden.

A close up of the fireball flower.

Hibiscus - Waiting for this one to bloom. This one has light yellow flowers. I have about 5 Hibuscus plants in the garden - none of them have a bloom at the moment. In a few days I am sure they will start competing to put out nice displays.

Update - the Hibiscus bloomed yesterday - here are a couple of pictures.

Another fern in the patio. Again very easy growing plant that loves sun or shade and thrives without any fuss. This one also started out as a tiny plant in a little plastic pouch but has really taken to the container and thrived in the semi shade area of the patio.

A banana tree that was planted about 8 months back - has grown very quickly. I planted it in a corner - so the tree leans forward - not sure if that is good for the tree and whether it needs additional support. It has put put a lot of baby banana plants all around the base in a cluster. I am waiting for the first banana fruit to show up - expected in a month or so. The large green leaves look great. My wife uses the leaves to cook baked fish recipes.

This plant is locally called Champa (Magnolia champaca). It has a very fragrant flower and has taken to the back garden very well. The nursery folks told me that this was a dwarf variety - I really hope this stays a dwarf and doesn't grow into a huge tree. The golden yellow flowers have a really heady scent and smells amazing in the evenings.

Golden varigated Duranta in my back garden. I love the varigated golden leaves. This is a very hardy shrub that just needs a bit of sun and good soil with an organic mix to grow. Duranta's require very low maintenance and only require an occasional pruning. This plant is really well suited for my back garden which receives only a little sunlight for a few hours and is mostly in the shade.

Fig tree - this is a dwarf fig tree that I got for free from my nursery for being such an avid patron :). For the first 3 months that I got it, the tree showed no signs of growth and the three leaves that it started out with, all fell out - sending me into despair. But once it acclimatized and got its bearings in the garden, it started spouting new leaves and very has shown very fast growth ever since. It even had a couple of fig fruits (which are actually flowers of the tree) which the birds absolutely loved and gorged on. The leaves are very pretty and have a soft spiky texture and seem to be designed to soak sunlight by the gallon (or whatever happens to be the right measure).

Plumeria Alba - This plant is not technically in my garden and is in the common landscaped area around my house. But it is adjacent to the garden entrance and very close to my garden - so it make sure to water it everytime I water my garden. This plant also called Frangipani has delicate white flowers with golden center and a scent that is heavenly.





Bottlebrush (Callistemon) is a hardy tree that has red flowers shaped like bottle brushes. I have had this tree for about a couple of months now and it is showing great progress. The tips of the branches have sprouted new light green shoots and the plant is showing vigorous growth.