garden update- fire ball lily

It poured for two days and then stopped. Hot sunny weather, did nothing at all for man except make him look up for rain whenver it became a little cloudy. :)
But the garden fared much better, butterflies, birds were at their best. Flowers thanked the heavens for the sun they know will disappear soon for 2-3 months.

And best of all my garden was on fire again- the Fire Ball  bloomed. Also called Powder puff, blood lily, and football lily (Botanical name Scadoxus (Haemanthus) multiflorus Family Amaryllidaceae) this is a truly unique flower. Each head is a spherical umbel which can be made up of upto 100 flowers (I never tried to count!). Fire ball lily was a lovely sight. This year my 4 year old son was interested to touch it to feel the delicate blooms of the ball.

the hint of the 'fire' within

the fully bloomed lily

The weight of the bloom is sometimes too much for the stalk to bear, I have to stake it sometimes..






 This year, I am making a promise to myself, I will not be lazy and allow the bulbs to languish in the soil after they are done with the show. I plan to split and store the bulbs out of the ground for the next year.
Culivation of fire ball lily is done by their bulbs. After the show is over which typically takes a week, the leafy growth starts. The plant grows almost two feet in height and then dries off. The leaves have done their job ie prepare enough food which is sent back and stored in the bulbs for the next year's performance.
And so on...

Will I lose my fire ball lily? This fear is behind my laziness each year. I don't wish to rock a steady boat, but after more than five years of only one bloom per year I expect that there should be more bulbs for me to experiment with.
The ground holds its secrets- time will tell, are there more bulbs down there or not?
I will certainly update about this one after it is safe ;)) 

first rains throw up a good surprise

Well, it rained last evening. After the downpour was through, I went up to the terrace to assess the damage and in general to check for things I should take care of before the monsoons start.

And the Thai basil? was covered with gelatinous blobs!
That's when everything fell into place- the plant is of sabja, the seeds are used in Ayurvedic medicine and it is used in faloodas for a cooling effect.
I had used some seeds during the last summer and had chucked the leftover seeds along with the kitchen waste into the vermicompost pot. One of the seeds saw light and wanted to ask me- why throw me away?
I am happy to have identified my plant and got a whole lot of sabja seeds in the bargain. It is Thai basil- botanical name Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflora ( family Lamiaceae ie mint family) leaves are used in cooking for flavor and seeds are sabja. Plus the added benefit that the plant looks beautiful with or without the flowers. Brush against the plant and you get a nice aroma.

Next problem is how to save these seeds for consumption. Wash them- they will swell and unwashed?- no no, too much dust around. Maybe I will wash them just prior to use :).

This plant certainly gets thumbs up in my garden.
Happy Gardening!