Strobilanthes hamiltoniana - India Blue Bell or Chinese Rain Bell?

Do you think these flowers look like Indian blue bells or Chinese rain bells?

This is a plant with 4 scientific names and one incorrect name.

Tawny Coast Butterflies Mating at The Rooftop Secret Garden of 1-Utama

1:37pm

I was trying to photograph some tiny damselflies when suddenly something fell right into the pond in front of me. Splat! What's that?

It looked like a butterfly drowning so I extended a hand, hoping that I could help. It willingly crept onto my finger.

Ovipositing Tawny Coaster Butterfly on Turnera ulmifolia

1.12 pm

Ephemeral is the Word 4 Wednesday, a meme hosted by Donna at Garden Walk Garden Talk Blog. The definition for Ephemeral is "having a short life cycle or existence, not lasting".

Turnera ulmifolia (Yellow Alder) flowers open in the morning. Such beautiful blooms, so rich in nectar but it is only for a few hours. By mid-day the flowers would be closed. At the Rooftop Secret Garden of 1-Utama lives some Tawny Coaster butterflies that feed on the nectar from these flowers.

This flower was just about to close when I chance upon a lone tawny coaster butterly flipping its wings and darting about from flower to flower, leaf to leaf, plant to plant.

GBBD March 2011

1. Miniature roses

For March 2011 Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, I have miniature roses.

Can you see the sun reflected on the water droplet?

2. Costus woodsonii

When the tiny flowers appear in this Costus woodsonii plant, it usually attract a lot of ants with its sugary liquid. The flowers are edible. This hairy caterpillar seem to have cut open the defensive wall of orange bracts that protect the yellow flowers and shifted in. The critter seems to eat the flower but not the leaves of this plant.

I wonder which butterfly/moth this baby belongs to?


“GBBD March 2011”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ for Autumn Belle on 16th March 2011.

3. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivars - double petaled vermillion red.

4. Tawny coaster butterfly on a palm tree.

This tawny coaster butterfly was drying its wings when I found it near my vegetable plants in the late evening. It walked on to my fingers and momentarily rested on my palm tree just before taking off in its maiden flight.



5. Blue throated sunbird



This looks like a blue throated yellow breasted, olive-backed sunbird sitting on my neighbour's longan tree.
Do you know its name?

6. A Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivar - single petal yellow with pink veins.

7. Turnera ulmifolia or yellow alder flower.

8. A pair of pigeons/quails on my neighbour's same longan tree. One was posing like a supermodel while the other one was very shy and somersaulted away when it saw me pointing my camera. I guess he doesn't like the paparazzi!

9. My azalea is still blooming.



Malvaviscus arboreus 



10. Malvaciscus arboreus flowers are always half-opened and pointing upwards. The leaves remind me of grape leaves.

11. Heliconia 'American Dwarf'

12. Anyone know the name of this bug on the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis plant?

My grateful thanks to Carol of May Dreams Garden for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. To view what's blooming around the world, visit here.

Tawny Coaster Butterfly Laying Eggs

Tawny coaster butterfly (Acraea terpsicore)

My Quote for today :

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun

And find your shoulder to light on,

To bring you luck, happiness and riches

Today, tomorrow and beyond.

~Irish Blessing

To readers who happen to read this post, may you all be blessed.

This picture was taken by a friend, a young engineering undergraduate during a visit to The Secret Garden of 1 Utama, a rooftop garden that practises green concepts and technology. It is a butterfly in the process of laying eggs on the underside of a leaf. A life cycle is just about to begin and it made me realise how delicate but wonderful life is, and how beautiful nature can be. Let's do our part to take good care of our environment.

Like the saying by Richard Buckminster Fuller, "There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly".

I hope that many people will think twice before they kill a caterpillar. Butterflies are pollinators, therefore beneficial insects. They are indeed "Blessings" on Mother Earth. Without them, where will we get our fruits and future generations of plants to eat?

This is my entry for Words That Inspire - An April Challenge, a meme initiated by Noel at A Plant Fanatic Blog. Do head over for more inspirations around the world.

My post today is dedicated to Ms Helen (islandgal246) of My Rustic Bajan Garden blog. She taught me how to 'catch' (photograph) butterflies in the morning. Now, I am rewarded with many butterfly pictures for my collection. May she receive this beautiful Irish Blessing each and everyday.

To my friends all over the world, Happy Easter Sunday!

April 5th is also Ching Ming Festival, a day when we visit the graves and pay respects to the ancestors. It is a Chinese tradition where quite often, it is also a family gathering of relatives from far and near, a time for reminiscing and bonding. Have a smooth and safe journey!