Beating the Blues

weeds invade, lawn ruined

rifts to mend, woes to tend to

mind in muddy mess

(For Sensational Haiku Wednesday)

I'm feeling a little down, and my garden reflects my frame of mind. Or could it be that the state of my garden affects my frame of mind? It is an issue of which comes first, the chicken or the egg, but what is certain is that garden-lovers and their gardens co-exist in a symbiosis. 


What is one to do when things are not all right with the world? Is there an elixir to cure the blues? What matters now is to address the issues and to find joy in small doses. So I go in search of small doses of joy...if I can find them, in the garden.


Small dose #1
I go out to my backyard to photograph some lantana, and what do I see? Some butterflies I have never seen in my garden before, fluttering  about. And wonder of wonders, two of the butterflies allowed me to take their photographs. This is a first for me, getting a shot of a butterfly in my own garden! 

Wonder#1...she didn't move for so long!

Wonder #2...don't know her name yet!

Small dose #2
Then, my cattleya plant decides to cheer me up by surprising me with some blooms. This plant is largely similar to my other compact cattleya plant named  Pot. Thi Ti 'Chanchai Gold'  which I posted about last month. 


This is Chanchai Gold.



This is my other plant. Do they look identical to you? The one below has slightly smaller blooms, and there are only three flowers on a stalk. Might be a mini cattleya of the same Chanchai Gold, I guess. Whatever its name might be, I'm glad to see the lovely blooms. I'm beginning to feel more alive now, fresh interest aroused.






Small dose #3
This week is the first time my two jasmine bushes bloomed in full force. Usually one bush might make an attempt to flower - in spurts - and then it decides to abort the mission (sigh). Then the other bush might make a pretence of beginning to bloom - and of course it also decides to call off all operations. However, this time, in perfect synchronised timing, both bushes launched their execution of their assignment, codenamed: Burst of Blooms. This is a sight to remember! The flowers are like white sparklers in the night. Their fragrance is overwhelming...in a good sense (pun intended). Hey, what do you know, I feel more like my old self already.

I love the light 'snow' on the ground.

Small dose #4
I walk on to my flower beds, and see new faces of old friends: my hibiscus flowers keep on blooming...they don't let the weather get them down. The red ginger flowers are now thriving...I count seven of them. The two ginger plants had looked sickly just a month ago. Oh, and my Dendrobium orchids which had been in my plant hospital for the past six months has now produced three sprays! They've been discharged from the hospital of course. The lantana plants may be straggly, but their blooms still do the job of attracting butterflies...and they're doing fine. Even my garlic vines which are sharing the same pergola with my Passiflora Soi Fah are blooming after a spate of petulant indignation that they had to share their digs with strangers. And my  bauhinia kockiana are coming back and beautifying the arch with new, bright orange  flowers. 


So, have I found the answer - is there an elixir to cure the blues?

joy in small doses

in the simple things in life

elixir for woe

(For Height of Haiku Challenge Prompt: Elixir)

Linking to:

GBBD

Share the joy Thursday
Poets Rally

Haiku heights

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Fertilizer Friday
Macro Friday
Weekend Flowers
Macro Flowers Saturday
Today's Flowers
Mosaic Monday
Macro Monday
Mellow Yellow Monday

Thank you Poets Rally for the The Perfect Poet Award!

the next best cure-all
sweet aromatic solution
to lift your depression
to drown your sorrows
your sadness
your listlessness.

a pick-me-upper
saying "I hear you
I know you're feeling blue
I share your pain"
there is relief
there is reprieve.


the alchemist has turned
base metal into gold


RosieGan Sept. 2011

I nominate fiveloaf for his poem entitled Lines

A tiger, lace, and the blue moon - clip! clip!

In the pale light of the blue moon,

the tiger with glassy eyes

behind the wild grasses hide

camouflaged

The foliage of the undergrowth

gleams grey, and ghostly

screens the tiger with 

a lacy veil

Need you hide,

you, with all your might?

What secrets lie 

beneath the bold stripes?

Have your claws been clipped

 your vision suffered?

Or are you waiting to pounce

when the time is right?

Tiger, oh Tiger, do not fear,

 emerge from the shadow of your veil

from the cover of the night 

of the pale moonlight

and strike!

(For the Poetry Palace, Poets' Rally Week 51)

What does the tiger have to do with lace and how does the blue moon get into the picture? As you can see from the first sub-heading, we are dealing with butterflies, and we shall look into the names of these exotic tropical winged 'fairies'. To me, that's what they are...fairies in our gardens.


Malayan Lacewing
Cethosia hypsea hypsina

This beautiful creature is a nymphalid butterfly found in the rainforests of Southeast Asia.



  

The wingspan of the adult butterfly is 80mm; it is not a large butterfly, but oh, so attractive. It is the underside of the wings of the butterfly that we can see when it rests with its wings folded up. It is this spectacular design, orange-red with a black scalloped border, that distinguishes the butterfly.The white lace-like pattern marking the wing borders is what gives the butterfly its name. A beautiful name...the lacewing butterfly!




The Yellow Glassy Tiger
Parantica aspasia aspasia


The two patches of bright lemony yellow on the hindwings make this butterfly rather attractive. It usually rests hanging on a twig with its wings folded. Fortunately I caught this one on the ground, so its wings were beautifully spread open for the eye of the camera to document every detail of the pattern. The blue patches and the black background combine so well with the yellow contrasting accent. 





It is a medium-sized butterfly, smaller than the Malayan Lacewing, having a wingspan of only about 60-75mm. You don't need to wonder any more why it is named after a yellow tiger if you look closely at the photograph below. The Yellow Glassy Tiger...an apt name indeed...it has the black and yellow stripes of a Malayan tiger, and the wing seems to be designed for a stained glass window display. That is how I think it got its name.

This photo is entered for Live Every Moment's Photo Challenge; prompt: Lighting.

The Clipper
Parthenos sylvia


This is another species of nymphalid butterfly that is found in Southeast Asia, usually in forested areas. It is said to have a flying mode which could be described as 'clipped'. The wings only flap a few degrees up and down while in flight.I am assuming that is why it is named the Clipper. Correct me if I am wrong. Nevertheless, this apparent disability doesn't impede its speed - it can fly pretty fast!





I enjoyed my dalliance with this particular fella in the photograph. It kept landing on this metallic bar, and for hours, I kept returning to that spot to try and get it to fly somewhere else, among the flowers preferably, but it was adamant. Refused to budge. I guess it felt safe, camouflaged there. 





I found a bolder one which had settled on some green foliage...it couldn't be the same fella, could it? They all look alike to me. Oh, and one interesting thing about this species is that the markings of both the male and the female are alike. The male is only slightly larger than the female.







The Great Eggfly/ Blue Moon
Hypolimnas bolina


This species is found not only in Southeast Asia, but also in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. It has a wingspan of 70-80mm. 





This is the male, which has no resemblance to the female. The upper side of the male has three pairs of white patches upon a black background.The white patches have a rim of bluish purple iridescence, each looking pretty much like a blue moon against  a dark night sky! I believe that's why it is known as Blue Moon.










Here you can see both the male and the female. The male is in the foreground, and hiding behind him is the female. Her upper side is brown in colour and she does not have any white patches like the males have.





This concludes my conjectures as to how the butterflies got their names! 
I have managed to identify almost all of the  butterflies which I photographed at the Melaka Butterfly Sanctuary, except for a few species. The four butterflies in the collage below, are unknown to me. If any of you out there can identify them, please do leave me a comment. 

I yearn to know you

your true self reveal to me

 peel off painted mask 

(For Haiku Heights #67)

Linking to:

Haiku My Heart
Haiku Heights
Weekend Flowers
Macro Flowers Saturday
Fabulous Friday
Mosaic Monday
Macro Monday
Mellow Yellow Monday
Thursday Poets Rally
Poetry Pantry
Poetry Train Revisited
Share The Joy Thursday
SOOC
Today's Flowers
Postcards

The Auckland Domain

I was going through my photographs which I took during my three weeks' visit to New Zealand last year, and was surprised to discover that I had not featured a few botanic gardens in full. I had merely combined some photographs from different botanic gardens which were featured in posts under the subject of garden design, and garden ornaments, etc. There were lots and lots of photographs of each particular garden that were not shared, lying in cold storage in my hard disk. How remiss of me. And what a discovery...it was like paying a second visit to those remarkable gardens all over again!


So, here we go...let's start with North Island, in Auckland, to be precise, the first city we flew in to, for the start of our self-drive holiday. I had previously featured in full the Fo Guang Shan Temple Garden in Auckland, under the post heading, Temple Garden of Peace and Harmony. Now I'm going to cover an even bigger garden, all 75 hectares, of the Auckland Domain...the oldest, largest, and most diverse park in all of Auckland. However what is most fascinating to me is that this domain is actually around the rim of a crater of a volcano! I was glad to find out, though, that the Pukekawa  is an extinct volcano, so we were on solid, non-shaky ground.


I really do not know where to start; this tour is going to be quite random...I'll be darting from one end to another and probably go criss-crossing and zig-zagging all over the place. Just bear with me. I always get excited where there are so many beautiful flowers and lovely scenery.


You have to see the Wintergardens first. It is a protected heritage site.



There are two glasshouses - one for temperate plants, and the other for tropical plants.





























You can see what I mean about the lovely flowers...I take photo after photo, darting here and there pretty much like a bumble bee after some choice nectar.

(For Sensational Haiku Wednesday)

count all your blessings 

numbers one to one  hundred

fragrant flowers smile

In between the two glasshouses is this enclosed courtyard. There is a huge waterlily pond here, and of course the Grecian statues add to the charm of this courtyard.

revelation of life

hidden under surface calm

roots strain to anchor

Haiku Heights - Prompt "hidden"

Outside, there are more lovely images for the lens to capture. Century-old trees, native flowers amidst large bushes, white roses, statues...blue skies, and nothing but blue skies.


























As I approach the top of Domain Hill, I can see the Auckland Museum, an impressive building of  neo -Greek architecture.






Walking towards the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial, I catch a glimpse of the blue sea beyond. I quicken my steps as I know that's where there's more beauty to capture. And I was right, here they are... the panoramic views of Waitemata Harbour, Auckland City and Whenua Rangatira.

A Summer Vacation

(for Poetry Picnic)

A salute to the beaming sun

for his gregarious, golden glow

A hearty jubilation

for the mesmerising ebb and flow 

of the throbbing, rhythmic sea

A tribute I joyfully sing out loud

dedicated to the azure skies,

the billowy clouds, 

the flirtatious breeze

whispering endearments in my ears

I am brimming with bliss,

not a care, just peace

in my heart

there's the warmth of a summer's touch  

Linking to:
Sensational Haiku Wednesday
Watery Wednesday
Thursday Poets' Rally
Haiku Heights (Prompt #66)
Haiku My Heart
Postcards
Fertilizer Friday
Skywatch Friday
Poetry Picnic
Weekend Flowers
Macro Friday
Macro Flowers Saturday
Today's Flowers