The Song of The Garden: The flowers have a tale to tell

Published – April 26, 2026 04:10 am IST
H. KALPANA RAO
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/the-song-of-the-garden/article70899031.ece 26/04/26

As I stroll through my garden now in full bloom, it offers an endless melody of serenity and happiness during these times of conflict and war. The red and yellow cannas nod gracefully, wishing me good morning, while the night queen wants me to acknowledge its fragrance. Vying with these are the violet butterfly pea flowers, and on the far side, the allamanda with its dark, shady peach-hued florets bobs up and down. A little further is the magnificent cape jasmine shedding away its last few flowers. Right next to the compound, clinging ferociously are the orange, pink, and white bougainvillea flora telling you, “Yes, I am pretty flamboyant, but mind you, I have a thorny side too.” The frontal bamboos drip small goblets of dew that are left clinging to their leaves. Their green foliage throughout the year rejuvenates me time and again, no matter what time of day or month it is.

The greenery of the house pine and plumeria provides quietness and calmness. The white thunbergia blooms is an everyday waver, while the red- and white-blended ixora florets on the far end is moody and decide to show off occasionally. The orange, white, red, pink, and yellow hibiscuses are waiting for the sun to shine and wake them, while just behind them, sunflowers are happily showing their uplifting faces to the rising sun. The early butterflies are capriciously
flitting around the sunflowers as they wait eagerly for the other buds in the garden to bloom. Along the grill here and there, the jasmine is telling me to wait till twilight to begin its perfumed journey. Together with this floral bouquet, my variegated crotons, succulents, and cacti gather around to tell me, “We are nice-looking too.” Not to be left alone, the banana plant, the sapota plant, the papaya tree, the gooseberry tree, and the guava tree are reminding me that they, unlike
the pretty blossoms, provide delicacies. Some of these are for me, and some are for the squirrels who have become like monkeys running around gathering whatever they can, while the sunbirds and the flower peckers are made to do with what exists.

Near the water trough, the mynas and the babblers have a vociferous match to see who can get into the water first to get a bath. As I walk past, a babbler hops close, tilting its head to see if I had noticed. On the guava tree sits the bathed myna ruffling its wing and bobbing up and down, shaking off the clinging water drops. The lilies at the far end have become silent after raising their pink, white, and yellow heads a few months ago. The Rangoon creeper and the five-whorled jasmine are doing their bit of imperial politics to gain more territory. Just outside, hugging the wall near my gate, the pink and white Cape periwinkle flowers and the white crape jasmine blooms welcome all the passers-by.

A little away on the terrace, the curtain creeper is waiting for a proper stilt to climb up as the little lemon plant seems to tell her, “Thank God, I don’t need a support like you.” The pink, red, and white oleanders greet you with their beauty but also warn you that they are not to be taken lightly. As the sun climbs up, I reluctantly move back into the house, leaving the charming buds, blooms, the serene greenery, the twitter of the birds, and the chitter of the squirrels to start another day and know that life goes on around us in diverse ways.