Trekking Through Allamandas To Food Haven

I love Allamandas as they are quite resistant to bug infestation. I suppose the white, milky sap has got something to do with the critters and insects' revulsion to it. I'm thankful for this as it allows my Allamandas to bloom and flourish.

Clusters of bright yellow Allamanda cathartica flowers.

 
 

The budding flowers.


I was appreciating how these blooms added to the gaiety of my garden when ...

 

I saw a snail crawled over the tubular part of this bloom without even bothering to sample it. Perhaps it had an inherent sense of which flower is tasty and can be devoured.

The journey which I dubbed as 'the yellow trail' was torturous as it slowly navigated across the flower to reach the nearest leaf.

The nest stage was a purposeful leaf-to-leaf hike as it stretched its foot muscles ...

... towards its coveted sustenance beyond.



It greedily chomped its way across the leaf of  Pseuderanthemum reticulatum.

 My flower bed of Pseuderanthemum reticulatum is often is often laid bare to the gastronomic assault of gastropods.

Pleasing Visits From The Jacintha Egg-fly

Of late, the Jacintha Egg-fly (Hypolimnas bolina jacintha) have descended on my garden and designated it as one of their playgrounds. They fluttered in and out, taking sweet 'tea breaks' on flowers and breathers on foliage and other assorted objects.

Love is like a butterfly: It goes where it pleases and it pleases wherever it goes. ~ Anonymous

 

One of these lovely butterflies decided to be adventurous and fluttered onto the blades of a toy wind-mill.

Here it spread its wings, displaying its beautiful blue-fringed white markings, indicating that its a male. The bright yellow bells of Tecoma stans beckon in the background.

Yellow Tecoma stans with red Alpinia purpurata in the background.

The reticulated leaf of Pseuderanthemum reticulatum under full sunshine made an attractive landing pad

 for this male Hypolimnas bolina jacintha to chill out. With the wings folded up, it looked completely different; just brown and white colouring without the the bluish tinge.

Nearby, another male Jacintha Egg-fly settled on the leaves of a Hibiscus bush, H. rosa-sinensis 'snowflake'.

The male Great Egg Fly can easily be distinguished from the females by the circular markings on the upper side of its wings.

It is rather difficult to differentiate from the underside.

It then fluttered to the leaves of Bauhenia kockiana. The red buds of Ruellias elegans can be seen in the background.


An inflorescence of Bauhenia kockiana. 


 Another one of these butterflies landed on the leaf of Ochna Kirkii. Here it perched unperturbly and actually ignored my presence.

Ochna Kirkii aka Mickey Mouse plant.

When it got tired of verdant surroundings, it flew to a wooden post for a change of ambience.


This female Hypolimnas bolina is taking a breather on the leaves of ...


 Quisqualis indica aka Rangoon creeper.

 The egg-like markings are absent on the females.

 

Sometimes, when at rest, it slowly opens and closes its wings.

They tend to take a respite from the scorching sun by hanging upside down on the underside of leaves. A favourite hangout is the Baphia nitida which is a border or hedge plant in the garden.

The leaves of Baphia nitida have a light pandan plant () fragrance. However there is no discernible scent from the flower.


It even landed on the dustpan.


This must be a very curious female Jacintha Egg-fly!

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'snowflake' is a flower much favoured by butterflies.

 

Thunbergia Erecta - The King's Mantle and Bush Clock Vine

 I'm partial to purple-blue flowers as these hues are not as common as reds or yellows. So on this consideration, Thunbergia Erecta fits the bill perfectly. with light pruning, I've shaped this naturally sprawling plant into a single-stem compact shrub.  Some gardens have them as a low hedge.

The deep purple-blue blooms have a startling yellow throat which is a beacon to insects to move into its sweet interior. The 2-inch wide, tubular blooms  hang downwards from its many branches. 

The emerging bud to full bloom.


At times, depending on the amount of light, it appears more blue. It has  small, dark green leaves. 


A pair of flowers to double the delight.


Under the full glare of the sun, it appears velvety with a touch of deep pink.

View from posterior.

Against the blue sky.

Under diffused sunlight.

 
 With the sun overhead the flowers are under dappled light created from the canopy of its own foliage.

This plant in a container is staked so that it achieve the potential of its full height.

At dusk, a golden dragonfly perched on the tip of a leaf blade of walking iris, with a single thunbergia ereta flower in the background.

Tortosei, the pet tortoise finds bliss in this giant clam shell.

But, it is still curious of the world beyond.

Gathering of a single purple Thunbergia Erecta, a pair of yellow Allamanda cathartica and a raceme of Pseuderanthemum reticulatum in a ceramic bowl.