Spring is over ...

... and summer's settling in, but this Spring was rather special for me. A (ex-)resident of Mumbai rarely gets to see a show this special, as many trees in the campus bloomed rather spectacularly. Magnificient show, I must say!

First of all, was the Tabebuia or the Golden Trumpet Tree. That linked article has just one tree, but imagine a road lined with these trees, and you'll see why I named this tree "the Stunning Yellow Tree". I've never seen this tree in Mumbai.

Next up was the Jacaranda. It pops up irregularly among the foliage here, but then, a purple "haired" tree is very hard to miss. Again, not a tree I've encountered in Mumbai.

It seems trees you know can surprise you sometimes. Laburnums lined the road outside my home in Santacruz too, but must say, I've always associated this plant less with its "weak" show of yellow flowers and more with the parrots that loved to eat the fruit of this tree. All that changed when I saw the Golden Shower Tree, along the Western Express Highway in Mumbai (no longer there, I'm afraid, road-widening). Turns out these trees throw out flowers in pink too, which make for a rather spectacular display.

The Frangipani, too, is a familiar sight in Mumbai, but again, the Institute's horticulturalists decided to line a road with the three different varieties: White+Yellow, White+Magenta and Magenta, which makes for a rather wonderful sight. I often wrongly called this the "Devil's Tree" earlier. The flowers of this tree are also weakly fragnant, which make my journey back to the Hostel at night rather pleasant.

Naming or identifying trees can be difficult, but with some trees, even if you've never seen them before, their names pop into your brain. The Silver Oak's one such tree, but for this post, it's the Bonfire Tree that caught my eye. Shedding all leaves and standing tall and red, it's unmissable among its green neighbours.

But my favourite has to be this unknown tree, most definitely a Laburnum, whose presence I must say I'd been unaware of until it just popped up in front of my eyes, its Golden Bronze flowers all lit up with the Sun's early light and appearing not unlike a tree decked with lights.

Soon, the Gulmohars and Copper Pods will be blooming, which is something you folks back in Mumbai can enjoy too.