Nine Flower Varieties Ideal for Sowing During the Rainy Season
Monsoon Gardening: A Guide to Blooming Flowers in the Indian Subcontinent
The monsoon season brings a welcome change to the Indian subcontinent, transforming the landscape with lush greenery and vibrant blooms. If you're planning to create a monsoon garden, here are some recommended flower seeds that thrive in the region's moist, cooler conditions.
Nymphaea nouchali (Blue Lotus or Star Lotus)
This aquatic water lily is an excellent choice for a monsoon garden, as it is well-suited for the wet conditions typical during this season. With beautiful flowers in shades of white, blue, violet, purple, pink, and cream, this water-loving plant thrives in water-logged areas or ponds.
Stinking Cassia (Cassia auriculata)
A hardy shrub that blooms during the monsoon, the Stinking Cassia is commonly found growing wild alongside roadsides in India. It bears yellow flowers and tolerates monsoon rains well.
Bengal Dayflower (Commelina benghalensis)
Known for its bright blue flowers, the Bengal Dayflower is a familiar monsoon bloom found along roadsides. It can be used ornamentally in monsoon gardens.
Annual Flowering Plants
While not specified by name, various vibrant annuals flourish during the monsoon due to ample rainfall and moderate temperatures. Some common options traditionally grown in Indian monsoon gardens include marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, and wildflowers.
Other Recommended Flowers
- Cockscomb plants are known for their clustered blooms of red, yellow, orange, gold, and pink, resembling a fire. They attract butterflies and thrive in full sun and moist soil.
- Petunias are popular types of flowering annuals, with an extensive library of flowering hybrids. They make perfect monsoon flowers, with almost 400 varieties of different colors, sizes, patterns, and growth habits.
- Vinca, or Periwinkle plants, have a creeping habit and are known for their glossy foliage and exquisite flowers.
- Calendula, also known as poet's marigold, are stunning flowers for the monsoon garden. They love basking in a lot of sun and do not require a specific kind of soil. Calendula flowers are edible and are a beautiful ingredient to be used in summer salads. They come in yellow and orange colors and should not be planted in overly wet soil.
- Zinnia plants are suitable for various spaces and can add bright colors to your garden.
- Dianthus flowers are low-maintenance and come in a variety of colors.
- Cosmos are among the exotic and fastest-growing annual flowers that grow best during the summer season. They have a daisy-like flowerhead and an airy opening in the shape of an inverted umbrella. Cosmos are perfect wildflowers for large country gardens.
- Gomphrena plants prefer full and direct sunlight and medium watering, and their soil can be enriched with organic fertilizers.
- Gomphrena flowers bloom from June to frost and have globular blossoms of whites, reds, pinks, and purples. They attract butterflies and can be used as dried flowers after the harvest season.
- Marigold flowers bloom during monsoons and are easy to grow without fertilizers. They come in various colors, including orange and yellow.
Monsoon Season in the Indian Subcontinent
Monsoon usually begins in July or the last week of June in the Indian subcontinent, bringing much-needed rainfall to the region. These selections of flowers, being water-loving or moisture-tolerant species, are native or naturalized to the region, making them good choices for a monsoon garden on the Indian subcontinent.
- The lush greenery and vibrant blooms of the monsoon season make the Indian subcontinent a perfect location for creating a monsoon garden.
- For water-logged areas or ponds in a monsoon garden, consider the Blue Lotus or Star Lotus, a water lily that thrives in wet conditions.
- The Stinking Cassia, a hardy shrub well-suited for monsoon rains, is a common roadside bloom in India.
- The Bengal Dayflower is another monsoon bloom, known for its bright blue flowers along roadsides and ideal for ornamental use in monsoon gardens.
- Various vibrant annual flowers flourish during the monsoon due to ample rainfall, with options like marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, and wildflowers.
- Cockscomb plants, known for their clustered blooms, thrive in full sun and moist soil, making them ideal for a monsoon garden.
- Petunias, with numerous color and size varieties, are popular monsoon flowers that tolerate moisture well.
- During the monsoon season, Dianthus, Cosmos, Gomphrena, and Marigold flowers provide a burst of color in home-and-garden and gardening lifestyles on the Indian subcontinent.