Joys of childhood are somehow very special. Aren’t they ? Our days were uncluttered and distractions were few… it was as if we had all the time in the world to ‘stop and smell the roses’ and we found joy in the simple lil things…
Here I have pictures of a couple of plants that remind me of those carefree days of our childhood and the simple joys.
Recognise the ‘touch-me-not’ plant in this pic above? Mimosa pudica. I still get excited when I find this and call out to the kids to feel it 😀 There’s a sweet satisfaction seeing the plants go to ‘sleep’.. isnt it? There’s sometimes a tussle too… who finds the most and puts them to sleep !!
This one (above) is the Lantana camara. Usually found growing wild in the days of our chilhood. I later learnt in my Botany classes that this one is classified as a weed/invasive plant, even though it had primarily been introduced as an ornamental plant.
The childhood association though is more to do with the berry like fruits. We’d heard that the fruit was edible and whenever we came across these plants we would look out for the ripe black colured berries and eat them! (seen in the pic below).
And, next here is the Oxalis! The ones from our childhood were green though. We sometimes loved eating the pungent tasting leaves, and were amazed that fruits looked like miniature Okra !
Do you have any such Mimosa/Lantana/Oxalis memories? Do share about your lil joys… I would love to hear 🙂
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Linking up at the blog hops hosted by the lovely folks Natasha, Betty, Sandee ! Hop over to join in or to enjoy posts from beautiful peeps across the blogosphere!
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Also joining this week’s edition of #ThursdayTreeLove hosted by Parul. The linky goes live on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month. Hop over to see and enjoy more tree pictures and stories!
If you would like to play along, post a picture of a tree on your blog and link it back to her latest #thursdaytreelove post.
Until next time!
Cheers 🙂
So pretty. All the beautiful colors.
Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous day. ♥
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Thank you Sandee 🙂 You have an awesome one too!
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This fascinated me. Where I live in New York State, lantana is grown as an annual (they are not frost hardy) I’ve never had them produce fruit. Oxalis also is an annual. I grew up in New York City and one of my memories were the privet hedges that would bloom with such sweet smelling flowers attractive to bees. I don’t remember eating anything wild but my husband would pick horse chestnuts (not edible) and hold fights with them.
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Glad to hear that Alana! Lantana thrives here through the year possibly due to the tropical weather.
I looked up Privet and the flowers are beautiful indeed! Horse chestnut is also new to me 🙂
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Alana. Have a lovely day! 🙂
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…like Alana I live in New York State and Lantana is an annual for us. It a beauty, enjoy it!
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Yes…its beautiful and we have it in varied colours.
Thank you for hopping over and sharing your thoughts, Tom. Have a lovely day 🙂
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Over here, the Lantana is called ‘chicken poop flower’ because it smells of chicken poop!
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Oh really!!? Thats a new nugget.
Thank you Veronica. Have a lovely day 🙂
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I remember the first three and still trying to recall the last one. We had Beautiful childhood with less distraction of electronics and gadget.
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True…glad you could relate!
Thank you Shilpa. Have a lovely weekend 🙂
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Beautiful Beautiful!! There are food memories, place memories and plant memories … Such a lovely idea! My childhood memories include a mango tree and the ‘desi’ rose..
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Ah! Mango tree and roses do feature in my memories too!
Glad you loved the idea Archana 🙂 Thank you.
Have a lovely weekend!
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These grow wild but nowadays they are being sold in nurseries. Thankfully they can be seen in the wilderness of the countryside still and maybe the green patches of a city.
Beautiful childhood memories indeed 🌸
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Yes, the lantana is used as an ornametal plant… in landscaping…
Thank you Monika 🙂 Have a lovely day.
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There’s something wonderful about nostalgia 🙂 Your photos are so pretty, but never heard of the one that goes to sleep.
How great to see you at ‘My Corner of the World’ this week!! Thanks for linking.
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Glad you liked it Betty! I’m surprised the Mimosa pudica is not so common as i’d imagined it to be..
Thank you. Have a lovely day 🙂
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Dear Priya,
Isn’t Oxalis the clover and that looms like a four leaf clover- a plant of immense good fortune. My memories of lantana and Mimosa are just the same as yours. Identical. hi-five!
Thanks for sharing these gorgeous beauties with me on #WW.
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Hi-five Natasha!! you’re right about Oxalis ..it comes in 3 leaved and 4 leaved variants..
Thank you. Always glad to join you! Have a lovely day 🙂
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Love the memories, the plants and the flowers. I also love the touch-me-not. Like you, every time I see one, my heart smiles. Thank you for joining with some memories. See you on the 24th, Priya!
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Glad you can relate! Thank you for sharing your thoughts Parul 🙂 Sure hope to join you again!
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Such a beautiful pic of Lantana Camara, they bloom in ample near my place and I love to see these colorful beauties daily. Even at night, they have a peculiar raw woody smell that spreads around. Surprisingly I was not aware the berries are edible, the first thing I’m gonna try these berries in tomorrow’s evening walk. Seems I’m now gonna make a memory with lantana soon.
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Lovely. I’ve not observed/noticed their smell as such. Thank you for hopping over and sharing your thoughts Pragun 🙂 And glad to hear you’re going to try the berries ( was not sure if adults would ever indulge in those!)
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Beautiful images of the flowers, yes they reminded me of my childhood days, these were commonly found and it added beauty to the place around, now I don’t get to see them. Thanks for sharing:)
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Glad you could relate Angela. But it surprises me that you dont get to see them anymore… i thought its kind of ubiquitous.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts 🙂
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Beautiful photos! I have many mimosa trees in my back and front yard. Here in North Carolina, US, they are considered invasive, but I love them with their tall, graceful trunks and feathery flowers. We have lantana as ornamentals we buy in stores, and I have not seen it growing wild.
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These people are familiar
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Glad you know them !
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