Yellow Japanese Lanterns

That is what 18 calls them, and I tend to agree with him. It may be an over-approximation of what we perceive as Japanese but that takes away no beauty from this flower. I couldn't blog about them last summer because I missed the window to take a shot of them at their peak. This time too I have missed the best time by maybe a week. This makes me think about how valuable each day is for flowers; they wait for no one. Most flowers bloom for such a short time that if you don't pay attention you are more likely to miss them than see them. Coincidentally, this morning my neighbour showed me the 'May flower' (looked like a Lily) growing in their balcony. He says they are called thus because they bloom in the month of May and theirs had bloomed last night - in time I would say. I found the whole concept quite surreal. I don't have a record of if this is true for every May flower that has ever bloomed but if it were, then!

In marathi this is called bahava which in my head makes me think of them as the 'Bahamas of the flower-land'. The wiki lists a dozen local names for the flower in various languages, take a look.This is the national flower of Thailand. Also has special importance in Kerala during Vishu.

Name: Cassia fistula
When: Late April and early May.
Where: Several places in Pune (Baner and Aundh is where I see them).

For those whooshing through life too fast, you can still see some of it.
(The full tree pic would have been more impressive if I had taken the pic before the leaves began to show)