Voila . . .

. . . a cucumber. The only one so far. It's been out for some days but I wasn't well enough to photograph it until today.

First cucumber

The cucumber vine itself isn't doing too well; leaves are dying off although strong tendrils remain. I've decided to just watch and wait. Maybe this is just a stage of growth or the vine throwing out one fruit in its last gasp. This cucumber plant has put me through too much. I've decided to remain detached -- give the plant what it seems to need but not get emotionally involved in its fate.

On a more joyous note, my two hydrangea plants are blooming. Other bloggers in Bangalore and elsewhere have reported and posted pics of hydrangea blooming so this must be its season.

Pink hydrangea

The pink colour shows that the hydrangea is growing in basic, not acidic, soil. There are tips on how to get blue hydrangeas but I'm not going to try them. Will probably just kill the hydrangea.

My calladiums seem to be dying out so I'm off to the nursery to get another lot. This time I will ask for growing tips and see what I can learn on the Internet instead of planting them and hoping for the best with just routine feeding and watering.