When I began sending the new hibiscus to Mother no one took the flower to a photographer. There were some watercolor paintings done but they could not capture the beauty of the flowers. Subsequently in Auroville, people began hybridizing the original flower that Mother named and ultimately lost the parent plant. It was a great loss for the Lal-Bagh also lost the originals.

Over the years I have had promises from people to send the originals
to us but it has not happened. I am fairly certain they are still available from nurseries in Hawaii but the loss is a sad one considering that Mother gave them such powerful names and that She held them in Her hands!

In this blog I have a few photographs that I took with film. The subsequent transfer to digital is not the best but this is all I have. I have also included a few of the older varieties that are well-known in India and are more resistant to insects and diseases. They are often even more prolific in the amount of flowers they offer.

In general hibiscus flowers last only one day when plucked or on the bush. I have even seen some flowers, even without water, last two days or more! When one sees the complete list of the significances of hibiscus given by the Mother one realises their importance in the pantheon of significances She has given us.

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