Finding a Bird's Nest with Eggs

Removing and relocating plants are just some of the day-to-day activities of most gardeners. And I'm certainly no stranger to these tasks. But when I decided to finally remove the unwieldy vine (Thunbergia mysorensis), I was in for a surprise. Tucked underneath the thick foliage of branches and leaves of the mature vine was a bird's nest that had eggs in it!

For a moment when I saw the clump of hay, leaves and grass clippings, I assumed it was a huge nest for hornets or ants. I was almost prepared to be inundated with swarms of insects. When I sensed no such untoward activity, I peered through the foliage and found the nest to have a hollow depression.

It's a bird's nest! Looking further inside, there were two bird eggs! I was pleasantly surprised. This was akin to when I discovered honeycombs with bees in our garden.

Removing an Unwieldy Vine - Thunbergia Mysorensis

From my last update of the Thunbergia mysorensis, and after 3 years, it's curtain call for our Mysore Clock vine (Thunbergia mysorensis). This vine is also called Lady's Slipper and Doll Shoes vine. I've had this vine since 2009 when DH was able to grow the vine from cuttings we picked up from a Visita Iglesia.

It was a long wait of around 2 years when its first ever bloom appeared in 2011. There was only 1 flower that appeared in that year. In the following year, 2012, only 2 flowers appeared in summer.

That's a total of 3 flowers in the 3 years that the vine was with us.

Thunbergia Mysorensis Flower - Latter Stages of Growth

After seeing the first raceme of our Thunbergia Mysorensis (Mysore Clock vine), I was anxious, yet excited as to how the cluster of flowers would develop. Of course, I've seen images of this vine acclaimed as the prettiest flowering vine in the world in the book "Vines of the World". I've seen the actual spectacular racemes from a road trip and how everyone in that trip were awed at the beauty of these flowers.

Here's the first raceme.

Thunbergia Mysorensis Flower - Early Stages of Growth

When I saw the Mysore Clock Vine's first raceme (elongated pendulous cluster of flowers), I was wondering as to when it actually started to appear. In fact, I didn't even know how it was supposed to look like. All I've been seeing in the Mysore Clock vine's almost 2 years of existence was its dense foliage - plenty of growing branches, shoots and leaves.

But after discovering the first raceme, I saw a curious thread-like growth two feet away along the trellis. The photo below was taken March 8.

Thunbergia Mysorensis First Flower

Finally! After almost two years, our Mysore Clock Vine (Thunbergia Mysorensis) rewarded us with its first bloom, ever. I say rewarded, because we knew it will take a long while before this plant bears flowers, if at all. And I must say the wait was worth it.

The Mysore Clock Vine, also known as Lady's Slippers, Doll Shoes and Brick and Butter, among others, is known to flourish in the highlands of Tagaytay or Baguio, but not in the lowlands. I could almost assume that it's the cool weather in those two cities that makes it favorable for the Mysore Clock Vine to flower.