My Sunny Happy Garden

Under the Peach Blooms

2012-01-12T23:50:00.000+08:00

I was under the spell of the peach blossoms! They were in bloom!! A glorious display of pink blooms!! Under the thousands of blooms, I became heady! Ha ha...heady with the festive spirit that these peach blossoms bring. The peach blossoms were part of the Pavillion Mall's Chinese New Year decoration! Let us walk together and fall under the spell of these beautiful blooms!!

In case you wonder, these peach blossoms are artificial flowers. Our weather in Malaysia is too warm to grow peach trees. Isn't it great that we can get the trees to bloom beautifully in time for the Chinese New Year celebration! Ha ha ha....

Kalanchoe, the Preference

2012-01-11T15:47:00.003+08:00

A friend posted these words on his Facebook and I think it is an appropriate quote for gardening enthusiasts like us:

A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil;
but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents
every so often - just to save it from drying out completely.

-Pam Brown-

------------------------------------------------

Continuing my posting of decorative plants for Chinese New Year, here is a combination of flowering red Kalanchoe and foliage plants in various green and patterns making this attractive spot for shoppers to feast their eyes as they rush through the festive shopping.

I notice that Kalanchoe is often used in Chinese New Year decorations as its bright, colourful blooms that come in clusters are very attractive. Now I wish I have some Kalanchoe in my garden.

What are the plants in your garden that you usually use to decorate your home during festive season?

If you are familiar with the foliage plants in the photos above, please leave me a message. If I am not mistaken, the one right in the centre is the Dumb Cane. I do not know the name of the plants on both sides of the Kalanchoe. Please enlighten me if you do. Thanks ahead!

Ideas for Chinese New Year Decorations

2012-01-10T20:42:00.007+08:00

It's time of the year where many of us are busy cleaning up and decorating our houses in preparation for Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration that falls on 23rd January. While visiting the mall, I find many inspirations from the decors that outlets in the mall created in conjunction of this festive season.

I found some very interesting designs in this bubble tea shop. The combination of plants and some CNY decorations such as red ribbons, peach blossoms & fire crackers are simple, yet they produced very fascinating decorativepieces that we can also do with simple plants that we can easily find. A combination of different types of Dracaena plants with Pussy Pillow and Lime are used here. Usage of auspicious Chinese words that carry the meaning of Prosperity (福）, Abundance (满) and Spring (春) can also be seen here. Chinese believes that these auspicious words will attract positive energy that these words carry, similar to the Law of Attraction's principles that Rhonda Bryne wrote in her book, The Secret that 'like attracts like'. Probably Rhonda and all the other writers on Law of Attraction gained this wisdom from this Chinese New Year practice! Ha ha ha...who knows!

Happy New Year 2012!

2011-12-31T22:38:00.002+08:00

2012 is knocking on the door.

Remember:
Life is short, break the rules,
Forgive quickly, love truly,
laugh uncontrollably, and
never regret anything that made you smile. 8-)

Happy New Year everyone!

Pink Delights

2011-10-28T22:31:00.003+08:00

Pink represents sweetness, playfulness & gladness.
Pink flower conveys youth, innocence & joy.
The charm of pink flowers will always turn
the occasion of life into a memorable moment.

Here are the pink blooms gracing my garden now
~ Hydrangea, Adenium & Periwinkle.

Yellow Warmth

2011-09-28T16:54:00.003+08:00

It's sunny yellow, bright and warm! This is the colour that is gracing my garden now!

Ixora

Gardenia Pfordii - Beautiful & Fragrant Yellow Flowers

Colourful Portulaca

2011-07-12T20:32:00.004+08:00

It has been very hot recently. Despite rain in other parts of Klang Valley, Subang Jaya remains dry and hot! I have to check on my Hydrangea daily upon returning home as it is the most susceptible to the scorching afternoon heat.

Recently I bought 5 packs of Portulaca from Danny's stall at Amcorp Mall's Sunday Flea Market. The plants came in various colour. I decided to put all 5 packs in one pot. They turned out lovely when they all bloom at the same time. And the Portulaca plants have bigger blooms too.

Here is my pot of Portulaca:

Beautiful Salmon Pink colour.

A fuschia colour bloom.

A white bloom.

An orange bloom.

A peach pink bloom.

An incidental Cockscomb plant that grew from seeds of my earlier Cockscomb plant that has since RIP.

Adventure at Gasing Hill

2011-05-09T14:27:00.001+08:00

On Sundays, my friends and I would try to spend our mornings hiking at Bukit Gasing (Gasing Hill) in Petaling Jaya. It is a small hilly forest smacked in the middle of a suburb. It's nice to be able to enjoy a natural surrounding without having to drive a long distance.

Recently, I led 2 friends for a hike there. We took an unusual trail and ended up an an eroded part of the hill. We got lost and found our way out. But it was the wrong way out. We ended up in Kerinchi Hill (the other side of the Gasing Hill) and had to hike for another 45 minutes before we managed to get back to where we parked our car. I found it being quite a nice adventure even though one of my friends got grumpy and was complaining all the time when she found out that we were lost. Ha ha....it makes me realized that different people deals with problem differently. I was glad that I was able to see it as an opportunity to find the trail that lead to Kerinchi Hill.

While trying to find out way out, we managed to stop to take photos of the unusual, beautiful flowers we saw along the way. All 3 of us are gardening enthusiasts so it was really fun that we were also enjoying the beautiful wild plants we saw. We couldn't resist taking out our mobile phones and snapped away.

At the entrance of Gasing Hill. It says on the arch that this is an educational forest.

Signages at the entrance to this forest reserve

At the entrance of Gasing Hill Forest Reserve, there are various beautiful flowers and foliages planted by volunteers. These are some of the plants we saw.

I don't know the name of this plant. But the bright-colored, big blooms easily drew attention of hikers.

Fuschia Zinnias are aplenty too.

This is another bright colour plant that I like. Would anyone know the name of it?

Mother-in-law Tongues lining the trail at the entrance, welcoming visitors to Gasing Hill.

The eroded part of the hill that we came across. We had to cross this section of the hill to get to the other side.

My friend (in orange coloured attire) was crossing the eroded hill.

This photo shows the other side of the forest where we came from before crossing the eroded hill.

Flame of the Forest on the branch

Flame of the forest

More Flame of the Forest blooms

I don't know the name of this violet bloom but I find it attractive.

Nice white wild flowers form a carpet in this section.

A ball of wild, fluffy pink.

I found out from an article on Hijjas Kasturi's famed garden named, Rimbun Dahan (The Laden Bough), that this is the yellow bloom of the Deillenia (Simpoh).

The yellow Simpoh bloom will turn deep pink as it matures. The seeds within ripen and become food for insects (as seen here, the ants) and birds. The leaf of Simpoh is traditionally used to wrap food, and you can still find tempeh (fermented soya bean) sold wrapped in daun simpoh.

This is when all the seeds have dropped off.

All in all, it has been an educational outing for us ~ in terms of learning the local wild and cultivated fauna of flora and also how to cope in the forest when we got lost! Looking back, I had a good time during this outing!

Glorious Pink Blooms

2011-04-05T21:40:00.006+08:00

My Hydrangea plant has a huge cluster of pink blooms now. I can't help beaming with pride every morning when I checked on it before I leave for work. And they are P-I-N-K!! They are so BEAUTIFUL to look at!

It is said that the soil pH defines the colour of Hydrangea blooms. I guess my soil pH would be alkaline since I have pink bloom. My friend, Poh, who gave me the cutting of this Hydrangea has blue blooms. I assume that the liquid fertilizer that I sprayed on the leaves of the Hydrangea may be the reason for the pink blooms. Usually organic fertilizer (in my case, I use goat dung) will cause soil pH to be acidic (I read this somewhere). Since I didn't use much fertilizer on th soil, I guess that's why the soil pH is alkaline.

What ever the reason, I really love these pink Hydrangea blooms.

Strolling Through The Old Streets of Melaka

2011-03-20T13:07:00.003+08:00

My friends from afar came to Melaka this weekend for our a close friend's wedding. I had a splendid time taking them through the old streets of Melaka town for food and shopping. While strolling through the old shops, I came across several shops that used plants to decorate the shops. The plants add a touch of nature to these shops that are located no where near any natural surroundings. Amazing, how these plants add a touch of green and freshness to bring charms to these outlets.

Walk beside me and let's stroll through these beautiful gardens in the old streets of Melaka town.

A pot of lotus and some bamboo plants placed outside a Chinese paper-cutting handicraft shop add an Oriental feel to the exterior of this shop.

A row of Mother-In-Law Tongue plants were placed to cover a drain. What a good idea! I don't usually find these long tapered fronds with pointed blades attractive.
But in this instance, the green succulent with yellow edges in a mass display really beautify this shop.

I am also drawn to these Balinese-influenced home decor shop called Puri Padi. I have always thought this is a spa theraphy centre. The calming surrounding with the lush, green garden has drawn many into its compound.

A water feature comprising of a waterfall and a koi pond.

A grass-thatched roof gazebo greeted customer at the entrance. Next to it was a big bush of tall heliconia with bright red blooms.

Lush greens were so welcoming!

Plumeria is a must-have plant in any Balinese garden. In Puri Padi, there's a big Plumeria with white blooms.

Railway sleepers path leading customers to the entrance of the shop.

Looking at the garden of Puri Padi, one would never know that it's located amidst blocks of boring, concrete buildings!!! The plants truly gave the place a peaceful and calming effect, right? Just like any spa centre set in the hilly town of Ubud in Bali.

The last shop that I feature today used Bird's Nest plants placed beside 2 water feature, with some wooden blinds to give it a rustic charm.

Hope you enjoy this stroll of gardens in the old streets of Melaka town.

March 2011 - What're Growing in My Garden?

2011-03-12T17:59:00.003+08:00

I have been on hiatus from blogging lately. It has been a loooong break. Why? I gave the excuse that I am too tired after work to take pictures of my plants, upload them online, follows with blogging about them. Deep inside, I know that I am just being plain lazy. Hee...hee...I am indeed embarrassed about it. Fortunately, I am saying this online and not face-to-face. Or else, you would be witnessing my rosy blush!

Enough about me, let's move on to what I have to share about my garden. Like my blog, I have not been caring about my garden much. But I have added some plants that I bought from nurseries in Sg. Buluh after Chinese New Year. It's hard to resist the temptations to buy plants whenever I drive all the way to Sg. Buluh. My purpose was to get some flower pots. Alas, I came home with more than that! My neighbour commented when he saw me unloading goodies from my car boot, "You already have so many plants in your garden!" My plain reply was, "It's never enough!" Sorry that I have to trouble him with watering more plants when we are away from home. I truly appreciate my next door neighbour and family who gladly offer to water our plants whenever we are away. Thank you my dear neighbour!

HYDRANGEA
============

Back to my garden, my Hydrangea has started to show some buds. With the help of liquid fertilizer, it has grown healthily.

This was how my Hydrangea looked when it first started to grow shoots 8 months ago. I wonder if 8 months a bit too long or is it normal duration for Hydrangea to grow into an adult plant? Would any of you who are familiar with growing Hydrangea able to tell me?

Soon, I will have huge Hydrangea blooms gracing my garden! I am overly eager to see this manifest!

ADENIUM
============

Adeniums are displaying their big, bright pink blooms flamboyantly. They even have 2 seed pods to show.

Looking at this big cluster of bright Adenium blooms before I leave for work, makes me start my day on a cheerful mode.

GARDENIA
============
I used to blog that my Gardenia buds were falling off the plant before they bloom. Somehow, my plant condition has improved. Lately I have been getting sporadic blooms.

SUNFLOWER
==========================

Sunflowers are still blooming in my garden.

NEWLY PURCHASED PLANTS
==========================

PERIWINKLES
==============

Periwinkles in pink and white. Their bright blooms are heart-warming!
I only pay RM2.50 for each plant. Instead of spending money on clothes or food, how about spending them on plants! Think about that! For such meagre amount of money, it can buy us happiness!! More so, when the plants can last for months!
Aren't the purchase worthwhile? What do you say to that?

COLEUS & CANNA
================

The colourful Coleus were sold for RM4.00 per plant too. They were hard to resist.
I love Canna. So I bought them in yellow and bright pink. The blooms didn't last as it has been raining daily.

Jasmine & Vallaris Glabra
======================

I miss having the fragrant of Jasmine & Vallaris Glabra (in local Malay, Bunga Kerak Nasi) in my garden. I used to grow them in our garden in the old house. But their pots were too big for me to bring them over when we moved. So I left them in our old place.

Celosia / Cock's Comb
==================
I have been eyeing to get Celosia or Cock's Comb plant after seeing them being used widely for landscaping in my hometown, Melaka. I choose a plant with vibrant red bloom.

These are the latest from my garden.
How is your garden doing?

Happy Year of Rabbit

2011-02-02T22:09:00.002+08:00

It's less than 2 hours away before we say goodbye to the Year of Tiger and usher in the Year of Rabbit. I would like to take this opportunity to wish our fellow blogger friends around the world a great year ahead. May all of us receive abundance of blessings in all aspect of our lives!

Let's have another great year of gardening & blogging, my fellow gardening friends! May your garden be blessed with sunshine and rain. Blooms and greens are everywhere. Butterflies and ladybirds dance daily among your plants. May you have smiles as you toil away! Happy Gardening, my dear friends!

Wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Bright Sunny Sunflowers

2011-01-30T13:08:00.004+08:00

Before leaving for my hometown for the Chinese New Year holiday, I was lucky enough to see my sunflowers blooming. I was hoping that I would not skip the opportunity and probably my sunflower plants heard my wish and made it happened a day before I left!!

Here are photos of the single bloom. Still waiting for 3 other plants to bloom. In fact I sowed the sunflower seeds about 4 months ago to have the flowers blooming
during the Chinese New Year Festival.

Wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!

May you enjoy abundance in the New Year of Rabbit!

Blooming Plumeria, Smiling JC

2010-12-19T14:36:00.005+08:00

I posted last May about buying 3 pots of young Plumeria plants. Only 1 pot had blooms when I purchased them. The other 2 pots didn't show any sign of blooming. But early this month, I received a sweet surprise when I saw blooms appearing on my Plumeria that is now over 2 feet tall. What a delight!!! The blooms are dark red in colour, similar to the pot that bloomed earlier. The cluster of flowers is HUGE!!

Posted May 2009 the young plant that I brought home. The nursery doesn't know what colour is the bloom of this plant. I was kept waiting for over a year before I discovered what I colour the blooms it would be producing.

My tall Plumeria that is almost reaching the roof of our neighbour's driveway.

Taken from my bedroom's window, what a huge cluster of blooms!! I am so proud of it!
They look gorgeous! The blooms have been around for over 3 weeks and they are still fresh.

The photo below shows the pot of Plumeria that was blooming when I bought it last May. The blooms are quite similar in colour except that this one has a tinge of yellow on its petals.

For your info, the growth on my Plumeria has been rather slow. The trunk of the plant kept shooting taller and taller. There are only 3 branches on this plant with very minimal leaves at the end of each branch. I was in despair of what to do. Feeding it with goat fertilizer didn't seem to show any improvement. So, while spraying my Lantana and Adenium with liquid flowering fertilizer (the fertilizer comes in sandy, crystal form and need to be diluted in water before being sprayed onto plants), I also sprayed some onto the Plumeria leaves. Lo and behold....after a month, blooms were showing!!! For those who have not been able to get your Plumeria plants to bloom, do try this. You can get this kind of fertilizer in any nursery or hardware shop. My fertilizer is red in colour. Hope it works for you!

Daiso - A Treasure for Gardener

2010-11-25T23:13:00.012+08:00

I found a treasure while shopping at Sunway Pyramid last Sunday. This little treasure came in the form of a Daiso, a Japanese concept store that sells every item at RM5 (USD1.60). It has everything in it. By saying everything...I really mean everything...from kitchenware to food to stationery, stitch crafts to cosmetics, skincare and even DIY tools.

Join me on a virtual tour of what I have found at the Gardening section in Daiso. I find this Japanese shop carries a lot of creative and innovative items.

Snow White placed her little dwarfs on sale at Daiso??
Haha...these are little decoration dwarves made of clay with a hole behind it. According to the instructions, by filling up the hole with water, the water would seep through the porous clay and onto the plant, where these little dwarves are placed. So, in case you have to be away from home for several days, these little dwarves will ensure your plants will have a little moisture on their soils. How about that?

These little mushrooms function like the dwarves above.

Instead of strings/wire to tie your plant to a stake, how about these various kinds of 'binder' (this is a name I coined, coz I don't know how you would call these things).

Believe it or not, it took me a looooooong search before I found a shop that sells the labels for plants! There are 2 varieties here, the white one and the other packet has labels in yellow, pink, red and blue. How exciting I was to find them here! Fyi, I got a blur look from the sales assistant in Ace Hardware when I enquired about this label. Can't find it in Ikea too.

Various kind of tools ~ spade, hoe, tiller, knee support for your gardening needs.

Need a hanging basket to hold your pot of petunia? The green ones cost only RM5!!
As I know, my neighbour paid over RM30 for one.
The silver coloured ones are pot stands! Innovative, isn't it?

Various sizes of plastic pots. There are also fake flowers for those who learn flower arrangement!

Gloves, scissors, shearers

Decorative borders in white or brown; plastic, wood or bamboo to add a touch of beauty to your garden? Need a support for your growing plant? The choices are plenty!

Various forms of water spray or container.

Don't you agree with me that Daiso is a gem for us fellow gardeners? I was filled with excitement to share this little gem with all of you. In fact, I secretly took these photos and some turned out to be a bit blur as I was not using any flash. I know that most shops do not allow customers to take photos of their products. So, hope you enjoyed this posting.

And if you are keen to check out Daiso, it is located on the Lower Ground Floor of the New Wing of Sunway Pyramid, just opposite of Ace Hardware! Happy shopping everyone!

Lastly, Happy Thankgiving to fellow gardening bloggers who celebrate it!

Update on Seeds Sown

2010-10-24T22:41:00.003+08:00

What happened to the seeds that I have sowed recently? Some grew speedily (i.e. Sunflower, Water Convolvulus, Basil, Adenium), slowly (i.e. Marigold) and some showed no sign of sprouting at all (Coleus). And I have one seedling that I am not certain of its identity. It seemed like the capsicum that has sprouted...but I have doubts as I had earlier sowed Coleus seeds in that pot. Furthermore, the capsicum seeds in other pots have not sprouted yet. Cross my fingers...if it's the capsicum...ha ha...my wish has come true!

Sunflower

Water Convolvulus (Kangkung)

Basil

Adenium

Marigold

No clue

Sowing Seeds

2010-10-05T23:50:00.002+08:00

Adenium Seeds

My Adenium seedpod has finally burst. So I collected some of the seeds and soaked them in a container of water for several hours. This is to expediate the germination of the seeds. I hope the seed would germinate.

Later, I intend to give away some of the Adenium seedlings as part of my "Pass It On" activity. Recently I have received some seeds from other bloggers. I would like to give something away too, either to other gardening bloggers or members of our residential forum.

Coleus Seeds

Bought a pack of Coleus seeds from Ace Hardware after seeing the multi-coloured foliage of Coleus on several blogs. I wonder how well the plant would grow from seeds. In addition, the seeds only cost me RM2...ha ha..that's a real bargain!

The seeds are so tiny...just like specks of dust. I was worried if I sneeze or laugh aloud, those seeds would be blown away! So I handled them very with extreme care.

Capsicum Seeds

Saw gardeners from temperate countries harvesting Capsicum and I am keen to harvest my own too. Before I can do that, I will need to sow some seeds first. I collected some seeds from a Capsicum that I used for a salad and dried them for several days. 3 of the seeds go into these pots. It's an experiment....cross my fingers....I hope they germinate! I am filled with anxiety when checking on these pots to see any sign of development.

So, what are you sowing in your garden?

Gardening A Game

2010-10-04T15:42:00.009+08:00

Malar of My Little Garden has invited me for "Gardening A Game". In this game, I am to list down "10 Things That I Love To Do" and then invite 10 other bloggers to join me in this game.

It took me quite a while to participate as I want to feature some photos for the 10 Things That I Love To Do. Some how I realized it takes quite sometime for me to go through my photo collections to do it. So I will use both photos and words in this game.

Here are the 10 Things That I Love to Do:

1) Visiting markets whenever I travel. I love to check out the food that the locals eat and also the market place. Probably it's because I love cooking and I grew up living next to a wet market. Some of the things that I saw at the markets during my travel:

2) Having a reading material with me wherever I go. I love reading. Or shall I say I dislike waiting at the traffic light or doctor's clinic without anything to do. So I always bring a book or magazine or newspaper in my handbag or car to keep me occupied when I am kept waiting.

3) Cooking for friends and family members is something that I love doing and I do it regularly. I love to try new recipes. Alas, sometimes my food may not turn out well. However, my friends from my cell group would not mind finishing the failed cakes or pies as they believe in being grateful for the time and effort put into preparing the food. I simply love cooking for them for this reason!

4) In this electronic mail days, I still enjoy writing letters and postcards to friends and family members. At the same time I also enjoy receiving letters and postcards in my mailbox. My family and friends would write to me as they know I prefer receiving mails than e-mails.

5) Taking photos wherever I go has become a die-hard habit. My mom gave me my first camera when I was 9 years old. Since then, I have been bringing my camera everywhere. School mates, colleagues, neighbours, family, friends ~ they all know of this habit of mine! Ha ha...

6) I love backpacking. In recent years I have done solo backpacking trips to Silk Road, Manila and Spain. That has given me the confidence that I am able to travel safely alone. Although many funny incidents have happened, but I have always been blessed and met many nice people through my journey.

7) Spending time with my nieces and nephews is something that I treasure very much. I usually plan outings or activities for them before I go back to my hometown. It can be going for morning walks at Tun Fatimah Park on Sunday, flying kites on Saturday evening, Melaka Riverside walk, museum visit, climb-up to St. Paul Hill, playing at Portuguese Settlement's playground, visiting the beach in Pantai Kundur or simply cookie-, cake- or pie-baking at home.

8) I enjoy working on activities with youths. I have been involved actively with Buddhist youths. Early this year I helped with organizing the ASEAN International Buddhist Youth Exchange programme. By participating in youth activities, I learnt how to interact and work successfully with the younger, energetic generation. As a result, I get regular dosage of new ideas, energy bursts and fun! At the same time, it helps me to continue learning and practising the Dharma (Buddha's Teachings).

9) Going home to Melaka is something that I enjoy doing on a monthly basis. I love spending time with my family members, helping out at home, catching up with each other, enjoying the delicious Melaka food with my nieces and nephews.

10) Of course, I can't miss this ~ I love gardening!! It may be weeding, watering, fertilizing or simply just talking and watching my plants. I love doing this in the cool hour of the morning. I love getting my nails dirty with soils and sweat dripping from my forehead, as long as I am out in the garden, among the greens and blooms.

Those are the 10 Things That I Love To Do! How about these 10 Bloggers that I would like to invite for this game:

1) Annie of Annie's Kitchen Garden
2) Callum of The London Vegetable Garden
3) Natarajan of My Balcony Garden
4) Helen of My Rustic Bajan Garden
5) Elsie of STileTTo
6) My Little Garden in Japan
7) Tatyana of My Secret Garden
8) Margaret of A Way To Garden
9) Aaron of Aaron's Gardening Blog
10) Chawanmushi of Gardening Dream Inspire

The rule of this game is to:
1) Inform who invite you
2) What are the 10 things you like to do
3) Invite another 10 other bloggers

Have Fun! Waka, Waka!

A Gift of Seeds

2010-09-28T13:59:00.002+08:00

Ho..ho..ho..Christmas came early for me this year! I was surprised by a big mail from Maryland, USA when I went over to my old address to collect my mails. The package came from Wendy of Greenish Thumb blog.

Wendy celebrated her blog's 1st Anniversary by organising a Seeds Giveaway for the first 25 persons who e-mailed to her for seeds. I was one of the fortunate ones that responded and received this gift from her. Thank you very much Wendy for your kind generosity to share the seeds that you and your Dad had collected!

There are 24 packages of seeds all together! Your generosity moved me, Wendy!

The seeds were all beautifully packed in individual parchment paper envelope that allows us to see the seeds. Each seed name is hand-written on the envelope. I can imagine the thoughts, effort and time put into preparing these beautiful gifts for all of us.

Some seeds even came in this professionally designed matchbox. How creative! She got the idea from Martha Stewart. If any of you are keen to learn how to create this beautiful packaging for your plant seeds, please visit Wendy's posting here.

Thank you Wendy for these wonderful gift!
Wishing you a Happy 1st Anniversary to your blog, Greenish Thumb and may you celebrate many more anniversaries in years to come!

How Is My Garden Growing?

2010-09-25T17:55:00.004+08:00

With spring onions here and there....

Blooming Thai basils everywhere...snip, snip....gotta keep the flowers away so that the plants can live on.

Marigold is over 3 feet tall and giving me blooms!! Yahoo! I now have yellow and orange Marigolds. Sorry didn't take any shot of the Yellow Marigold.

Gardenia buds showing

but.....they never did bloom...

until I see this sweet smelling white blossom that made my heart skipped with delight!

Selamat Hari Raya

2010-09-09T01:53:00.001+08:00

Wishing all Muslims Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.
May you have a blessed and joyous celebration with family & friends.

Easy to Care

2010-09-08T14:54:00.006+08:00

I love seeing constant blooms in my garden. However many profusely blooming plants that I like, e.g. petunia, zinnia, impatiens are annuals that will need replacements after they grow, bloom, produced seeds and wilted. I try to grow blooming annuals such as Costus and Birds of Paradise. These plants produce blooms constantly and they are tough plants that can sustain hot weather and occasional lack of watering.

I have 3 pots of Costus in my garden. One of the plants have over 9 blooms now. It is a beautiful plant to have as the inflorescence really brighten up my garden. Each bloom can last for a loooong time (over a month). The inflorescence will turn brown over time and I just snip the stalk off to allow space for newer stems to grow. The inflorescence is tough and rainfall does not affect its blooms.

As seen in the photos here, the red, vibrant inflorescence is a spectacular bloom. The long red inflorescence is complimented with bright yellow tubular flowers.

My Costus is fertilized with goat dung manure on a monthly basis. That, I believe, ensure regular blooms are being produced by the plant. When the weather is too hot, the leaves will curled up by afternoon. However, the thick leaves are able to sustain 2-3 days of no-watering in current hot weather. That is another reason that I love this plant. At times, when we are away from home, not being able to care for my plants kept me worrying. It is most worrying in the current hot spell season. Usually I will water this plant once in the morning. These days, watering twice a day is the practice.

I would certainly recommend this plant to anyone who loves regular spectacular blooms in their garden. This plant is also easy to care for any new gardening enthusiast!

Creative Set-up with Bird's Nest Fern

2010-08-31T11:49:00.002+08:00

We were walking along some pre-war houses in Heeren Street, Melaka, when we stumbled upon this beautiful pot of Bird's Nest Fern placed outside a house. See how creatively these ferns have been placed vertically, tied to a pipe with some plastic cling wrap. So, if you have several pots of Bird's Nest Fern and have limitation of space, this is certainly a good method to resolve your problem.

Am I Alone in This?

2010-08-30T00:36:00.002+08:00

I have been away from my garden for 3 days. Now I wonder how my plants are doing. Can the radish seedlings survive the heat? Will it be raining in Subang Jaya, just like what we have in Melaka for the last 2 nights? Will my vegetables seeds be sprouting by the time I arrive home on Tues?

Is anyone of you out there like me? I mean worrying about your plants or the weather when you are away? I was so worried that I may not be able to find someone to help me water my plants when we will be away from home for 5 days. In the current heat that we are experiencing, we need to water the plants twice a day. So what am I to do if I am away for so many days?

Fortunately I brought this matter up to my close friend, Poh, who always helped me to water my plants when I am away. Unfortunately, this weekend, she is heading home to Johor Bahru, thus she can't help me. Poh brilliantly suggested another friend of ours, Krishna, who live on the same row of house as me. Fortunately, Krishna, said yes when I called her early Friday morning before I started my journey home to Melaka. Thanks Krishna for your helping hand, friend! You have helped me a lot!

Glorious Aglaonema Batik

2010-08-22T11:26:00.006+08:00

Glorious...glorious...indeed..when Aglaonema Batik has blooms!! I have been keeping this plant for over several years. When we moved to our new place, I transplanted the plant into several pots. Now I am seeing blooms in one of the plants! Oh, they look lovely. It never crosses my mind to check about Aglaonema Batik (some called it Snow Queen) and its blooming habit. So, it's really a surprise when I see them blooming. The blooms are very similar to Peace Lily.

It is said that the blooms will give adverse effect to the Aglaonema plant. This is because the flower production process consumes a lot of energy (nutrients) from the plant. As a result, the plant will produce new leaves that are smaller, sometimes distorted and lacking in color appearing pale. Thus, the flowers are usually cut off and not allowed to bloom.

However, I am quite reluctant to cut off the flower as this is the first time my Aglaonema plant is blooming. So, I am going to keep the flowers. Will shower the plant with lotsa tender, loving care to ensure it will not suffer from the effect of producing these flowers. Hope some fertilizer will help it recover from the loss of nutrients. Cross my fingers!

Blooming Marigold

2010-08-22T10:50:00.002+08:00

Finally my Marigold has bloomed! This is the first plant that has produced blooms from the many Marigold seeds that I had sowed in April. Wow, it takes 4 months for a seed to mature into a plant that produces flowers. A long wait indeed but very worthwhile after all.

A Lesson on Impermanence

2010-08-15T23:56:00.001+08:00

What makes a healthy, fruit growing plant wilted within 1 week?

It's only my 2nd chilli and I am waiting to harvest it when it turns red!!! But I doubt that is going to happen now. Look at this plant now! What happened? Too much water? Or too much heat from the scorching sun? Or.......or.....what? My heart aches as I look at this plant. The water that I poured on it doesn't revive the plant. I think I will be saying goodbye to it really soon.

The chilli is still dangling on its stem.

Another lesson on impermanence. Now you see it, now you don't. I just have to accept this fact of life. Changes come and Ie have to manage it positively!

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I shared the incident of my chilli plant with 2 friends whose parents love growing vegetables. They said chilli is a plant with lotsa pest problems, similar to tomatoes. And a good way to get chilli to grow is to provide it with nitrate. We can get natural nitrate by diluting one part of our URINE (yup, URINE!) with 10 parts of water. That's another organic fertilizer for chilli to grow well.

Another tips in growing vegetable is to sprinkle some sea salt around your vegetable plants. The sea salt is sodium hydrochloride and this sodium is also another form of nutrient required by plants.

I wondered if anyone has tried both the above before.

Kangkung Sprouting!!!

2010-08-14T01:26:00.000+08:00

We, fellow Malaccans, always claim that our Nasi Lemak Bungkus tastes better as we have kangkung (also known as water convolvulus or water spinach) in it. Only in the state of Melaka that I found kangkung is added into Nasi Lemak.

Kangkung stir-fry in sambal belacan is also one of my favourite dishes. Yum....yum.....

I still remember during our trip to Manado and Bunaken Island in Sulawesi, Indonesia, blanched kangkung is always served as a side dish with some chilli condiment. But the kangkung that we ate in Sulawesi are mainly grown in water. The stems are very tender and bigger.

Since I love kangkung, why not grow some in my garden? I would love to but I didn't know how. It was my neighbour, Aunt Thoong, who told me that she has grown some kangkung from roots. The kangkung roots were obtained from the kangkung that she bought from the market. Just plant the roots into soil and they grow easily. Aunt Thoong's experience triggered the interest in me to grow this plant.

In July during my visit to CETDEM's Organik Day event, I found Kangkung seeds for sale. Recently I sowed some of the kangkung seeds. Growing it is as easy as ABC.

Firstly, I sowed the kangkung seeds in a container of water overnight.

The next day, some of the seeds have sprouted.

Sowed them in soil on the same day.

On the 4th day, the seeds have germinated into seedlings. Really fast, huh?

A Herb by Any Other Name....

2010-08-13T13:31:00.002+08:00

Daun kesum or Daun Laksa or Vietnamese Mint or Polygonum are the variety of names used for this herb. Regardless of what name it uses, I can't have my Assam Fish or Laksa without this fragrant herb. It enhances the flavour of the dish.

Three days ago, I bought some daun kesum for cooking the Assam Fish dish. My next door neighbour, has a pot of healthy daun kesum. She told me to pluck them as and when I need them. However, that day when I called her from my backyard, she couldn't hear me. I wanted to ask her for some daun kesum. Since I have just moved to this neighbourhood recently, I am a bit uncomfortable to call out too loud and also in case I awaken her from her nap. Alas, I got some daun kesum from the mini market nearby.

I kept some of the stems from the daun kesum and placed them in a cup of water. After 3 days, some roots have grown from the nodes of the stems. Today I placed 3 stems into the soil to grow. From the internet, I learnt that daun kesum needs plenty of sunlight and it is best to keep the soil moist at all time. Organik fertilizer can be added fortnightly. With good care and enough water, I would see shoots growing in a week. Wow, I am looking forward to that!

Creativity + Moving Forward

2010-08-10T21:31:00.009+08:00

Today I harvested 2 radishes and 2 lady fingers from my garden. Ha ha...to seasoned vegetable grower, this is a pathetic harvest! But to me....whoa, they are fruits of my tender, loving, care!!

My radishes were really small in size. Compare them with the sizes of radishes grown by these children who are members of Earth Club in Japan who grew the Sakurajima Daikon. Their radishes weighed at least 900 grammes! Ha! Ha! I still have a long way to go to reach that size!!

I have not decided what to cook with the radishes. The lady fingers were added into my Assam Fish for tonite's dinner. With the little harvest that I get, it needs a lot of creativity to use the vegie to produce a dish that is substantial for our dinner. Ha ha...my creativity is now getting challenges on a daily basis. Why do I say so? Because yesterday, I had harvested a solo lady finger! Yup, just 1 single lady finger.

Yesterday's harvest of 1 lady finger was used in my Yong Tou Foo. I stuffed the lady finger with some minced meat and pan-fried them. As 1 lady finger is not sufficient to create a dish, I had added some other vegies, such as brinjal, bittergourd and another lady finger to add bulk to the dish. My sister said this is a delicious dish!

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How's the radish seeds doing? All the seeds that I sowed in a plastic container 3 days ago have germinated into seedlings with 4 tiny leaves. Today I transferred them into pots.

Not satisfied with the sizes of radishes that I harvested, I did some internet search to find out how I can improve on its growth.

I found out that loose crumbly soil works best for white radish. So I have added some sands and also worm compost to the soil that I previously bought at the United Malaysian Orchid Nursery. My earlier crop of radish was grown in burnt paddy husks (sekam) mixed with cocopeat (habuk kelapa).

That was a crumbly composition that drains very well. But I have run our of them. Probably it's time to visit Sg. Buluh?? My dilemma is where shall I keep a gunny of burnt paddy husks and a gunny of cocopeat??

I also found out that the secret to good radishes is plenty of even moisture. Supply sufficient water to plants without creating waterlogged soil. If allowed to dry out, radishes will taste hot.

What fertilizer is suitable for radish? Organic or NPK chemical fertilizer?

I have used organic fertilizer to grow my first batch of radish. According to the internet, many organic fertilizers have a higher concentration of nitrogen. Nitrogen increases leafy growth and root size during the initial growth stage of a radish. It also increases the rate of growth, allowing radishes to be harvested earlier. However, an excessive amount of nitrogen may cause leaf growth at the expense of root size. That explains why I have bushy radish leaves and stringy tubers.

Phosphorus stimulates root development and growth, which leads to a fleshier radish root. A lack of phosphorus in radish plants leads to stunted growth and poor yields.

Whereas, Potassium reduces water loss by the plant and reduces stress due to droughts. This is important for radishes, because excessive water loss and drought can cause the root to crack, resulting in stunted and poorly formed roots. Potassium also increases root growth, which results in larger radishes.

That means I will need Nitrogen (N) nutrient at the beginning stage of growing radish. That will follow by the increase of Phosphorus (P) and Potassium(K) when the plants are growing. How do I get more P & K nutrients if I would like to continue to use organic fertilizer??? (Mind boggling!)

Seen here are the seedlings that I have transplanted on soil in several pots. I also need to get them into deeper pots if I want to have radishes with bigger tuber.

Some info on white radish, also known as Daikon:

The word Daikon actually comes from two Japanese words: dai (meaning large) and kon (meaning root). Daikon is is root vegetable said to have originated in the Mediterranean and brought to China for cultivation around 500 B.C. Roots are large, often 2 to 4 inches in diameter and 6 to 20 inches long. There are three distinct shapes - spherical, oblong and cylindrical.

Facts about Fertilizers

2010-08-09T15:43:00.016+08:00

While doing some research on the internet about the N:P:K (Nitrogen: Phosphorus: Pottasium) values of fertilizers, I stumbled upon some interesting information about fertilizers that I would like to post here for sharing.

1) Different NPK Values

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Do you know that different manure has different value of NPK percentage in it. This information was obtained from the Allotment Vegetable Growing website:

N:P:K Values
=========

Chicken Manure (1.1: 0.8: 0.5)

Sheep Manure (0.7: 0.3: 0.9)

Rabbit Manure (2.4: 1.4: 0.6)

From the figures above, rabbit manure has a higher value of Nitrogen & Potassium nutrients. My friend, Elicia, whose children rear rabbit, uses the rabbit manure to fertilize her herbs patch. Now I can see why her herbs grow so well.

Note: Both cat and dog droppings can carry organisms harmful to human beings. Dog droppings can contain the eggs of the parasitic worm, toxocara, which can also infect humans. Cats can carry toxiplasma, another disease that can be passed on to humans. Accordingly, it is safer to dispose of these elsewhere rather than use them

More information on farmyard animal manures.

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2) Facts about Nitrogen
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Nitrogen has the shortest life in the soil as it is easily washed out by heavy rain. To increase Nitrogen content in your soil, try to plant legumes (such as peas, groundnuts) . My friend, Chooi, said her mom used to grow groundnuts among her vegetable. Legumes produce their own nitrogen due to a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that fix nitrogen from the air for the plant, which is why peas generally need no nitrogen supplement.

Nitrogen requirements differ for different plants:

VERY HIGH Nitrogen requirement: cabbages, brussel sprouts, rubharbs

HIGH Nitrogen requirement: beetroots, celery, spinach leeks

MEDIUM Nitrogen requirement: brocolli, cauliflower, lettuce

LOW Nitrogen requirement: asparagus, parsnip, onion

VERY LOW Nitrogen requirement: carrot & radish

NO Nitrogen requirement: peas & broad beans

3) FERTILIZING TIPS

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Apply More Fertiliser for Light Soils

Light and free-draining soils, usually sandy in composition, lose nutrients more quickly than other types, especially in rainy spells. Apply fertiliser more frequently on these soils, especially nitrogen fertilisers to maintain levels as Nitrogen is easily washed away.

Apply Less Fertiliser for Clay Soils

Heavy clay soils and soils containing a lot of organic matter require less frequent application. This is because both substances act as reservoirs holding the nutrients and releasing them slowly over time to the plants

Very Acid or Very Chalky Soils

Phosphates and potassium become more soluble in acidic soil, making them easier for rain to wash away. In chalky (alkaline) soils, phosphate becomes insoluble when mixed with the calcium present in chalky soils. In both cases, divide the application into two or three and apply over the growing season.

Lime and Fertiliser

Never apply or store fertiliser and lime together. There will be a chemical reaction between the lime and the nitrogen in the fertiliser, making neither effective. Especially when growing vegetables, check and adjust if necessary the pH (acidity) of the soil. Acidic soils may contain nutrients but they are less available to the plants.

Feed at the Right Time

Only add fertilisers to plants before and during the growing season. Applications made after the season will just be washed out of the soil and not do any good unless you use an over-winter green manure crop to hold them for the next season.

Boosting Failing Plants

If plants are showing signs of nutrient deficiency then you can give a boost using liquid fertilisers that are absorbed more quickly by the plant. Sometimes the problem isn't the amount of nutrient available but a lack of micro-nutrients preventing take-up by the plants. Try a spray of seaweed extract or a foliar feed with Epsom salts to release the nutrients. (see Additional Elements in Plant Nutrition)

Make Your Own Liquid Feeds

If you have comfrey (an important herb in organic gardening, having many fertilizer and purported medicinal uses) or nettles available you can make your own liquid fertiliser by adding the leaves into a barrel of water and allowing them to ferment for three of four weeks. This will make a fertiliser high in potash, great for tomatoes and hanging baskets. A high nitrogen liquid feed can be made by suspending a hessian sack of horse or sheep droppings into a barrel of water until the water turns the colour of tea.

Notes on Nettle: The growth of stinging nettle is an indicator that an area has high fertility (especially phosphorus) and has been disturbed. Nettles contain a lot of nitrogen and so are used as a compost activator or can be used to make a liquid fertiliser which although somewhat low in phosphate is useful in supplying magnesium, sulphur and iron.[ They are also one of the few plants that can tolerate, and flourish in, soils rich in poultry droppings.

Controlled Release Fertilisers

When growing in containers or baskets you can use controlled release fertilisers. These gradually dissolve over the growing season ensuring a constant supply of nutrient is available to the plants over the season.

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I hope these information will be useful reference to me whenever I am out shopping for fertilizers or when applying fertilizers to my plants or when my plants show sign of ailing.

Seed Pod & More Growth

2010-08-08T00:54:00.001+08:00

My Adenium plant is growing a seedpod!! Yahooooooooooo! It's once in a while phenomenon and I am thrilled to experience it again. Going to sow seeds of this Adenium and use the tips that my friend Roxanne uses to grow big caudex on her young Adenium plants.

For your info, my success rate in growing Adenium from seeds is only 10-30%. It's really low, right? This plant that you see here was grown from a seed. A young Adenium seedling need a lot of care. Too much water, its roots rot. Too little water, it shrivelled up, dried and died. Nevertheless, I continue to grow Adenium as their beautiful blooms and caudex bring me lotsa joy.

This is another plant that I have grown from seed. After seeing Roxanne's success in growing Adenium with big caudex (root), I decided to follow her method. Prune off the stem when the plant is young. In fact, she pruned her plant when 4 leaves appear. As such, the nutrient will all be channelled to the root. Thus, the root will bulk up. Otherwise, the Adenium will grow to have unattractive thin, long stalk.

This Adenium grows its leaves in about 2 weeks after pruning. I think this is due to the regular rain that we get recently. It is usually advised not to prune Adenium during rainy season as the rain may cause the cut stem to rot. Thus, I have kept my Adenium under shade when it rains and bring it out again when the sun is brightly-shining. Cross my fingers, hope the caudex will grow big.

Germinating Radish Seeds

2010-08-07T13:24:00.004+08:00

After my first success in growing radish, I decided to grow it again. I used the same method of germinating radish that I did previously as the success rate was high. Compared to sowing seeds in soil, this method is simple and easy for me to follow the progress of the seeds.

Day 1 - Placed radish seeds in a container of water overnight.

Day 2 - Some seeds had germinated after soaking overnight (as seen in the photo below). Amzingly fast, huh?

Day 2 - Transfer all the seeds to a piece of moist paper kitchen towel. Place the kitchen towel in a container and keep it covered. Ensure the towel is constantly moist. Sprinkle or spray some water on the kitchen towel if you find it dried up.

Day 3 - some seeds have sprouted. All seeds germinated. Shells from the seeds remained.
All it took was 3 days!!! Isn't this fast? And 100% germination.
Saw some mouldy, cottony stuff on some seeds. Suspect they are fungus.
I washed them off with water and continue to keep them in the container.
After 4 leaves appear, I will then transplant them into soil.

Will update all of you further when I transplant the radish seedlings onto soil.

Updates From My Garden

2010-08-05T00:45:00.004+08:00

Due to limitation of space, I don't get to sow many of the seeds that I bought. I gotta wait till there is an available flower pot in order for me to grow more plants. Most of my vegetables, foliage or flowers are grown in containers. Recently I have brought back some pots from my old place and decided to sow some of the seeds that I have bought.

I have sown some lettuce seeds in 2 small pots. These seeds were bought from the Shah Alam's Farmer's Market. I assume it is lettuce as it's written as 'salad' on the plastic bag. 'Salad' is the name commonly use for lettuce.

As I have an available big pot, I also take the opportunity to sow some Japanese Choy Sum seeds. These seeds were also bought from Shah Alam's Farmers' Market. In order not to scatter my seeds haphazardly, I lay a piece of tissue in the pot. Wet the tissue. And then lay the seeds in rows. I wanna ensure that the seeds are not placed too close to one another. Then I cover the tissue with a thin layer of worm compost.

A friendly neighbour, Winston, who also grow vegetables in his backyard told me that he adds sand into his soil mix as sand will give better drainage and the soil would be loose and not become compact over time. This loose condition is conducive for vegetables to grow well. So, I went to a nearby hardware shop in USJ1 to buy a packet of sand. Never did I expect that a packet of RM3.50 sand would come in half a gunny sack!! That's a lot of sand! I have added sand and worm compost to the soil mix for my Lettuce and Japanese Choy Sum. In my previous experience of using worm compost on my brinjal, the plant grew extremely fast.

My Thai Basils are growing very well now. The usage of concoction made from pounded garlic, bird's eye chilli & dish washing detergent to fight pests work very well. They are now flourishing and some of them even have blooms on them.

To keep the basil tastiest, prune the blossoms from the end of each stem before the flowers dry out. Basil has a tendency to grow very bitter tasting leaves if the flowers are allowed to mature to seed. Pruning and removing flowers from your basil herb plant will also help it live a longer life. If you leave the flowers to mature, this give sign to the plant that its life cycle has come to an end and the plant condition will just deteriorate and eventually die.

When cutting leaves, stems, and flowers, do not cut more than 1/3 of the plant's foliage. Removing a large amount of plant matter from a basil plant can cause poor root function and stunted growth in the basil plant.

The Thai Basil blooms are so beautiful and I am quite reluctant to prune them off.
But if I don't prune it off soon, it will mean the demise of my healthy basil.
Sorry blooms, you will have to go in a day or two.

My chilli has also shown some blooms. I hope they will be pollinated and I can have more harvest of chillies.

Another good news, my Marigold plant has shown its first bloom. I have grown this Marigold since April, if I am not mistaken. I got the seeds from CETDEM's Organik Day event. Now it's already August. Wow, does it really need 3 months before it blooms? Isn't that a bit too long? What is your experience in growing Marigold like? I am looking forward to the sunny yellow or orange bloom that I hope would brighten up my vegetable bed.

Bamboo ~ An Oriental Touch

2010-08-03T10:09:00.006+08:00

Last weekend I saw some shops in the old part of Melaka town displaying pots of bamboo outside their shops. The bamboo plants look so refreshing green. They brighten up the whole place, don't you think so? Together with the Chinese caligraphy and paper cutting art on the wall, these bamboo trees add a touch of Oriental flavour to the decor of these old shop houses.

Going online to do some internet search, I found some key points that one needs to take note when growing bamboo. If you are keen to grow bamboo trees, do take note!

Basic Information About Bamboo
=========================

Bamboo is a grass (subfamily Bambusoideae within the family Gramineae). It
can range in size from inches to over 100' and can grow a foot or more a day.
Bamboo is one of the most useful plants grown in the world. It's used as food,
building material, animal fodder, ornamentation and screening. They are
recognizable by their nodes, the joints between the hollow segments of the
branch or culm.

The easiest way to classify bamboo is to divide it into runners and
clumpers.

Clumpers or sympodial bamboos will expand, just like any
other perennial plant. However clumping bamboos have a limited root structure
and cannot creep more than a few inches per year. They will expand each year and
won't grow to mature height unless they are allowed to reach their desired
circumference. Most of the clumping bamboos are tropical plants, but some of the
Fargensia genus exhibit enough cold hardiness to survive done to Zone 4.
Runners are what make gardeners run for cover. Running or
monopodial bamboos spread by underground rhizomes and can cover great distances.
Since they are all connected as one plant, it can become impossible to kill off.
However the rhizomes grow at a depth of only 2 - 18 inches and can be contained
with 2 - 2 1/2' plastic edging buried around the circumference of the plant. Any
cracks or seams in the edging will allow rhizomes to get through. Most of the
temperate bamboos are runners. Temperate bamboos are used to a period of cold
weather dormancy and may suffer leaf drop if grown indoors.

Growing Bamboo: Some Key Points
===========================

- Most bamboos prefer full sun and a soil pH of around 6.0 - 6.2.
- Newly planted bamboo requires liberal watering. However, watering newly planted bamboos every day, or for longer than a few minutes can cause excess leaf drop. Well-established bamboos are rather tolerant of flooding, but newly planted bamboos can suffer from too much as well as too little water. (Ha ha this is certainly a difficult requirement for new bamboo planter to manage!)
- Lack of water is the biggest problem with growing bamboo.
- Bamboos require water to send out new culms.
- Standing water inhibits the growth of bamboo.
- Bamboo doesn't like competition from weeds.
- Taller bamboo should be staked, to prevent uprooting.
- Bamboos are evergreen and will lose and replace leaves as they grow.
- Since bamboos are grasses and are grown for their foliage. Feed them with a high nitrogen fertilizer, for instance the NPK 21:5:6 formula.
- Mulching will help control moisture and will protect cold hardy varieties in winter.
- Bamboo like other plants requires some pruning to maintain its
  attractiveness. Bamboo culms live only to about 15 years. Once each year you should remove older unattractive culms and cut off any dead or unattractive branches. You can prune bamboo without fear of damaging it. Just trim so it looks attractive. Make cuts just above a node, so as not to leave a stub that will die back and look unsightly.

Adenium Given A Haircut

2010-07-31T01:47:00.003+08:00

I felt bad about indirectly killing the caterpillar 'Ah Pui' that I kept as captive in order to watch its metamorphosis process. Since then, I stopped removing caterpillars that visit my garden. Call that generosity.....or guilt-ridden! Ha ha...

Last month, I had another caterpillars visit to my Adenium plant. They ate the leaves voraciously and I was left with rather ugly plants. So I trimmed all the leaves and trunks off.

In one and a half month, this is how it looks!!! Beautiful, right? With buds appearing too!

Of course lotsa organic fertilizer helped in the quick growth. I have also uprooted the plant to reveal its caudex (root). Regular uprooting of Adenium will encourage the caudex to grow bigger. In addition, I have bought some sand and add them to my soil mixture. In the previous re-potting exercise, I have added too much of peat soil. As the peat soil retains water, during continuous raining, I found some root rot. Adenium needs soil that drains well. This is also another reason why I uproot the plant, i.e. to check on the root and change the soil mix.

When my friend, Rox, who also loves growing Adenium told me that regular trimming of Adenium would make the plant looks better. I had my hesitation and doubts as it takes some time for the plant to grow, so why trim them off? After my first trimming, I never stop doing it on a regular basis! Read more about Trimming Adenium here.

I didn't take any photo of the above Adenium after its haircut. It certainly has a better styled hairdo now. Trust me!

Due to poor drainage soil, the root of this Adenium rot too! Fortunately I discovered it early and was able to salvage the plant. One of the signs of the root rot was leaves turning yellow and began to drop off.

With new leaves and buds growing, it looks much healthier. Adenium feeds on fertilizer voraciously. Another tips from Rox, she feeds her Adenium with chicken dung and they bloom non-stop. I blogged about her garden and Adenium here. Check out photos of her Adenium blooms and drool!! Ha ha...

Another lush Adenium growing after being turned bald last month!

My 1st Radish Harvest

2010-07-30T00:52:00.004+08:00

My sister said if I were to grow vegetable for my own sustainance, I would be dying of hunger!! Why?

The yield that I get from my garden is sooooooooo miserable! Ha ha!!! But I don't think it's the yield that matters. The whole process of germinating seeds, watering & fertilizing the plants, watching with delight as they grow bigger and taller, eventually bearing fruits are filled with fun! It would need a fellow gardening enthusiast, like you and me, to understand what the feeling is right!

See the stages that I went through to grow radish till I was able to enjoy the fruit of my labour!

Out of the many radish plants that I have, only one radish tuber of sufficient size was harvested yesterday. I pulled up some of the plants as they don't show much sign of tuber growing from it. See the lush leaves of the radish in the pot above. One would expect to see lotsa radishes growing beneath the soil. Alas, that wasn't the case! Did I overcrowded this fellas till they don't have enough space to grow?

Although the radish tuber is still small, I decided to harvest it after reading on the internet that radish tuber needs to grow fast and have sufficient water. Otherwise, you will end up with a fibrous radish that may be inedible. So, I would rather opt for a small tuber than an inedible one.

I was so proud of my little harvest here!! It took a lot of tender, loving, care for the seeds to reach this stage!!

A plant with no tuber growing. What happened???

I decided to make my favourite radish & carrot pickle that evening. Fresh radish for dinner!

Although it's just a tiny radish, I am not giving up! I will start to germinate the remaining radish seeds again.

Happy gardening my fellow friends out there!

Tips from United Malaysian Orchid

2010-07-25T16:49:00.010+08:00

My friend, Chooi, brought me to visit United Malaysian Orchid nursery in Rawang recently. For those who grows orchids, you may be familiar with this nursery. United Malaysian Orchid nursery was once located at the junction of Jalan Glenmarie & Jalan Subang. A few years ago it moved to its new location in Rawang.

As this nursery was close to where I live, i.e. UEP Subang Jaya, I used to hang out at the nursery on weekends where I pick up a few tips from one of its workers, Ah Meng, and watching them worked with their orchids. He is very popular with orchid growers as he patiently teach us how to upkeep our orchids. He also recommended his special powder fertilizer for orchids. This fertilizer is diluted in water and when sprayed daily on your orchids, you will be assured to get multiple blooms regularly. That's how I used to take care of my orchids in the past.

I have not seen Ah Meng for several years after the nursery moved. Glad to be re-acquainted with him again. In fact, I brought Chooi to its old site in Glenmarie several years ago, and found out that the nursery has moved. I only learnt that United Malaysian Orchid nursery has moved to Rawang when I stumbled upon their booth at last year's Floria Fest in Putrajaya.

From my trip to this nursery, I have found some interesting gardening tools and tips to share here. The first one would be this home-made multiple pots holder.

It is made by stucking a tree trunk into a pot and filled the pot with cement in order to support the trunk. Then nailed several pots onto the tree trunk. Voila! You have a beautiful multiple pot holder! How innovative!

See how beautiful the pot holder looks when pots of orchids are placed on it. To ensure you have a lot of mobility & flexibility with this multiple pot holder, do not grow your plant directly into those pots that are nailed into the tree trunk. Instead grow your pots in a separate pot and place the pot onto pots in the holder (refer to photo below). As such, you have the flexibility to change and rotate the plants placed on this holder.

The above home-made multiple pots holder is very cost-efficient to make. I have seen a multi-tiered pot for sale during the Putrajaya Floria Fest 2010. It is made of plastic and have 3 tiers.

The price for the 2 varieties of multi-tiered pots can be quite damaging to our pockets.

So, if you are thinking of saving some money, why not take out your DIY tools and make the innovative multiple pot holders from United Malaysian Orchids.

Another interesting thing that I saw at this nursery is the usage of hair grip/clip to hold an orchid stalk to a stake. Of course we can always use a wire to do this, however with a hair grip (as seen in the photo below), one can easily re-adjust or remove it.

Ah Meng also showed us a new product that his nursery is selling. It is a dual nozzle spray that can be used on the mouth of a 1-liter plastic drink bottle. This is another way of recycling the mineral water or soft drinks plastic bottle.

Ah Meng demonstrated to us how this dual nozzle spray worked. The dual nozzle produces mist in a wider radius that enable the water to cover more plants with each spray. He claimed that this spray is more durable and lasting. It is very suitable for spraying liquid fertilizer that orchid growers commonly used.

Both Chooi and I had a good time at the nursery. We learnt a few new things and glad to meet up with Ah Meng again.

In case any of you are keen to check out this nursery, the contact details and map to United Malaysian Orchid are enclosed below. Frankly, I have doubts about driving there myself as I cannot recall the route we took. Anyway, what's life without some adventure? Try to hunt for this nursery if you can. Your journey will be a worthwhile one!

Updates from My Garden

2010-07-17T18:01:00.017+08:00

What have been growing in my garden?

My first chilli hanging on the plant.

My chilli plant is suffering from 'leaf-loss' and yellowing leaves. This is the balding part of my chilli plant. I wonder if any hairloss shampoo will help?? Or is this due to attack of mealybugs? I have been spraying some of my chilli plants with a concoction of garlic, bird's eye chilli & dish detergent.

From my visit to CETDEM's Organik Day event, I am able to solve this puzzle on why I have 'Ulam Raja' and Japanese Ginseng plants growing in my garden. The seeds of these plants were accidentally included in the pack of Marigold seeds that I bought. Ha ha...isn't that good news! Buy 1 free 2. Seen here is my one and only Ulam Raja, growing healthily. During my recent trip to Kerteh, I have eaten a lot of this herb with rice during lunch time.

I think this is a Balsam plant. I suspect the seed for this plant was included in the pack of Marigold seeds that I bought from CETDEM in April. Would anyone be able to confirm for me if this is a Balsam plant?

For the benefit of fellow gardener, Ting, from Growing Vegetables with Ms. Green Fingers, who asked how a garlic plant looks like. Here is the garlic bulb that I placed into the ground and left to grow. I was away for several days and some of the leaves had browned and wilted. The plant looks like spring onion, don't you agree?

A Yen Kee pineapple that I bought came with a slip at the bottom of the plant. The fruit seller told me that I can grow the pineapple from this slip. Yen Kee pineapple are widely grown in Klang and this pinepple produces sweet fruit that is less fibrous than our local type of pineapple. Root has sprouted from this slip. However the growth seems to be very slow.

My radish plants are flourishing well. You can see a radish bulb peeping out from the soil. I read on the internet that radish must be grown quickly to ensure that the bulb will be plump and tender. If it is lacked of water, it will grow to be hard and dry. Radish also need several hours of direct sunlight to grow well.

I think I have overcrowded my radishes. The bulbs may not grow to be big. Never mind. This is my first experience of growing radish. I shall learn from this mistake.

Our new neighbour, Uncle Tong, offered me 2 bulbs of Calathea Makoyana when he re-potted his plant. I have seen admiring the foliage of this sold at Giant Hypermarket and had been admiring Uncle Tong's plant from afar. He made my day when he offered those bulbs to me!

Calathea makoyana is also called Peacock Plant because of the decorative color patterns of the upper leave surface. The leaves are being hold on long thin stems and do have a remarkable capability to adjust their position to the angle of light. Growing up to 2' ( 60 cm ) and preferring filtered sunlight.

CETDEM's Organik Day

2010-07-10T14:43:00.000+08:00

Did anyone go to CETDEM's Organik Day in SS19 PJ last Sunday?

I was there about 9.30am with two friends. Fortunately we went there early. By 11.30am, the sky has turned dark and we rushed to our car before it started to drizzle.

Let's walk through the Organik Day event with these photos that I had taken.

CETDEM's stall.

My favourite stall was the one where seeds were sold. There were vof seeds, ranging from flowers to vegetables. This time around, I bought 2 packets of seeds, i.e. coriander and kangkung (water convolvulus).

A stall selling vermicompost brought some earthworms to share with the public on how vermicompost is being produced.

Stalls selling seedlings of various herbs.

Organic tea & teabags and preserves for sales.

Seaweed is also available for sale.

Waiting for our turn to go for the guided tour of CETDEM's organic garden.

These are some of the plants from CETDEM's garden.

My Backyard Garden

2010-06-30T13:34:00.002+08:00

Since we moved to our new home in March, I have planted various kind of edible plants on this vegetable bed in the backyard of our house, as seen on the photo above.

It started with the planting of Thai Sweet Basil. That was followed by the Indian Borage. When the Indian Borage started to get invasive, I had to trim some of them. Then I sowed some fresh chilli seeds and now I have sooooo many chilli plants (high density, in my opinion). I have also grown 3 garlic plants. My garlic sprouted and I thought it would be fun to place them into the soil and see the outcome later. My lady finger plant is dying. I just left the stalk in the soil. It's time to remove them.

The chilli plant is grown in my little vegetable bed at my backyard. This is also where I dry my laundry. A skylight shelter is build over it. Although this section gets direct sunlight throughout the day, it is sheltered from the rain.

Although my chilli plants have many buds, but they will drop off. So far, it has yet to produce any chilli yet. I wonder what went wrong.

Another issue that I have with some of my chilli plants are their leaves are dropping. Many of the branches have turned bald and eventually the plant died. Mmmm...what have I done to kill them? Too much water? Not enough sun? Can anyone enlighten me on this? This is my first time growing chillies from seed. I am excited to see the fruit. Unfortunately no such luck yet. Any tips will be appreciated.

New Shoot on Hydrangea

2010-06-29T22:58:00.006+08:00

My friend, Aunt Poh Poh, gave me a Hydrangea cutting recently. The cutting dried up and the only thing left of it was a dried, hardened branch. As I didn't need the pot, I left the dried cutting in the soil.

When I need to use the pot to grow radishes, I pulled out the dried cutting and found roots forming. Instead of throwing the cutting, I moved it to the side of the pot. I was amazed to find new shoot growing from it recently. Yahoo!! I will have a Hydrangea plant now! I am taking great care of the plant to ensure that it will develop well.

My Hydrangea is currently sharing a pot with my radishes.

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Facts about Hydrangea:

Soil

One of the coolest aspects of hydrangea is the way soil affects the blooms. In acid soil the blooms are blue. When it's more limey, the flowers are pink. In neutral soil, the bloom is white. You can literally change the color by adding lime to make blue flowers turn pink or aluminum sulfate to make them turn blue. This is caused by a color change of the flower pigments in the presence of aluminium ions.

Because hydrangeas thrive in rich, moist soils, adequate water and composting are a must. With good soil, annual additions of compost, and a good water retaining mulch, little more needs to be added to have healthy attractive plants.

However, if your climate or soil poses challenges, then it may be necessary to more aggressively amend your soil, and feed them, especially in the spring, with a high quality all-purpose (10-10-10) plant food. Use a single application of time-release fertilizer.
Drainage is important. As with most other plants, moist doesn't mean wet. Poor drainage can lead to sickly plants and eventual death.
Light

Partial shade is ideal, but they can take full sun as long as they have some protection from hot afternoon sun that can toast leaf edges. By the same token, too much shade can result in poor flowering.

An Eastern exposure next to a building or fence provides early morning sun that is vital to flower production, but allows afternoon shade that prevents stressing the plant and frying the foliage.
Water

Water often. If hydrangea is looking wilted, it's very thirsty. If it doesn't get enough water when flower heads are forming, you'll have fewer and smaller blooms later.

Install a drip irrigation system for your hydrangeas. With regular watering they will reward you with lush growth and beautiful flowers.
Pruning & Propagating

As long as they get enough water, hydrangeas are pretty hardy plants and tolerate a fair amount of neglect and untimely pruning. As such, it's a wonderful plant for the novice gardener. Be forewarned though: If you prune incorrectly at the wrong time or take the wrong cuts, you may easily end up with few flowers next year.

Hydrangeas, especially the macrophyllas, don't require pruning unless they get really big. Remove dead wood and spent blooms any time to maintain a tidy plant. Different varieties bloom on old wood (last year's growth) or new wood from the current season. It's important to check the plant tag or identify your variety before you start whacking away. If, for example, yours blooms on the tips of spring growth, do your pruning in the summer after blooming has occurred.

Prune or cut back spent blooms to force development of next year's buds. Thin canes on your plant to develop larger flower heads.

Hydrangeas are easy to root from stem or tip cuttings in late spring or early summer (May – June). Just take a 6-inch cutting of the plant, remove the leaves on the lower 3 inches and put it in a glass of water on a bright window sill. You can also dip the cut end into a rooting hormone. Place your cutting in damp vermiculite in a bright spot (like an Eastern exposure) to allow root formation. Once the cutting is rooted, you can keep it in a pot until ready to transplant outside.

When you plant your hydrangea starts depends on where you live. In areas where winters are temperate and the ground never really freezes you can plant your hydrangeas anytime, though fall and winter are best for fostering a strong root system to support the next seasons flowering. If your climate is colder, you'll need to plant in the spring ... for obvious reasons. Keep your young plant in out of the wind. Mulch it well to protect it through the winter.

(Source: Hydrangea Care)

Hari Organik Back Again

2010-06-24T13:54:00.004+08:00

Thanks to Paddeyfeeny who left me a message that Hari Organik by CETDEM will be held again on 4 July 2010 (Sunday). If you are curious about what this event has to offer you, please check out my previous postings about Hari Organik.

What I intend to do at Hari Organik event?

1) Buy more worm compost (vermincompost). I paid RM12 and got 6 packets of worm compost. I noticed that my brinjal grew so fast when I use this compost in replacement of soil.

2) Visit the CETDEM's Organic Farm and see how the plants are growing. I love this garden. There were abundance of fruits when I last visited. Great photo opportunity.

3) Attend educational talks by organic farmers. It helps me to gain more knowledge about organic food and also how to grow edibles organically in my garden.

4) Buy vegetable/plant seeds from CETDEM. The seeds are only priced at RM1 per packet! Very cheap, right?

5) I wonder if my fellow gardening bloggers from Klang Valley would be keen to meet up here. If yes, we can have a gathering here and meet each other face-to-face. We can also bring a little gift from our garden to be shared with one another. Would anyone be game for this?

Orchid Show at Shah Alam Lake

2010-06-17T15:24:00.005+08:00

Saw this poster about an Orchid Show in Shah Alam on this weekend while visiting United Malaysian Orchid nursery. I thought this would be interesting to our fellow gardeners, especially those who are residing in Klang Valley or nearby.

The Orchid show is held in conjunction with the Shah Alam Lake Symposium.

As Shah Alam is named the Orchid City, thus orchid exhibition and shows are held very regularly. However, the publicity for those shows are poorly done by the organizer. Usually I only find out about the events in the newspaper days after they are over. Therefore, I am very glad to know about this event before it is being held. This time around, I am going to make sure I turn up for it.

For the map of Shah Alam Convention Centre (SACC) where this orchid show will be held, please refer to the map below that I found on the Shah Alam Lake Symposium's official website:

Mulberry Harvest

2010-06-17T02:28:00.000+08:00

Two days ago I went to my old place. Saw the mulberry plant had some ripening fruits. I plucked them and glad to say that my harvest is pretty good this round. Initially I planned to add them into my salad but eventually I just popped each of them into my mouth. Ha ha...it's hard to resist fresh mulberry. This time most of the fruits were sour. Alas, I plucked them too early. Usually I have to beat the birds to them. It's ok if I couldn't get sweet mulberries but at least I get to enjoy the high Vitamin C content in them.

Lady B's Progress Report

2010-06-16T13:39:00.003+08:00

Two buds are found on my brinjal plant, Lady B. It's my first attempt in growing brinjal. I bought a seedling of the brinjal from the Shah Alam Farmers' Market. Lady B is my fastest growing vegetable. I have only brought it home for 5 weeks and it has grown so much taller and even produce 2 little buds for me. I can't wait to see the purple fruits that it will soon bear me.

This was how big Lady B was when I first brought it home.

The Radish Adventure

2010-06-15T15:10:00.011+08:00

My interest in growing radish was triggered after seeing the radishes grown by my close buddy, Roxanne last year. It took me awhile before I got this interest turned into a reality.

I bought a pack of radish seeds at CETDEM's Organic Fair for only RM1 per pack.

Using the same method used to germinate Adenium seeds that I read in the GCS Forum, I germinated my radish seeds with great success. Unfortunately I didn't take the photos for Step 1 & 2 below. I thought I would take the photo the following day but before I did so the seeds had already germinated! Amazing, how fast that happened!

1) I placed 7 seeds in a cup of water and leave them there till they sunk to the bottom of the cup. It can take a few hours or even overnight for it to happen.

2) Remove the seeds that had sunk to the bottom. I placed them on a damp kitchen paper and kept them in a covered tupperware. The kitchen paper MUST be kept damp. The tupperware was kept COVERED to ensure that the moisture was retained. Spray the kitchen towel with water whenever it was drying up.

Within 2 days of placing the seeds in the tupperware, all of them germinated!!

I tried the same steps for my Marigold & chilly seeds. Unfortunately, it didn't work on them. But the Radish seedlings continue to show progress. Within 3 days, the shoots have grown longer and tiny green leaves had appeared.

When there are 4 leaves on each of the seedling above, I transplanted them to a pot filled with soil. According to Rox, the soil must be loose to ease the growth of the radish. If the soil is hard and clayish, the radish may find it hard to grow and the result will be skinny radish that protrudes from the soil to the surface.

I placed the seedlings in a pot of soil medium that comprise of burnt soil, earthworm compost and some red soil. Within 10 days, these were what I got.

Here are my straggly-looking radishes. There are signs of leaf miner attacks on the leaves (see the white patterns). I hope they will grow well. I am checking on them daily with trepidation.

It reminded me that I am just like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of the River Cottage series shown on Asian Food Channel. I love watching the programme where he holds on to his ethos of self-sufficiency by cooking self-produced vegetables, self-hunted meats, self-catch fishes, self-grown fruits, self-produced liquor in his little cottage called River Cottage, with the help of his friends. As a smallholding farmer, Hugh would wait with trepidation everytime his livestock i.e. cow, pig, sheep or chicken were producing a calf or laying eggs. It's interesting to watch how his small River Cottage farm grows beyond and develop into the 42-acre huge farm (named River Cottage HQ) in his latest programme, "Beyond River Cottage". Catch the interesting River Cottage series if you can on Asian Food Channel. I bet you will find it as interesting as I do.

The radishes have grown taller, as seen in this shot taken today.

Come the Rain

2010-06-14T16:29:00.007+08:00

Those of you living in the northern hemisphere may be welcoming the arrival of summer. But for those of us living near the Equator, the weather has been unbearably hot. When we moved to our new place in March, it was difficult to set an appointment with our air-conditioner contractor to come to fix the air-conditioners. He told us that many people were buying and installing air-conditioners in their homes as the weather is getting too hot these days. So he was very, very busy and couldn't give us an earlier appointment!

Arrival of the rain is ushered with a warm welcome. It has been raining nearly every evening!! Its arrival always put a smile on my face. The rain helps lower the temperature of the scorching heat that we are experiencing during the day.

At the same time, I know my plants would grow better with the touch of the rain. Furthermore, these days I don't have to be worried about my vegetables being affected by the rain. I have my edible plants in a vegetable bed at the back of the house. A skylight shade is built over this area that is also used for drying my laundry. It provides enough sunlight to the plants and at the same time a shelter from the rain.

My Costus blooms enjoying a cool shower.

Showers of blessings fell on my Plumeria, Adenium and Jasmine.

Buds on my lady finger enjoying a cool shower too.

Rain, rain come again!

Droplets of water from the rain on the leaves of my lady finger plant.

Another person that is happy when it rains!! Here's Gene Kelly singing 'I'm Singing in the Rain'.

To sing along with Gene Kelly, here're the lyrics to this song "I'm Singing in the Rain".

Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-dloo-doo-doo-doo-doo...

I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin',
Singin' in the rain

Dancin' in the rain
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
I'm happy again!
I'm singin' and dancin' in the rain!

I'm dancin' and singin' in the rain...
[ADDITIONAL VERSE]
Why am I smiling
And why do I sing?
Why does September
Seem sunny as spring?
Why do I get up
Each morning and start?
Happy and head up
With joy in my heart
Why is each new task
A trifle to do?
Because I am living
A life full of you.

Fascinated with Caterpillar

2010-05-30T16:01:00.002+08:00

I caught this little fella chowing on the leaves of my Adenium plant. It has been a project that I have wanted to embark on for quite sometime ~ monitoring the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. So, I gladly place it in a plastic jar and covered it with a paper with holes made on it.

I named this little fella "Ah Pui" (which means "Fatty" in my Hokkien dialect). When I first caught sight of it, this caterpillar was green in colour and much tinier than what it looks like now. It ate voraciously and at least twice a day I had to pluck leaves from my Adenium to feed it. Each morning when I check on it, the leaves in the container would be gone. Only droppings by this caterpillar filled the bottom of the container.

As we are spending this weekend in my hometown in Melaka, I took Ah Pui home with us. Unfortunately my mom's young Adenium plant only has several tiny leaves. I plucked 2 for it. After several hours, the leaves were gone. Concerned that it may die from hunger, I fed it with hibiscus leaves. The next morning, I found it stiff and no longer as soft as the day before.

Oh no!! Did I kill Ah Pui by feeding it with hibiscus leaves? Some brown juice appeared from its body. I was saddened by the incident. Shaking the container didn't produce any reaction from this little fella.

Instead of throwing the container instantly, I kept it next to my sister's little tortoise. This morning when I shook the container, I found Ah Pui moving! Gosh, it's still alive! My Ah Pui is still alive. I was overjoyed!

Will continue to monitor Ah Pui's development and I hope it will grow into a beautiful butterfly soon. Sometimes I feel guilty for capturing this little fella instead of letting it roam in my garden. Be assured that I will return it to nature after it turns into a butterfly. I promise to take good care of it.

Planting Brinjal Seedling

2010-05-24T11:46:00.004+08:00

After reading BangChik & KakDah's posting on brinjals in their My Little Vegetable Garden, I feel very keen to try planting brinjal. So, I made a trip to the Shah Alam Farmers' Market to purchase brinjal seeds.

Unfortunatly there is no brinjal seeds available from the Agriculture students stall. So I opt to buy the seedling of a round brinjal for RM2. That's the beginning of my relationship with Lady B ('B' for Brinjal)! I hope it will be a smooth ride for both of us.

I placed Lady B in a pot upon returning home. Lucky that we have a small garden at the back of the house. I grow edible plants here. It has been 2 weeks since I brought this seedling home and seems like it is growing healthily. I look forward to the days when I can share with you photos of brinjals growing on Lady B.

Wish you all a lovely week ahead!

Marigold vs Mosquitoes

2010-05-13T23:47:00.008+08:00

CETDEM members introduced Marigold to me as a plant that can help prevent mosquitoes in the garden. That property in Marigold got me convinced that I must get them planted! In recent months, there have been many cases of dengue fever in our housing area, UEP Subang Jaya. So, if Marigold is a mosquito deterrant, it will be handy for us.

In fact, MPSJ (Subang Jaya Municipal Council) officers were going from house to house this morning and evening to check if there is any contained water that is breeding ground for aedes mosquitoes (the carrier of dengue fever). One will be charged with a summon of not more than RM500 if any larvae is found in the compound of his premise!

Dengue fever can be fatal. I had it 2 years ago and was hospitalized for a week. The doctor informed me that if I get dengue fever for the 2nd and 3rd time, it can be a matter of death then. So, I am all out on the war against aedes mosquitoes!!! Hope you gardeners out there, especially those in tropical countries, will keep a look out NOT to keep any clear stagnant water in your garden or house. Mosquitoes like to breed in this condition.

These are the Marigold seeds that I bought from CETDEM's stall during the recent Organic Day event in SS2. I got 2 packets at RM1 each. There are so many seeds in each packet.

The seeds began to sprout 2 days after they are sowed. Isn't that easy?

After 2 weeks, these are the seedlings that I got from those Marigold seeds. Now I simply sit back and wait for them to grow stronger and produce those vibrant Marigold flowers. At the same time, I hope they will help to deter mosquitoes from visiting my garden! You can try to plant some too! Do make sure you don't keep any clear stagnant water in your garden. Check those flower pot plates and any water features in your garden! Let's together wage a war against aedes mosquitoes!

Featured Garden: LP's Pictorial Garden

2010-05-12T13:24:00.002+08:00

Today I am going to post about the garden of a closeby neighbour, named LP. LP has a lovely, cosy garden. Just like the pretty owner herself, the garden always make passer-bys turn their heads. It's hard not to take another peep to admire the garden.

After reading about pictorial gardening, I conclude that LP is a pictorial gardener. Why so?

The pictorial gardener is primarily interested in the outline of the tree, the density or solidity of its foliage, its blending faculty, either as a group or in company with other trees, and its color value in relation to other darker or lighter shaded trees.

As pictorial gardeners we broaden our garden horizon. As producers of flowers, the edge of our flower beds or the lot boundary plantation represent all too often the limit of our garden horizon. As painters of garden pictures we extend our vision and include on our canvas that part of the picture already painted by nature. This is especially so in the open country where a distant hillside, a lake or river view, may be made visionally part of our garden picture even though these areas be far beyond
the boundaries described by our deed.

LP's garden comes with a huge collection of foliage in various colours and patterns. The lush greens are dotted with spots of pink, red & purple colours from the few flowering plants she grows. She makes a beautiful vista of her garden by creatively arranged her lush plants in clay pots that comes in various heights and beautifuly displayed with a visual perspective effect in mind. Taller plants form a background for the smaller, dainty ones. River rocks are placed on the foreground to create an attractive border. Viewing her garden, one would know that the owner has put a lot of thoughts into the composition of this beautiful paradise, just like how an artist would plan before painting his brush on a canvas.

In the foreground, there are Goose Foot & Snow Queen (Aglaonema) plant with interesting leaves and a few varieties of folige plants (do help me to figure out their names). I think the flowering plant is an Impatiens.

Placed in the 2 bigger pots are water plants, featuring the purple blooming Hyacinth & Pegaga in one pot and the 2nd pot containing Money Plant (Devil's Ivy) and Water Lettuce.

The tall Polycias with its round, variegated leaves together with the Goose Foot plant are strategically placed as background for the water features. At the same time they help to block passer-bys from viewing into the living room, thus, providing privacy to the home owner.

A close-up view of the pot containing the Hyacinth bloom & Pegaga. Also seen is the Snow Queen (Aglaonema) plant on the left and the blooming pink Impatien.

On this nook, LP placed many foliages of various leaf sizes and colours. I like that plant with the fiery red leaves. It brightens up the whole section. The tall plants are cut into topiary, providing shades for the smaller plants placed in hanging pots. The tall plants together with the small creeping plants provide shades to LP's dog cage. This is also a creative way to decorate the dog cage.

An overview of this section of LP's cosy garden.

Due to limitation of space, plants that require shades are placed under this wooden bench. I love these collection of plants that come in different shapes & patterns with different shades of green on their leaves. Adorable clay snails and turtles are used as decoration.

Besides her garden furniture, a piece of glass is placed on top of a pot to form a small table for a pot of Begonia with velvety leaves and a heart-shaped foliage plant. They are joined by the 3 wooden giraffes of different height. A wind chime is hung on her Cane Plant, adding soothing effect on a windy day to this charming corner.

LP's garden is an inspiration to me. Everytime I drove past her house, I would slow down to get a good view on how the garden is doing. I wish my garden would one day be as picturesque as hers!

Growing Chinese Celery

2010-05-11T19:01:00.000+08:00

While organizing my gardening tools and fertilizers, I found a packet of Chinese Celery (in Chinese, it's called Kheen Choy or in Malay, Daun Sup) seeds that I bought last April from a fertilizer shop in Tangkak town during our trip to Alokarama for the Green Thumb Workshop. I totally forgot that I have these seeds. I sowed the seeds on 9th April and simply hope they will germinate and grow. Through my readings from blogs and forum, some seeds that past its validity may not germinate. So, I didn't give these seeds high hope. However, surprise awaiting me!!! I just saw some Chinese Celery seedling in one of my pots!

For only RM2 per packet, there are many seeds inside the aluminium foil. And the seeds exude the fragrant similar to the one you get from celery.

It's exactly 1 month since I sowed the Chinese Celery seeds. Seedlings are sprouting out from the ground!! I am waiting for them to grow into bushy stalks.

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More about Chinese Celery

Also known as Oriental Celery. Chinese Celery is the same species as the European variety most people in the West are familiar with, Apium graveolens, but it has a number of important differences. Chinese celery has much thinner stalks and a stronger taste than its European relative. It can range in color from white to dark green. Chinese celery is rarely served raw, but is a common ingredient in cooked Chinese and Vietnamese dishes.
Days to harvesting: 100-120 days
Information from Garden Guides:
Days to Maturity: 45
When to Sow Outside: 5 weeks before last average frost date. Seeds will not germinate well is the soil is warm. In warm climates, sow in fall for a winter crop. If protected, it can withstand temperatures as low as 15 degrees.
When to Sow Inside: 2 - 4 weeks before you plan to plant out.
Seed Depth: Press onto surface of soil.
Seed Spacing: 1"
Row Spacing: 12"
Days to Emerge: 15 to 30
Thinning: When 1/2" tall thin to 4" to 6" apart
Read the experience of another fellow gardener, Jerry Coleby-Williams's Celery Planting here.

Chronicle of Missy Mint

2010-05-10T13:51:00.004+08:00

My first attempt in cooking curry laksa for my neighbourhood friends turned out to be a success. The same went for my first attempt to grow mint using the stems of those mints bought to garnish my curry laksa! Ha ha...luck is on my side now!

I didn't know that mint is so easy to grow. Just put some cut stems of mint into moist soil and watched patiently if those stems will bear you with new shoots. I have placed several stems into a pot and fortunately one of them was successful!!! What a relief, and joy too!

I placed several stem cuttings of mint on 25 March. After 3 weeks, I found this young shoots growing from one stem. The rest of the stems wilted & dried, as seen on the photo above & below.

On the 6th week, it looks so healthy. Now it has 2 stems growing from the mint plant.
I have added a fishbone plant gotten from my neighbour into this pot as I plan to have the mint as ground cover.

Two days after I added some organic fertilizer to boost the growth of the mint, the lush leaves from the stem that was growing healthily in my earlier photo started to droop, some even crinkled and turn brown at the edges. My heart pained just by looking at its condition! It's time to reflect on the teaching of Impermanence by the Buddha. One day its healthy and 3 days down the road, it's losing its strength to live on!!! I think I added the fertilizer prematurely. The plant may be too young to be fertilized. I should have waited for another 2 weeks probably!! A case of more haste, less speed!!

The other stem still look well. I am praying hard that it will continue to flourish. Do you think more water to dilute effect of the fertilizer may help? Or will the water cause the mint root to rot? Please Missy Mint, you must grow well, yah!! Please Missy Mint, live on for me!! I will never dare to over-feed you again!

Kermit's Buddy Came for A Visit

2010-05-06T22:05:00.002+08:00

This little fella came for a visit recently. Caught sight of it hanging around my YTT plant. It's the first time I have seen such a tiny frog. I told myself that I won't allow it to escape appearing here where I can share his visit with other fellow gardeners!

Who has been visiting your garden lately? Care to share?

Blooms from My Garden

2010-04-29T23:56:00.006+08:00

Let's see what has been blooming in the new garden.

I don't know the name of this plant. I have bought it for ages and this is one of the few pots that I have propagated from the mother plant. I don't know what I have done right recently that two pots of this plant actually bloomed for me. It has been a long time since I had blooms from it. I must be getting lucky!

Added on 10 May 20010: Thanks to James Missier of Garden Chronicles blog who informed me that this plant is called Peace Lily. What a beautiful name!

The miniature Ixora in yellow colour also showered me with blooms. After the blooms wilted, I have given this plant a good trim here and there to keep it neat and lush.

I love Costus! They are always blooming and the vibrant, red flower can last for weeks. I intend to propagate more of this so I can have more Costus to brighten up the garden!

My Amaryllis has given me 4 big blooms on one plant! This looks gorgeous! How I wish I could have such beautiful bloom in my garden everyday!

This plant was bought from Mrs. Lim in the wet market at SS2. I just cannot resist to take this baby home! The purple colour is so enticing. And the blooms remind me of orchid. Can anyone help me with the name of this plant?

Added on 10 May 2010: Thanks to Stephanie of Steph's Green Space blog who informed me that this plant is named Plectranthus Mona Lavender. A name that is as gorgeous as its blooms! To help me remember all this beautiful names of plants, I will make name tags for them when I can find time and do some research on the plant maintenance.

Lantana ~ it's my first time growing one! I got them from Mrs. Lim too. Love those clusters of bright yellow!! They just perk me up whenever I look at them in the morning! What a positive way to start a day!

After seeing these big blooms on my Adenium, I decided to carry this big pot of Adenium to our new house. I left this Adenium trunk to grow tall and now it is more than 6 feet in height. To keep the tall branches steady, especially now that we often get evening shower, I tied them to the bigger plant.

I hope to show you more blooms in the near future from our new garden.

SS2 Morning Market

2010-04-16T00:45:00.005+08:00

I haven't been to SS2 morning market for many years and last Saturday I took the opportunity to bring my two sisters there. As my eldest sister is also an avid gardener, we had a great time wandering among those stalls that sell plants and fresh flowers.

Our visit ended up with us taking some plants home with us. My favourite stall is handled by a lady called Madam Lim. She operates from her car boot. Pots of plants are put by the side of her car, interior and car boot for customers viewing pleasure. She was very generous with her gardening knowledge and patiently talk to us about the various plants that she sell.

Plenty of plants to choose.

The Lantana that I took home.

Madam Lim introduced me to this plant that reminds me of Lavender. It doesn't exude any fragrance. I love the violet flowers and took this home too.

The blooms of this plant look like a blow fish.

Madam Lim keeps newspaper cutting on plants so that more information of the plant can be shared with her customers.

A cactus that can produce beautiful blooms. Madam Lim showed me a newspaper cutting about this cactus.

Hydrangea. I wanted to take this home but at RM10 per pot, I had to hold back since I have decided to get the Lantana and the Lavender-look-alike plants.

A very unique plant that is new to our market. I like Madam Lim as she doesn't mind entertaining me with her various pots of plants. She even carry out some from her car boot and ask me to take photos of the plants. How I wish all nursery owners are as patient and generous with their knowledge as Madam Lim!

A pot of rosemary

I love the different hybrids of Adenium found here.

Can someone help me with the name of this pink plant and the violet variety below?

Seen anything as beautiful as this? The blooms reminded me of bells.

A miniature Bird's Nest fern

Another kind of bird's nest

Mulberry plant with fruits

Coleus

To contact Madam Lim, here's her name card. I am going to keep this for future reference. She told me that I could call her in the evening after dinner time if I ever have any questions to ask her about the maintenance of my plants! Isn't she great?

A Tour of CETDEM's Organic Garden

2010-04-13T21:57:00.005+08:00

During last Sunday's Organic Day event that CETDEM organized, we had the opportunity to visit its organic garden. The garden is located in a corner unit house at No.29, Jalan SS19/22, where CETDEM operates from.

CETDEM's centre

Here's the garden. Inter-cropping, where various plants are planted together in the same vegetable bed, is practised here due to limitation of space. Organic farming method is used here. Produces from this farm is sold to generate fund for the centre.

Banana

Brinjal

Spinach and radish

Wintermelon

Wild ginseng

The beautiful bloom of wild ginseng

Cabbage

Ginger

Ginger flower

Sweet Leaf Bush (Sayur Manis)

Miniature cucumber (Timun Susu)

CETDEM also organizes activities such as educational talk, tour to farms (there will be a trip to Cameron Highlands ~ for more info please go to its website) and volunteers are required to help at its organic garden. For those who are keen, kindly contact CETDEM at 0f@cetdem.org.my or tel: 03-7875 7767.

Organic Day

2010-04-10T20:12:00.004+08:00

I read in the newspaper that Cetdem (Centre for Environment, Technology & Development, Malaysia) will be organizing its 4th Edition Organic Day tomorrow. There will be a public dialogue entitled: Organic Farming "Where do we go from here?" and a fair. Details are as follows:

Subject: CETDEM - Public Dialogue: Organic Farming "Where do we go from here?"
Category: Organic Farming
From: Sunday, 11-Apr-2010 (10:00 am - 2.00pm)
Venue: Jalan 19/22, Petaling Jaya (Field)
Panel: Farmer, Retailer, NGO. Admission FOC

Will any of you be going?

In Transition

2010-03-24T23:41:00.003+08:00

I have not done any posting since we moved to our new house. It's already 3 weeks since we moved. Still a lot of things to follow through. I didn't manage to bring all my stuffs over from our old house. So I still go back regularly to pick up things that I miss and also to water some big plants that are still there. Yet to figure out how I should arrange them in our new place.

Before we moved, my 3 big pots of bougainvillaes collapsed due to the strong wind during a heavy downpour. Unfortunately, I used wires to tie up the 3 bougainvillae plants together so they can support each other well. They did support each other all the way to their fall! Reminds me of the Three Muskeeters tagline "All for one & one for all"! They were growing so beautifully and pink blooms were showing. I was expecting more blooms as the weather is getting very hot these days and bougainvillae blooms well under such weather! It's sad to see the top broken from the branches. So heart-broken that I forgot to take any photos of them. We had to chop them down and now we have 3 remaining trunks. Hope they will start to shoot and grow again!

Photos of the bougainvillaes taken in September 2009 when they were blooming profusely. I love the 2 pots with the variegated leaves and pink blooms. One pot produces orangey bloom but its flowers are very few. You can see one flower on the top of the second photo.

War Against Mealy Bugs

2010-03-05T16:36:00.003+08:00

I have read in Tropical Gardening blog a formulation for an organic mealy bug repellent that was used on the pests that attacked the blogger's papaya plant. The repellent worked successfully in getting rid of the mealy bugs.

My plants have been persistently attacked by mealy bugs. They went for my YTT, Hibiscus, Roselle and also lady fingers.

The mealy bugs would usually be found hiding on the underside of leaves. They thrive under the shady leaves and multiply very fast. If not act upon quickly, they will suck away the life of the plants. They remind me of vampires! As a result, the leaves of plants would have brown spots or gradually turn yellowish. Eventually the leaves would drop off after their nutrients have all been sucked by the mealy bugs.

Some facts about mealy bugs:

Mealybugs damage plants by sucking sap from roots, tender leaves, petioles and fruit. They excrete honeydew on which sooty mould develops.

They excrete honeydew on which sooty mould develops. Severely infested leaves turn yellow and gradually dry. Severe attack can result in shedding of leaves and inflorescences, reduced fruit setting and shedding of young fruit. The foliage and fruit may become covered with sticky honeydew, which serve as a medium for the growth of sooty moulds.

Honeydew, sooty mould and waxy deposits may cover leaves reducing photosynthetic efficiency and may lead to leaf drop. Contamination of fruit with honeydew and with sooty mould reduces its market value. The honeydew attracts ants, which collect the honey and protect indirectly mealybugs from natural enemies. Some mealybugs inject toxic substances while feeding causing deformation of the plant (e.g. the cassava mealybug). Some species transmit viruses (e.g. the pineapple mealybug). (Source: Infonet-Biovision)

That was exactly what happened to my Roselle, as shown in picture below. What remains of my Roselle are only dried leaves & shrivalled branches with some recalcitrant mealy bugs still hanging on to them.

The little white spots that appear on leaves may be a sign of mealy bugs presence. They seem like harmless dust. Another sign of mealy bugs presence is ants! If you can see many ants crawling on your plants with white cottony spots appearing on your plants, most likely your plants have been invaded by mealy bugs. Act fast! If left for too long, a healthy plant will have brown spots like the second photo below showing my lady finger leaf with brown spots. Usually, I will wash off the mealy bugs with water. But this is not a lasting solution. The next day they would return again.

After reading TropicalGardening's blog and some other internet articles, I used the home-made solution below. This is still a trial formulation. I only made 200ml of this solution as they would be enough for one application. I prefer to make fresh new ones for each application. I sprayed them generously on the mealy bugs either early morning or late evening.

Please do not spray this solution when it's hot & sunny as the garbage enzyme may scorch the plants. A little garbage enzymes will go a long way. So do not use too much of it. If you do not have this, you can opt to exclude it.

Be cautious when spraying this solution and ensure that the mixture does not come in contact with your skin or eyes. The spicy mist can hurt one's eyes & skin.

Stay a distance when spraying. The spiciness of bird's eye chilli will be emitted during spraying and can cause one to break into coughs.

Additional information that I found on the Internet:
The liquid dish washer helps to cut through the natural oils of a small soft insect body and help water completely enclose the insect drowning it. Soap will also penetrate the insect cell walls and halt respiration. The problems with a soap-based insect repellent is that it is ineffective as soon as it dries on the plant leaves and too much can actually damage the plant being helped.

Good spray coverage and good timing is important when using soapy solutions and if oil is added. To be effective they must come in contact with the mealybugs. Crawlers are the easiest to kill, since they are more susceptible and are more exposed than eggs, older nymphs and adults. As they grow, the wax covering their bodies becomes thicker, rendering them more resistant to insecticides. Use with caution soapy solutions and oils. These products may be toxic to some plants causing discoloration or burning of foliage. Prior to applying them extensively, apply to a small, inconspicuous branch or to a few plants and after 48 hours check for adverse reactions. Apply them when the air temperature is cool. Make sure your plants were watered well the day before you apply your control - never spray wilted plants. (Source: Infonet-Biovision)

Chilli spray is particularly effective against ants, aphids and other soft-bodied insects.

Good harvest - Calamansi lime

2010-03-03T16:17:00.005+08:00

Whenever I made sambal belacan (a condiment made of fresh chilli with shrimp paste, Calamansi lime, sugar and salt) , I always wish I have a Calamansi lime plant in my garden that can supply me with ever ready lime that I need. I don't always have ready supply of Calamansi lime in the fridge.

Usually the Calamansi lime sold in the supermarket comes in a big pack of about 20 limes. Before I manage to finish those limes, they would be shriveled up & dried. To me, that is a waste and thus, I don't always buy & keep Calamansi lime for my cooking requirement. Instead, I would substitute the lime with rice vinegar for my sambal belacan. Of course, vinegar doesn't exude the fresh citrus fragrance that makes the ideal sambal. So, I decided it's time to get a Calamansi lime plant for my garden.

I bought my Calamansi plant from the Shah Alam Farmer's Market in Oct last year. It was quite a small plant then. But at RM10, I don't have much complain! During Chinese New Year season, a small pot would cost me nearly double the price I paid.

These are the Calamansi limes that I plucked from my garden today. It will come handy in my sambal belacan that will be served with my Chicken Pongteh for tonight's dinner. The remainder will be used for a jug of refreshing, cooling lime juice!

The Calamansi plant that I bought in October 2009 from Pakcik Nazri's stall in Shah Alam's Farmer's Market.

After regular fertilizing and tender loving care, my plant has grown taller and now bear many fruits.

This photo shows the remaining fruits on my plant. I left this smaller fruit for future consumption. You can also see tiny fruits appearing on some branches.

Some facts about Calamansi lime plant and fruit from the Internet:

Calamansi lime is a source of calcium, phosphorus and potassium. Thirty-five pieces of calamansi are enough to satisfy a person's daily requirement of 100 milligrams of vitamin C.
It is easy to grow calamansi. Generally, a climate with low rainfall and plenty of sunshine is good for the crop. It promotes good flower differentiation, flower and fruit development, and fruit quality.
Calamansi can grow and produce well in a wide variety of soil types, except very light, sandy soils, and heavy clay soils. In general, most fruit trees prefer the soil ph to be between 5.5 and 6.5.
Like most citrus, there are several ways of propagating calamansi: budding, cuttings, marcotting, or grafting. The planting materials must be free from diseases.

If you are planting grafted calamansi, dig a hole at least 40 centimeters in diameter and 40 centimeters deep.

Set the seedlings into the hole and put back the soil mixed with compost. Water the plants daily.
To produce big, luscious fruits, the plants must be fertilized regularly. One month after planting, 50 to 100 grams (about one handful) or urea and 16-20-0 (mixed) are applied around each tree. Fertilization is done every four months. Starting on the second year, the fertilizer requirement is increased to 200 to 300 grams (Urea and 16-20-0 mixed) per tree.

The tree bears fruit after one to two years. By that time, the plants are supplied with complete fertilizer like 12-24-12 NPK at the rate of 1.5 kilograms per tree to increase fruit yield. By the time the tree is 8-10 years old, the fertilizer to be applied should be increased to two to three kilograms per tree. Fertilization is done three times per year.

Here's one pointer when applying fertilizer: Apply the fertilizer properly by mixing it with the soil. Cover the soil around each tree with dry leaves to conserve moisture. Uproot weeds when necessary.

Another one: Apply fertilizer to producing trees three times a year: first, during the rainy season before flowering; second, two months after flowering; and the last, after harvesting.
To keep the calamansi trees healthy, they must be protected from pests and diseases. To control citrus bark borers, the trees are sprayed with EPN 300 solution. Copper fungicide may also be used for the same problem.

To prevent the disease from spreading, the infected parts are cut off and burned.

The aphid is another harmful pest. To control aphids, the trees are sprayed with either Malathion solution (three tablespoons in 5 gallons water), Methyl Parathion (two tablespoons in 5 gallons water), or Diazinon (three tablespoons in 5 gallons water). If aphids have already attacked, the infected portions can be cut off and burned.
Citrus Production: A Manual for Asian Farmers shares this information: Maintaining good sanitation in orchard is very important in citrus health management. Twigs and fallen leaves should be collected from under and around the trees, and either buried or burned.

Covering the soil surface with a grass or straw mulch is an effective way of reducing levels of disease, as well as improving the soil. Covering the soil within 30 centimeters of the trunk with a layer of straw helps prevent infection of the roots with fungus diseases.
In harvesting, detach the fruits from the branches either manually or using a scissor. Take care not to damage the branches or the leaves. You will have better quality fruit if you leave a portion of the stem attached to the fruit and do not tear the skin of the fruit when you harvest.

If you look at the first photo carefully, I have tore some skin off one of the fruits when plucking it. If I had read this article before harvesting my Calamansi limes, I would be more careful!

Are You A Coffee Drinker?

2010-03-03T15:47:00.000+08:00

As a coffee drinker, I am delighted to find that the used coffee ground from my daily brew can be used to benefit my plants.

From online research, I found out that coffee grounds contain several substances that promote healthy plant growth. They contain nitrogen, tannic acids and other nutrients. Acid-loving plants especially respond to coffee grounds and coffee.

Why should you put used coffee grounds in your garden?

The high content of nitrogen in coffee grounds is a very good mulch for fast-growing vegetables. Nitrogen encourages foliage & general growth.

Coffee-ground mulch will help reduce the ravages of slugs and snails. Use coffee grounds to mulch plants that slugs love to feast on, such as hostas, ligularias and lilies. Coffee-ground mulch will help promote healthy growth in daffodils and other spring bulbs as well.

How do I use Coffee grounds?

Usually my morning brew is made from coffee grounds that comes in sachet form or freshly ground coffee beans. After drinking my coffee, I will leave the sachet or coffee grounds aside. When I see the sachets piled up, I will tear them up and collect the coffee grounds in a pail. Water will then be added. Let the coffee grounds soak in the water for about 10 minutes. Then water your plants with the water & the coffee grounds. This diluted coffee grounds acts as a gentle, fast-acting liquid fertilizer.

Other ways you can use coffee grounds in your garden:

Sprinkle used coffee grounds around plants before rain or watering, for a slow-release nitrogen.
Dry the coffee grounds and work into the soil around acid loving plants.
Some types of acid loving plants are: azaleas, blueberries, butterfly weed, camellias, cardinal flowers, cranberries, ferns, gardenias, heathers, heaths lupines, mountain laurels, oaks, pecans, rhododendrons, spruces, yews.
Add used coffee grounds to compost piles to increase nitrogen balance. Coffee filters and tea bags break down rapidly during composting.
Mix used coffee grounds into soil for houseplants or new vegetable beds.

My Father's Garden by Mirko Faienza

2010-03-01T13:09:00.005+08:00

Here is a very nice macro shots of a garden & activities that took place in it. Beautifully shot by Mirko Faienza as he discovers a whole tiny world in his father's small garden. There is a small pond with small water falls, some stones, plants, and plenty of micro life! This video was shot on Panasonic 500- Fujinon 17x7.6 HD lens. Enjoy!!

My Father's Garden from Mirko Faienza on Vimeo.

Garden of Prosperity

2010-02-24T00:12:00.007+08:00

For those who want to see spectacular lights display in the form of a garden, the nearest to us in Klang Valley will be i-City! It was so fortunate of me when a fellow neighbour who is also a close friend brought me to i-City last night. i-City is located in Section 7, Shah Alam. To go there, take the Padang Jawa exit on Federal Highway & follow the i-City signages that will lead you there.

As our car turned into i-City, the beautifully-lit trees up on a higher ground greeted us from afar. Like little children, we all got so excited and just couldn't wait to get down. It's like we were approaching a fairy wonderland.

It seems that the light display had started since December during the Christmas celebration. Thus, there are 2 different lights display, i.e. the Garden of Prosperity & Frostie's Wonderland. I will let the photos below take you through a tour of i-City.

For those who are keen to go to i-City, the lights display will be on till early March. Entrance is free-of-charge. There will be a Chap Goh Mei celebration on this Saturday, 27 February. Chap Goh Mei is the 15th day of Chinese Lunar Calendar and it is also the last day of Chinese New Year celebration. Please see details below.

For residents who live in Klang Valley, do not miss out on this spectacular light display. The sights are to behold and they will turn you into a little child as you wonder through this fantasy world of lights.

CNY Decoration Tips for Plants & Flowers

2010-02-09T23:21:00.020+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!!! It's only another 4 days before the Lunar Chinese New Year arrives!! Those of you who are celebrating the CNY must be rushing to do the last minute shopping and house cleaning.

Chinese firmly believe that without flowers, there would be no formation of any fruits (有花才有果）. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to have flowers and floral decorations during Chinese New Year. Cashing-in on this belief, nurseries & florists in town stock up plenty of auspicious plants & flowers for the CNY decorations. Usually their prices are inflated during this festive period. So, why not we put on our creative cap and start decorating the plants in our own garden with ideas captured from the florists or nurseries?

As red and gold are traditional symbols of luck and prosperity, they are generously used in the decoration. Hanging red ribbons on plants or even tying a piece of red clothe into a butterfly knot around the pot can easily turn it into an attractive piece of art. Throw in some gold ingots, coins & glitters to add the touch of good fortune! Let these photos jolt your creativity juice into action!

Combine colourful pots of flowers with foliage to line up your driveway. Here the florist lined up a combination of lime plant, small pots of chrysanthemum, mother-in-law tongue & cane plant (not sure if I get the name right). Use a pot as a stand if you need to add height to your plant. Then use smaller pots of flowers to surround the supporting pot.

Beautiful big clusters of hydrangeas in pink and green for sales. This will certainly brighten up any home & catch the attention of your guests. So, if you have a pot of blooming hydrangeas growing in the garden, place it at the front entrance of your house. Be proud that the blooms are results of your hardwork in the garden. Share your love of gardening with guests.

I have seen this ornamental plant appearing at florists every year. Can anyone tell me what is its name? Get some of these bright orange and yellow fruits, tie some ribbons on the branches, voila, you will be looking at a very fascinating piece of decor.

Furnish your bonsai plant with hanging miniature lanterns & maroon coloured beads (probably from your X'mas tree decor) in order to add a festive feel to it.

Dress up a pot of blooming plant with satin ribbons and add some gold coins for a prosperous touch!

Or adding ready-made ribbons to your indoor plant also make it attractive. These ready-made ribbons can easily be found in supermarket or buttons & ribbons shop.

It is also a traditional Chinese belief that blooming plants symbolize rebirth and new growth. Flowers are believed to be symbolic of wealth and high position in one's career. Lucky is the home with a plant that blooms on New Year's Day, for that foretells a year of prosperity. That is why Pussy Willow is a favourite. Its fluffy white blossoms that resemble silk will bloom, and they soon give forth to young shoots the colour of green jade. We, Chinese, enjoys such sign of growth that represents the coming of prosperity.

Miniature Pussy Willows plants are also available in Malaysia now. This can be bent and decorated with artificial cherry blossoms, ribbons & gold coin ornaments. Voila! Another creative idea instead of the usual tall pussy willows sitting in a pot of water. These Miniature Pussy Willows only cost RM10 per pot from Petaling Street. Adding the artificial cherry blossoms & gold coins may just require an additional RM10. At a total cost of RM20, it is so much more affordable than getting the plants in the photos below from the florist. Apart from saving, you get to put on your thinking cap and let your creativity flow! *wink*wink*

A pot of Chrysanthemum with a huge ribbon added certainly enhanced its look.

Lucky bamboo is shaped into a pineapple is another prized plant for CNY. Why in the shape of pineapple, you may ask? Pineapple in the Chinese Hokkien dialects (used by those who hailed from Fujian, China) is called 'ong lai' and that sounds like 'fortune comes' in the same dialect. Thus pineapple symbolizes arrival of good fortune. That's why pineapple lanterns or the fruit itself are offered at the prayer altar. You may even see some pineapple lanterns being hung at the porch of houses during CNY. In the photo below, the clever use of ribbons and Chinese knots add to the beauty of this plant.

During Christmas, we have Pine Tree decorated with ornaments & lights. How about having a Cherry Blossom Tree during Chinese New Year. This is what I found decorating the foyer of Plaza Mont Kiara's office block. Adding lights make this pot of artificial flowers brighten up in the evening. What a welcoming sight!

Create an Oriental touch by adding caligraphy of auspicious words, such as Prosperity （福）, Joy（春） or Luck （吉） on flower or plant pots. You can buy stickers with these caligraphy from shops that sell buttons & ribbons. Or simply cut them out from any angpow packets.

If you have a deep pocket, bright colour blooms like these real orchids or artificial orchids & peonies will certainly add charms to your home.

Plants & flowers are the emblems of reawakening of nature, they are also intimately connected with superstition and with the wish for happiness during the ensuing year. I would like to end this posting by wishing everyone a new year full of passion, liveliness and prosperity! Happy Year of the Tiger!

Green Fingers Tip - Adequate Drainage

2010-02-03T17:58:00.002+08:00

I read this in a magazine today & posting it here to remind myself about this tips, at the same time share with my fellow green fingers friends!

Adequate drainage is very important. Place a layer of stones at the
bottom of the pot before adding soil. This will prevent the roots from
becoming waterlogged and keep your plants healthy.

Rest Sanctuaries in FGS

2010-01-21T14:57:00.008+08:00

Various water features such as waterfall, pond and fountain can be found in the compound of Dong Zen Fo Guang Shan monastery. The water features adds tranquility, reflection and ambiance to its landscape. It provides restful sanctuaries to those who seek for serenity to meditate or read.

Close to the Main Shrine Hall is this pond with a tall rock feature in the middle of it. The rock boulders are arranged beautifully in a triangular manner, allowing plants such as money plant, spider lily to grow in between the rocks and water to flow into the fish pond. Koi fishes with wonderful patterned of red, orange, yellow and black were swimming happily in the pond. It's fun to watch the active koi fishes. It is also calming to listen to the water trickling into the pond. The breeze was swaying the willow branches that are reaching low towards the pond. The combination of water, greens, fishes and rocks create a peaceful, soothing spot for quiet reflection. Everthing tends to slow down when one is surrounded by such environment. It is nice if we can have such garden in office buildings where workers can always go to during their lunch break and enjoy a peaceful moment, calming down their active working mind before going back to their work terminal again.

Multi-coloured orchids have been planted bordering this pond, in preparation for the Floral Festival that will begin on 10 Feb. A bed of Cat's whiskers are planted beside the pond as seen in the forefront of the photo below. There is a plank walkway for one to walk across with grillings painted in yellow & green resembling bamboo. Rows of lanterns lining the edge of this section makes the place looks festive and ready for the Chinese New Year celebration which is less than a month away.

In a quiet corner of the monastery is a water lily pond. It has the figurine of a little boy holding a lily leave above its head.

Next to this pond is a wall lined with dragon heads spouting water with LED-lit dolphins lining the whole pond. The curvy flower bed and the two different coloured plants (green & maroon) add to the attraction of this spot in the monastery.

The LED-lit dolphins and this wall is beautifully lit-up on the first night of our stay at this monastery. This is the scene that visitors will be treated to during the Floral Fest.

Trees lined up across this water feature provide shades to visitors to sit underneath those trees and enjoy the sound of the water.

I look forward to returning to Fo Guang Shan Monastery again during the Floral Festival. I believe the garden would look more stunning than what are seen here. There are some more photos from other parts of the garden in this monastery that I will share in my next posting. Meanwhile, I hope you will continue your blogging and gardening!

Dong Zen Fo Guang Shan - Squash Garden

2010-01-19T16:04:00.004+08:00

Dong Zen Fo Guang Shan is a monastery located in Jenjarom, Selangor. We were fortunate to have the support of this monastery when we organized a Buddhist youth exchange programme in this premise from Jan 1-10. That is the reason why I have been missing from blogging lately. We had the opportunity to stay in the dormitories of this monastery during our one-week programme there.

The nuns, monks, students and staffs who live here lead a very disciplined lifestyle. Their days start early. As early as 5.30am, they are already gathered at the main shrine hall for morning chanting. Breakfast is at 7am. The meals served are all vegetarian and don't let that deceive you coz the food here are so delicious that we didn't find ourselves missing out on meat. The monastery compound is so serene and beautifully landscaped. I would like to take the opportunity to share with you what I have enjoyed during my stay there.

For a start, today I will share with you the little squash garden in Dong Zen Fo Guang Shan. There are miniature pumpkins and miniature bottle gourds. The former is usually used as offerings during prayers. The latter is grown for ornamental use. It can be used as a container or for decorative purposes after the fruit has dried and seeds have been removed. The size of the gourd was no more than 1 foot in length. Both plants look beautiful with their climbing vines and hanging squashes.

Trimming of Adenium

2009-12-19T23:35:00.006+08:00

Since joining the Adenium Yahoo Group, I have learnt some tips on Adenium maintenance. One of them is why trimming of Adenium is required.

If you want to have your Adenium growing many blooms then you need to trim its stems and let the stems grow more stems and the trimming continues with time, your Adenium will have more branches. With feeding of fertilizers on a regular basis (Adeniums need heavy & regular feeding of fertilizer in order to bloom), blooms will appear on these branches. The illustrations below (courtesy of the Adenium Yahoo Group) shows how an Adenium plant should be trimmed.

Another reason to trim the stems is when the stems have grown too long (just like the photo below). You may have seen many of such Adenium. Usually Adenium that looks nice are those with thick stem. In order to get those thick stems, you need to trim the long ones. Thus nutrients will be provided to the remaining stems and over time, they will thicken up ~ just like the Adenium in the garden of my friend, Rox.

My Adenium with messy, long stems. It's time to trim!

A photo of Adenium from Rox's garden.

The next 3 photos show the Adenium that I have newly trimmed.

New shoots appearing.

I left stems with seed pods untrimmed.
The stems are hanging backwards due to the weight of the seed pods.

Green Plants

2009-12-10T20:31:00.009+08:00

In this blog, I have often featured my flowering plants and totally neglected my green leafy plants. After going through the plants in my garden thoroughly, I realized that I have quite a number of beautiful leafy plants.

Wild fern
I have this wild fern growing in various cool dim corners of my garden. I don't pull them out as I feel they add a touch of the forest feel to my garden. This kind of fern is commonly seen when I go jungle trekking. Based on its habit, I assume it likes damn, shady environment to grow well.

Above 2 photos: Species: Syngonium podophyllum/Nephthytis triphylla. Family: Araceae
Nickname: Goose foot
I think the above are 2 different species of the Syngonium plants. The top one has a narrower, longish leaves than the second photo. This is a creeper plant as you can see in the second photo that it has creeped over the wall. It is very easy to maintain and propagate. They grow healthily under the shades of my bigger plants. This photo was taken during rainy season and you can see that its leaves are green and lush. If planted under the hot, scorching sun, the leaves would turn into an unhealthy yellowish tone. To propagate, jus cut the stem place it in some water till it roots. Then transfer the stem into a medium that has good drainage and rich with organic matters.

Species: Scindapsus aureus/ Apipremnum aureum. Family: Araceae.
Nickname: Devil's Ivy or Money Plant. Locally called: Sireh Puteri.
This is a very common plant that can be found in many gardens in Malaysia. The heart shaped leaves and the variegated species make this plant attractive. It can be grown on soil or water. In my garden, it is grown on soil, used as grown cover for my bougainvillaea. As a climbing plant, it has climbed over my wall and grown healthily. My Chinese friends like to keep this plant as the name, Money Plant, is believed to bring one prosperity.

Xanthosoma sp. from the Araceae family. Locally called 'Keladi Belang'.
This plant grows well under the shade of my porch. The plant was bought from a nursery in Tangkak in April this year at RM16. To me, that is pricey but I love the attractive white patterns on its velvety dark green leaves. I have re-potted the original plant that I bought into this big pot and it is still growing well. This plant needs moist soil. The medium used are burnt soil and coco peat. On sunny days, this plant needs to be watered twice a day otherwise the leaves would droop. Too hot a day will scorch the edge of the leaves. So I will try to keep it under my porch as much as possible. Occasionally I will feed it with goat dung fertilizer.

Dumb Cane (Dieffenbachia).
I have 3 pots of Dumb Canes. They are growing very slowly yet beautifully. Probably I didn't feed them with fertilizers regularly. I like the glossy sheen on that new leaf in this photo.

I don't know the name of the 2 plants above. If any of you know them, I appreciate it if you can share your knowledge with me. Thanks ahead.

Lady Fingers - From Seeds to Seedlings

2009-12-08T16:12:00.003+08:00

Recently I have collected some lady fingers seeds from the plants that I grew. To collect those seeds, I let my lady fingers aged and dried up on the plant. When it's totally wrinkled and the pod almost burst, I would cut down the lady finger. I sowed some seeds that I harvested and within a week, I had seedlings peeking out from the ground.

Healthy seedlings grown from the above seeds.

Yesterday evening it rained heavily and this is what happened to my young seedlings! I hope it would survive the daily heavy downpour. I plan to re-pot it when the stem is a little bit thicker. For those of you who have tried planting lady finger, how soon do you re-pot your lady finger seedlings? Can you share your experience with me?

Gardenia Pfordii - Blooming Madly

2009-12-02T01:02:00.002+08:00

My Gardenia Pfordii plant is producing so many blooms! I am so delighted to see it blooming profusely or madly. My garden is filled with its fragrant. I wish I can pack the fragrant and attach it in this posting so that visitors can have a whiff of its sweet-smelling fragrant.

The new bloom which is white in colour will usually appear at night. The next morning, this white bloom will turn into light yellow. The following day it will turn darker yellow before it drops off from the plant.

How do I get it blooming like this? I am not sure actually. I only remember putting some blooming fertilizer on the plant two weeks ago.

You can see flowers in 3 different colours in these 2 photos
~ white, light yellow & darker yellow.

Birds of Paradise for Road Divider

2009-11-30T12:01:00.003+08:00

While stopping at the traffic light along the crossroad of Newcome Road (current name is Jalan Munshi Abdullah) & Jalan Bendahara in Melaka, I was fascinated by these beautiful, vibrant orange bird of paradise plants lining along the divider in the middle of the road.

A compliment must be given to the Melaka City Council for doing a good job in the landscaping work here. It definitely makes our historical city more attractive to the many tourists that visit us here. This is crucial as tourism is one of the major sources of income for Melaka. Even to a fellow Malaccan like me, I find it a pleasure to stop at the traffic light as I get to stop by to enjoy the beauty of the plants decorating this road divider!

Bright Blooms of Ruellia in Mom's Garden

2009-11-27T00:02:00.004+08:00

Selamat Hari Raya Haji to all Muslim visitors to my gardening blog. Wish you have a contemplative and spiritual celebration.

Today's posting will featurs Ruellia (Wild Petunia) from my mom's garden. I found bright blooms of three different colours ~ pink, white & purple. Together, they really brighten up my mom's garden.

From an article written in New Straits Times (Oct 25, 1997) by horticulturist, Mr. Lam Peng Sam, the capsules of the Ruellia when ripe will explode and scatter its seeds. That's how a Ruellia propagate. That may be the answer to how I get Ruellia plants scattered in different corners of my garden.

Caterpillar on Lemon Plant

2009-11-26T00:02:00.001+08:00

I read in Blur Ting's Growing Vegetable with Ms. Green Finger blog that lime butterfly loves lime plant. This time a butterfly chooses to lay eggs on my lemon plant (also another plant under the citrus family group).

Last Friday I found 2 tiny newly hatched larvae in black colour crawling on the leaves of my lemon plant. After the weekend, the 2 black babies have grown into 2 fat green caterpillars. They have chewed many leaves from my lemon plant. However, I didn't want to kill them or throw them away. I am fascinated by their presence in my garden. I left them to enjoy their free meals & boarding. This morning I went out looking for them again, but I can't find them anymore. I wonder if they have metamorphose into pupas or chrysalis. I can't wait to see them turned into butterflies.

Caterpillars spend their whole life eating and growing.
Caterpillars eat approximately eight times their body mass each day.

I have found some interesting reading materials on butterfly and its life cycle. If you are keen, do read on.

From the website entitled BUTTERFLIES AND THEIR LARVAL FOODPLANTS by Peter J. Bryant, he said:

Butterflies can be attracted to your garden by providing suitable flowers from which they can obtain nectar. Most butterflies can utilize a wide variety of flowers, including those of many cultivated varieties, as nectar sources. However, a more critical need is for the plants that provide food for the larval (caterpillar) stages, and most species will accept only one or a few species of plants at this stage. If a butterfly is found near your area, you can probably attract it and increase its population by planting the correct foodplants for the caterpillars. Although the caterpillars will feed on the leaves of these plants, the damage is usually minor and only temporary. Caterpillars of some species feed on plants that are usually considered weeds, and you can benefit populations of these species by not removing all of the weeds.

The Life Cycle of A Butterfly

The butterfly's life cycle is made up of four stages. Follow the links given to find out more about each life cycle stage of a butterfly:
the egg stage
the caterpillar or larva stage
the pupa or chrysalis stage
the butterfly stage

The Life Cycle of Butterfly picture was taken from here.

Mulberry Stem Cuttings

2009-11-25T00:00:00.000+08:00

I trim my mulberry plant very often when I need to pluck the leaves. Those leaves would be dried and used to brew tea for my brother. It is believed that the mulberry leaves tea can lower cholesterol level and high blood pressure. My brother consumes it regularly and it seems to improve his condition.

Recently I have trimmed the mulberry plant. Usually I will give away the stems to friends who are keen to plant them. This time I decided to plant those stems in the container used for planting choy sum. Due to the regular rain, most of the stems have shoots now. Amazingly, one even produces many fruits! A forummer from our community forum, USJ.com, has requested for one of this plant. So, I will get to pass on the joy of gardening with our community here.

Growth Progress of Thai Basil

2009-11-24T14:16:00.003+08:00

In August, I posted how I got my Thai Basil to root. Today I am glad to share with all of you how much that the Basil plant has grown. From the stem cutting that I placed in water and allow them to root, I now have a pot of lush Thai Basil plant.

Growing Pineapple

2009-11-21T01:11:00.001+08:00

I have seen my mom planted pineapple in her garden. It really fascinated me and I asked her how it's done. Has it ever cross your mind? I don't know if pineapple has seed or from where do you start to grow a pineapple?

Mom said just cut the crown of a pineapple and place it on soil. The crown will start to root and that's how you grow pineapple!!! Easy, right? Unbelievable!! What mom said was true! It's so simple. I just cut away the crown of a sweet Josephine pineapple and place the crown on some soil in a pot. That was 3 weeks ago. Now when I tried to remove the crown, it seems to have rooted and not moveable! I just can't wait to see fruit growing from it!!! Why not try planting a pineapple in your garden?

Purple Wild Flowers

2009-11-20T01:01:00.005+08:00

Some insects have sowed the seeds of this purple wild flower around my garden. Now I have a couple of this plants around my garden. I wanna say thanks to those who send me this plant. The purple blooms are attractive and big. They add colours to my garden. Aren't they beautiful?

Added on 24 November 2009:

Thanks to James Missier, a visitor to this blog, who informed me that this is not a wild flower. The name for this beautiful purple bloom is Ruellia or Wild Petunia. According to Wikipedia, Ruellias are popular ornamental plants. Some are used as medical plants, but many are known or suspected to be poisonous.

Planting Your Own Vegetables

2009-11-19T15:14:00.003+08:00

It's raining season in Klang Valley now. Almost every afternoon, there will be downpour. The weather is really cool and nice. The plants are getting sufficient water supply daily.

But for vegetable farmers, the rain brings less crops. That's why vegetables price have increased recently.

How're the vegetables in your garden growing?

A Rare Appearance

2009-10-25T13:03:00.003+08:00

Growing orchids require a lot of tender, loving care. They need consistent feeding of fertilizer. I used to spray liquid fertilizer every morning. As such, I get blooms after blooms. However, in recent years, I have not been dilligent at growing my orchids. As such, most rotted, died or just didn't bloom. I have only a few small pots left. I have decided not to grow orchids anymore. However, during my recent travel to Manila, I just couldn't resist the temptation of buying a few young plants from the Quiapo market. Old habit dies hard! Ha ha...

This plant that I posted today was purchased from Cebu island in the Phillipines too. The orchids in the Phillipines are beautiful and irresistable. So glad that it gave me a rare bloom this week! Everytime I see it, I just can't help appreciating its elegance!

Blooms from My Edible Plants

2009-10-22T07:08:00.000+08:00

I have some nice blooms in my garden now. So, how can I make my posting today more interesting than just featuring blooms in my garden? Be creative, JC!!!!

How about featuring blooms from my edible plants then? That's something that I have never posted before! As many of us have complaint (including moi) about there's nothing worthwhile happening in the garden for us to blog about and thus, we are stucked in a rut. Follows by the silence from posting!

To inspire myself, I still go out regularly in the morning to take photos of my garden. Now I am making myself think out of the box! I know there are many plants that I do not know the name of. That makes me stay away from blogging about them. So, how about getting my fellow gardening blogger friends out there to give me a helping hand? That would make the exchange of information interesting. In return, I can do something for my blogger friends. Brillian, huh? Ha ha ha....I just gotta pat myself on the shoulder and be creative, if I intend to continue blogging as long as possible! Bear with me, folks, if you think I sounded arrogant. Ha ha.....or if you think I am rambling nonsense! Ha ha ha....

Here's the flowers of my Choy Sum vegie. I didn't throw away those Choy Sum that are attacked by the leaf miner. I just left them in the polystyrene box. They grew and grew. Now I have cluster of yellow flowers from the vegie. Aren't they delightful to the eyes?

A single flower from my bird's eye chilli. I can't wait for it to turn into a fruit just like the bird's eye chilli I have below.

This fella won the award of being the first bird eye chilli produced in my garden!!!! I am so happy when I saw it! After several pots of curled leaves bird's eye chilli plants that died on me, I think of giving up on this little plant. If you can see, some of the leaves are curled. I have been moving it around the garden, from shade to bright sunny spot. But it loves this partly shady, partly sunny spot best. So I am going to keep it here for good.

Above photo shows the flowers of my lime plant. Since I applied my No. 47 fertilizers last week, many little buds are appearing. I hope those would turn into fruits too.

I had 3 lime fruits on my plant. But now only 1 left. They last very long on the plant, if not mistaken over 2 months. I plucked the other 2 for my sambal belacan as I didn't have any citrus in my fridge at the point of time. It's really nice to have lime plants in the garden to supply me with the limes as and when I require them.

My lady finger plant has been repotted. It has thrived hard and is now over 6 feet tall, much, much taller than me. It has produced its first lady finger and now there's another bloom appearing.

Growing edible plants bring another kind of joy ~ food for the kitchen and beautiful blooms for me to appreciate. If you have not tried planting edibles, how about starting one now?

Adenium's Beauty

2009-10-21T19:23:00.002+08:00

I can't help having this smile pasted on my face whenever I look at the Adenium blooms in my garden pridefully. They are so beautiful and some of them came in a big clusters of 5-8 blooms. Their vibrant pink colour brightens up my green garden. Here are some photos of the Adenium to be shared with all of you.

Bright Blossoms in the Garden

2009-10-05T13:22:00.003+08:00

It may be the start of autumn in the northern hemisphere where one would enjoy cooler weather. But not where I am! Over here in Subang Jaya, we get scorching heat from morning till mid-noon. By late noon, the dark clouds would be looming. Occasionall we will have rainfall in the evening. Otherwise, it will arrive when we are in deep slumber. We will be greeted by fresh morning air! That's what I like best. The plants in the garden would look so alive!!

As an effect of the weather, my bougainvillaea has produced profuse bright-coloured blossoms. My bougainvillaea has vibrant pink that shout for attention from afar. Neighbours have came over to give me compliments for their radiant blooms. This time there are blooming more than what I have blogged previously in April's Bougainvillaea - Forever Blooming. Everytime I look at the splash of pink, I just can't help smiling with admiration.

I think the hot weather plus the dosage of fertilizer 47 that I fed to the plant has helped in producing the profuse blooms.

Apart from Bougainvillaea, the Bird of Paradise is also producing many blooms.

How is your garden blooming? Look forward to seeing what's blooming in your garden too!

Surprise in the Mail Box

2009-09-30T17:44:00.002+08:00

I found a surprise in the mailbox today! It's a big brown envelope and at the back it was written that it is from Kak Dah of My Little Vegetable Garden blog.

A few weeks ago, Bang Chik (Kak Dah's hubby) has posted on their blog that they are giving away roselles seeds. Anyone interested, can email them with details. I am so happy to receive this gift from these two fellow gardening bloggers. It's my very first gift from our circle of gardening enthusiasts. Thank you very much, Kak Dah & Bang Chik!

First, I found this big brown envelope in my mail box.

In it is this beautiful Raya packet.

Inside the Raya packet, there are so many Roselle seeds!!!

Wow, I really feel abundance!!!

Thank you, Kak Dah & BangChik!

Adenium Yahoo Group

2009-09-27T11:26:00.005+08:00

My application to join the Adenium Yahoo Group was approved yesterday. The first mail I received is some tips on how to cultivate Adenium! Wow, that's really good tips. If you are keen to join this group, it is very simple. Follow these instructions:

1. Go to Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com/)
2. Click on Groups (can be found on the left-hand panel).
3. On the search text box, 'Find a Yahoo! type ADENIUM.
4. When you found the group, click on the blue font 'Join this group'.

Voila! It's simple, isnt' it?

A hybrid Adenium from my friend, Yang Mama's garden.

As I post this blog, I am also praying for our friend, Pei Ping, who is in the maternity ward now, delivering her baby girl. Wish that both mother and baby will be safe. Waiting for the good news from the Dad, Chin Keat. The family of 3 will become 4 real soon. Little Zhe-Hern will be glad to have a little sis soon! Below is a photo of the bubbly Zhe-Hern.

Adenium with Seed Pods

2009-09-25T16:29:00.004+08:00

Out of my 6 pots of Adeniums, 4 are having seed pods!! What a blessing!! This has never happened to me before. I am thrilled over this! My friend, Roxanne, who is also an Adenium enthusiast and I had also featured her Adenium previously said the Chinese believes that this is a sign of abundance and good fortune! Wow, this makes me feel very blessed!

How does seed pod formed? From what I gathered through my reading on the internet, the seed pod is formed when the flowers from the Adenium is pollinated by insects. Adenium does not self-pollinate.

This is the oldest Adenium that I have grown. I have kept this plant for 10 years has 3 pairs of seed pods on it. This is another first time for me. Usually I will only have one pair of seed pod on this plant.

As you can see in the photo above, I have used a gardening wire to tie up the Adenium pod. I learnt this from the Green Culture Singapore (GSC) Forum. The wire will prevent the seeds from being blown away when the pod burst upon maturity. This can be seen when the pod turns brown and its skin is no longer as smooth as it is. Each pod contains many fine, hairy seeds. This seeds can be kept in the fridge and it will last for very long time.

If you see the first photo in this posting, all the seed pods have symmetrical length seed pods. However, my 2nd pot of Adenium shows stunted growth on one end of its seed pod (refers to pink arrow). I don't know why this happen.

My 3rd pot of Adenium shows one healthy pair of seed pod.

My 4th pot of Adenium shows 2 pairs of new seed pods. They are still very young. I hope the seed pods will grow well.

The above is an old photo of Adenium seeds that my friend, Chooi, gave me. I have tried to germinate the seeds and eventually only two turned out well to be the 2 young Adenium seedlings below that I have recently transplanted into bigger pots.

From the GSC Forum, I have learnt some tips to grow big caudex for Adenium. I have pinched some leaves on the top of the plants with the hope that this would made the caudex grow big, instead of the plants growing tall. Pinching of the leaves can only be done after there are 3 pairs of leaves on the seedling. Not before that as the plant would still be too young. Covering the root with lotsa soil can also help to make the caudex grow big.

Botanical Garden - Lakeside

2009-09-23T19:44:00.005+08:00

The Putrajaya Botanical Garden is really huge. During our last visit, we only managed to cover the Morrocan Pavillion, Vine Garden and Heliconia Walk (shown by the the pink arrows in the map below). This time, we were able to cover the Canna Walk and Pandanus Walk located by the lake before it started to drizzle and we had to run for shelter. Sigh!!! Or shall I stay optimistic and tell myself that gives us reason to return to the Botanical Garden again for another visit!!

It was a gloomy afternoon. But we were filled with excitement. We brought some snacks, books, newspaper and a mat with the intention of having a picnic at the Botanical Garden. It has been a looooong while since all 4 of us had a picnic. Our excitement was shortlived, when the drizzle started. Thus our visit only covers area near to the lake side.

Here is the jetty where one can get a boat ride in the lake. As our visit was on a week day, so the boat service was not available. We were hoping to get a ride on the tram. Unfortunately, it was not available too as the tram has been sent to the Prime Minister's residence, meant to be used during the Hari Raya Open House.

Overlooking the lake, is a huge structure with green roof and domes. That is Perdana Putra that houses the Prime Minister's Office.

By the side of the lake is the Putrajaya Lakeview Restaurant. My friend said that the view from the restaurant is spectacular in the evening.

Fortunately, we had those grass-thatched gazebos that provided us with shelter from the rain. It was really nice to sit under those gazebos and enjoy the splendid view of the lake in front of us.

Some beautiful orchids used to decorate a small section at the entrance of the Lakeview Restaurant. As it is the month of Ramadan, we can see an oil lamp has been placed there. I assume it is lit up in the evenings as part of the celebration of Lailatul-Qadr* night.

* Note: During the last 10 days of Ramadan month, Muslims will keep vigil for Lailatul Qadr (The Night of Decree), the night when the holy Quran was sent down. It is believed that angels descend and shower blessings on that particular night, so homes are brightly lit-up with oil lamps.

Tall, splendid-looking pandanus plants greeted us at the Pandanus Walk. Aren't they beautiful?

Bright, vibrant-coloured Rangoon Creeper was found near walkway by the lake.

These are what we found at the Canna Walk. These bright coloured Cannas definitely cheered us up!

Pickles Comic

2009-09-20T10:21:00.003+08:00

Something to tickle your funny bones today! This may have happened to many of us before!!

I would also like to wish all Muslims friends Selamat Hari Raya!! May the festive occasion be joyful and filled with peace and love.

Canna

2009-09-18T16:47:00.003+08:00

The Putrajaya Botanical Garden has a beautiful section dedicated to Cannas. It is called the Canna Walk. In this section, one gets to see the garden fabulously landscaped with various colourful Canna and I found these description of Canna on the signage:

Cannas are native to Tropical America, where there are about 25 wild species. Canna generalis, commonly known as garden cannas, are hybrids that come in many different colours. Most cannas propagate by underground creeping stems (rhizomes), while others propagate by hard, bead-like seeds.

Cannas gained popularity as a garden plant in the mid-19th century, when the first hybrids were produced in France (1848). Since then, hundreds of hybrids displaying many shades of red, yellow, orange and pink flowers have been produced.

According to Professor R.E. Holttum in Gardening in the Lowlands of Malaya 1953): "There are very few plants in Malayan gardens that give really solid masses of colour... cannas are very important, as few other plants, whether herbaceous or woody, can compare with them in producing massed colour effects."

1st Harvest of Choy Sum

2009-09-16T16:14:00.001+08:00

My first harvest of choy sum took place today! After months of trying to grow Hong Kong Choy Sum (which is of a miniature species in comparison to the usual Choy Sum), I finally get to harvest them.

Although the harvest is very minimal, only 3 bunches of choy sum, but it gives me a great sense of achievement! Ha ha..I know 3 bunches are not even enough to feed one person! But that's a good start! I have sown some more seeds and hope during the current sunny weather with intermittent rain, my seed will germinate fast!

I also found some white trails on some of my choy sum leaves. Seems like many of my smaller seedlings are also affected. I doubt those plants with white trails are edible. Sigh! That would be a waste. Is it a snail trail? Or what is it? Can anyone help me with this question? I gotta stop it quick if the trails are caused by some snails or bugs.