Blooming Plumeria, Smiling JC

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

Easy to Care

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!