Happy New Year 2012!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.