Little Blooms
Sunday, January 31, 2010Earlier when I saw the 'little bird flower' plant (read more in my earlier post) for the first time, I must admit that I didn't think much of it as I thought it's merely another plant that would be popular for just a while. But as Chinese New Year is drawing closer, this plant has suddenly attracted a lot of attention.
Well, after growing this plant for a few months, let me share with you the good news... my plant has been producing 'bird flowers' non-stop!
The other little blooms are the Portulacas. Although they are not that 'photogenic', their colours are bright enough to catch anyone's attention :-)
The Torenia meanwhile is the most faithful! They never fail to show up :-D
And among the seeds that I have sown earlier (see my post), the Gomphrena has become the champion. Its seeds easily germinated and grew fast and nice. I only need to prune it once to ensure the plant grows bushier and bigger flower bracts. Currently there are lots of light purple flower bracts.
Finally (which is also rather embarassing), my Zinnias did not flourish well. The plant did not thrive well at all. The rain kept pushing the plant to rest on the soil when the plant was young. Well, I can forget about the Zinnias for now ;-)
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22 comments
All the "petite fleurs" look enchanting and Iam glad that your green thumbs work so well! I do not mind the look of the Zinnias, they look very contemporary!
ReplyDeleteLove your gomphrenas ... we lovingly call them Billy Buttons! I have a darker variety myself and it's a great performer! I also grow lots of portulacas ... but I have to agree with you about the torenia! The torenia wins hands down. It is a fabulous plant ... never fails ... and produces so many lovely flowers. I have 4 different colours in my little collection ... I'm always looking our for new colours now. I really enjoyed your blog ... great photos.
ReplyDeleteSteph... don't count zinnia yet. You never know when they are going to spring back to limelight!! and give you the best bloom ever.... ~bangchik
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying all of your little blooms, especially the Portulacas and Gomphrenas. Your Zinnias look sweet even if not thriving. :)
ReplyDeleteYour 'little bird' flowers are fantastic! I like the colour of the gomphrenas, I have the dark purple one.
ReplyDeleteI very much like your bird plant and have never seen it before. Portulacas are wonderful. They used to reseed prolifically in my gardens but suddenly stopped. I think I need to invest in new seeds. :)
ReplyDeleteStephanie I love torenia.I grow the blue ones but I love this color you have.I love that you can shear them off and they keep on going. Your double blooming Portulacas are pretty too. Wonderful pictures for a cold day.
ReplyDeleteI love the color of your Gomphrena, we have mauve or shall i say red violet. The problem with these annuals though they are beautiful, is that they produce lots of seeds which later become a problem as weeds. I equate them with forwarded messages in computers, which we have lots of time deleting! hahahha.
ReplyDeleteI love the vibrant colours of the flowers! :) Especially the purple ones... you make gardening sound so fulfilling and simple :p
ReplyDeleteGreat flowers! I'm glad to hear the gomphrena was easy to germinate. I'm so excited about my strawberry fields which I just got the other day. Torenia are always interesting too.
ReplyDeleteOk, ok, Titania, Bangchik, Diane, looks like I need to give Zinnia a second chance :-D
ReplyDeletegarden and orto is very nice !
ReplyDeletegarden and orto is very nice !
ReplyDeleteStephanie, Congratulations! It is a good sign. Kong Hee Fatt Choy! :P
ReplyDeleteI was figuring out where is the "little bird" look from the plant. It look so much like a praying mantis to me (lol)
ReplyDeleteIts amazing to have all these difficult plants growing so well & beautiful Stephanie.
You surely got the Green Thumb!
I had the wishbone flowers & the Bachelor Buttons but they didn't survive.
Wishbone got infected with mealy bug and the plant slowly died and the Bachelor Buttons & Zinnia just eventually become old but never flowered as there was no sun in my place.
the "little bird flower" is a truly great God's creation-it looks so real and beautiful-you should have a closer macro shot of it.
ReplyDeleteEven though I had to wait a long while for my portulacas to bloom... it was well worth the wait. Good luck with the zinnias!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers !! So colorful and lovely !!
ReplyDeleteI also want to put in a good word for zinnias - never count them out. They are one of my favorites (ever since my grandmother helped me plant some many years ago).
ReplyDeleteBernie, Stine, Rosey, this kind of portulaca (bought from nursery) has been around for ages here. Rain or shine they thrive well even with minimal care. The type that I grew from seed earlier is so much different, they grow so slowly and do not do well.
ReplyDeleteWendy, good luck with your strawberry fields. When I see them here, I will definitely pick one pack to sow. Also for torenias, it is nice to have different colours like what Bernie has in her garden ;-)
lotusleaf, Deborah, Andrea, the pack of seeds blossom in three colours; light purple (lilac), purple and white :-D The other two colours are showing now.
James, well, there are plants that I couldn't handle like the Ti plants. Their leaves turn brown too fast in my garden.
Lona, blue ones are as pretty :-D Ha, ha, you are right, shearing torenia is a must!
Prospero, Unseen Rajasthan, foodbin, Autumn Belle, gerns, thanks for your kind words and happy gardening to you!
I love that orange portulaca, Steph! When I was a wee girl in Vietnam, my makeshift earings were those pretty Gomphrena..which dry so nicely!
ReplyDeleteLynn, they definitely make cute earings :-D
ReplyDelete