Begonia Rex Cultorum

Cool Blooms

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Solandra longiflora looks marvellous with more than one bloom on the vine. When the first bloom opened one evening, it sent a pleasant 'signal' to my nose. This time round, with the cooler weather, the scent was even more intense. Later more flowers started to appear and ta da... More to the eyes than the nose is my Thunbergia laurifolia (huge but no...

It Has Been A Little Weird

Monday, November 05, 2012

The weather has been getting rather weird of late. The sky was bright and clear in the morning but in the afternoon, lightning and thunderstorm begin to rule. And heavy rain follows suit. Nonetheless, for some reason, the rain did not stop the flowers from blooming. For one, my pot of Hippeastrum reticulatum var. striatifolium has been really productive. Below is a new...

Bougainvillea Strikes Back :-D

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Right before the rain, I managed to snap a pic of my bougainvillea for the record. The weather is so unpredictable nowadays my goodness, phew... This week, or rather the past two weeks, I am so intrigued by my bougainvillea. The bracts never look this good for so long! I wish I can have them forever. No other plant in my garden is...

It's a Little Pink & Yellow

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Ummm... I smell a hoya! My Hoya publicalyx has never failed to delight me with its sweet fragrance. Each time I smell something at my porch, I knew it is my hoya blossoming again. It's flowering non-stop ever since the first bloom came :-D Although the hoya looks like it takes a lot to produce its numerous, waxy blooms, the vine can actually...

Amaranthus Perfect Red

Nice to See

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

My little cherry time capsicum shrub has been flowering for a while now but only a few have fruited. The first one was growing steadily, grew slightly bigger by the days but the fruit eventually fell off while it was still green :-( Right in front of the little capsicum shrub, some Amaranthus Perfect Red are maturing. These little plants took some time...

Amaranthus Perfect Red

Brilliant Food for the Creatures

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Colours attract our eyes and the eyes of creatures that are looking for food in the garden. An unknown insect has come by for the bracts of my bougainvillea again :-( It is probably the same insect that gobbled up parts of other plants as well. I was told that it could be a kind of beetle. But is there any way to shoo...

Fragile Flowers

Thursday, August 02, 2012

With the cloudy skies and the Olympics ongoing, I kept thinking about London... I was there some years ago and the sky was as cloudy and it was a rather cold summer. I was even caught in the rain while catching a bus (a double decker!) with my sister and mother and a friend. We were wet and feeling really cold after that....

Cuphea Hyssopifolia

A Cozy Day...

Saturday, July 14, 2012

"The best kind of rain, of course, is a cozy rain. This is the kind the anonymous medieval poet makes me remember, the rain that falls on a day when you'd just as soon stay in bed a little longer, write letters or read a good book by the fire, take early tea with hot scones and jam and look out the streaked...

Desert Rose & Her Friends

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

My One-Day-Yellow Adenium obesum shines this week. Love its pale yellow shade... it is so gentle to the eyes ;-) With the plant flowering now, I am assured that the plant is still very much alive! Many times, during the rainy season I feared that this plant will just rot, and in those times, the plant can just go leafless and flowerless for many...

Finally, finally...

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

I was so happy to have spotted a little bunch of blooms on my Petrea volubilis (commonly called Sandpaper Vine) last week. It was the vine's first blooms! They are not scented but look superbly delicate in blue and violet :-) Earlier, I almost wanted to give this vine away but I am so glad I didn't. The plant was propagated using a stem cutting about...

A Beacon of Blooms

Sunday, June 03, 2012

This spike of red Aranda has been the focus of my garden for the past couple of weeks. This time round the blooms stayed intact for a long time, for weeks in fact! Also thanks to the gentle birds that visit my garden in the mornings and evenings. I think they did not bother to peck or even stand on them too hard...

Carnation Chabaud

The Other Side of My Plants

Friday, May 25, 2012

The weather was super hot and humid last week but my Hoya kerrii seems to be loving the heat. The vine has been growing really well and doesn't care about having more water than usual. Few of the Hoya kerrii leaves grew so big and I can't help but to take a pic of one of them. My plant loves me this much......

Spotlight Fruits, Flowers & Foliage

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Apple? Nope, it's a fruit from my Acerola bush. This one is big and very red... Another fruit that is growing on the other side of the bush was nibbled by birds or something while ripening... ...

Chinese Fringe Flower

My Garden Fringies

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

My Chinese Fringe Flower plant was blooming profusely last week, shortly after a prune. Normally the leaves will appear first but this time round, the flowers came... It was really delightful to see these deep pink fringe flowers beaming on the bush and looking radiant ;-) The plant really stole the show and my neighbour kept asking me where did that red plant...

Big Blooms

Saturday, April 21, 2012

There are many plants I have that are considered dear to me though they are not rare. The pink Amaryllis below for example was given to me by one of my blog friends. It was sent to me personally more than a year ago and recently, it has finally sent out a stalk of buds... The thing that strikes me about Amaryllis is...

Chlorophytum Bichetii

No Mistake

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

This little Bichetii Grass shrub (Chlorophytum bichetii) has been really kind to me. Sometimes when I carelessly overwater the plant, most of its leaves will just turned yellow and withered. Still the plant was able to bounce back with much grace. I can't recall how long I have had this plant now (it's probably one of my first plants!) but one thing I do...

Striking Plants

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Some plants are just shouting for attention... Here is a rare occasion that I see the 'true colours' of my Kaempferia pulchra. The leaves are usually just green due to the not so ideal condition that my garden has. But this time round... one fancy leaf (yay!) appeared in one pot and in the pot that I have in another location. My Plumeria...

Standouts in the Porch

Sunday, March 18, 2012

This new plant, the Alocasia reginula gave me a pleasant surprise last week. It was in flower! But I have only planted this clump division in January... On the other hand, my old Alocasia 'Polly' that I have been growing for a few years will only flower (inflorescence) once or twice a year and its first flower appeared only after about six months...

Colours of the Month

Thursday, March 08, 2012

The best thing that has happened in my garden recently is when the Neoregelia that I planted a year ago is now flowering :-D First, the centre turned pinkish red before the flowers inside the cup flowered. I initially thought that its flowering cycle would be short and quick as the plant multiplies fast. But now I realise that it does need a...

No Star Like Thee

Monday, February 27, 2012

The hoya flowers have opened... revealing their attractive waxy, pinkish purple, star-shaped flowers. They feel hard and have a weak scent. Nonetheless, a wondrous sight to behold :-D I should have included these beautiful Hibiscus Swamp Mallow flowers in my earlier post. The plant re-grown and re-flowered many blooms before the Chinese New Year celebration. I really enjoy watching the huge blooms taking...

Chum Riep Sueh (Hello)!

Monday, February 13, 2012

I spent five days in Cambodia last week, which was my second visit to this former French colony. The first time was in 2007 when my hubby and I visited our missionary friends in Kampot. This time round, we helped in a training for the Cambodia Missions & Services (CMS) leaders in Baray. While there we also enjoyed some fun activities offered by...

Alocasia Reginula

Warm Greetings

Sunday, January 29, 2012

I was away for a few days during the recent Chinese New Year celebration and the almost-daily evening rain was a real blessing for my plants. They were all looking pretty and happy when I came back :-) And thanks again to my friend who has helped me take care of my plants in my absence :-D ...

Cheers To Year 2012 :-D

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

This brand New Year 2012 (now two weeks old!) is promising lots of sunshine :-D It has been really warm and hot here in past weeks and my plants are definitely getting all the much needed sunlight they were depriving of for the past months. Here is one of the first flowers of my pale yellow Fountain Plant. It has taken me months...