Bright and Very Cool
Thursday, October 10, 2013
I was so busy over the weekend and got really tired. Anyway, I am thankful that I managed to have a good rest on Monday and finally have the time to upload a post today :-)
I will begin with my old Copper Leaf Plant (Chrysothemis pulchella). The plant has the brightest yellow flowers and orange sepals! And the coolest leaves among the plants that are in my garden. I don't think there is another plant that has the same colour except for a begonia that bears dark leaves with a shade that is close to this copper tone.
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The begonia, Begonia 'Hot Tamale', an angel wing begonia, seldom flowers nowadays though. I am not sure why... may be lack of fertiliser. And it also grows rather slowly. I can't recall now when was the last time I cut back the shrub. I just know I did. And only this week I notice that it has grown back denser and bigger in size.
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I was so happy to find a stalk of Amaranthus Perfect Red flowers flourishing nicely in my garden. This is the first time I see those tiny yellow blooms. How delicate!
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I made a big blunder a few weeks ago! I accidentally watered the succulent again one day after I'd already watered it. Many of the leaves at the bottom have turned yellow :-( When my itchy fingers touched the fleshy foliage, they just fell out from the stem, piece by piece, sigh...
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Meanwhile, I dug out a huge Amaryllis (Hippeastrum sp.) bulb that has produces four bulblets...
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Cleaned the roots and separated them and I re-planted two small ones into a pot of soil. The two medium-sized ones and the mother bulb I will be replanting them after a 'forcing process'. By the end of the process, I hope to see them blooming :-)
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This week I will be leaving them to dry upside down like this... After that they will be wrapped with newspaper and placed in a brown bag to 'rest' inside the refrigerator.
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Click here for more details of the 'forcing process'.
In an article published in NST last Saturday, I shared about the history, design rules and principles and the meanings of the elements used in a Japanese garden.
This beautiful pond with colourful koi fishes in the pic below is located at the Keyaki Japanese Restaurant, Pan Pacific Singapore. Stunning!
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Have a great week!
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14 comments
Adoreia seu cantinho cheio de flores, quanto a sua suculenta,
ReplyDeletevocê pode pegar as folhinhas e colocar na terra para fazer novas mudas.
abraços
http://eueminhasplantinhas.blogspot.com/
Thanks Simone! I will definitely try to propagate new plants using the leaflets. Btw, welcome to my blog.
ReplyDeleteIf you stick the broken succulent pieces into the soil, they should sprout. It's a great way to get more plants. I love amaryllis. I hope those bloom for you. :o)
ReplyDeleteThese broken succulent pieces didn't sprout for me :-( They rotted.
DeleteYour Succulent didn't like its forced bath..he..he! My Copperleaf, which is called Sunset Bells here, has almost finished flowering, and preparing for rest!
ReplyDeleteSunset bells? This name describes the plant so well. Orange and yellow are sunset colours and the flowers are bell-shaped :-)
DeleteStephanie, I enjoyed reading your interesting article on the Japanese Garden!
ReplyDeletelotusleaf, glad you enjoyed the article :-) I find Japanese garden interesting as well. In fact when I was researching on the topic, I spent hours non-stop reading haha...
DeleteI like your blog, so lovely. I can find a lot of thing here. My amarilis is already 'wake up'. I'm longing for the bloom.
ReplyDeleteYours is lovely as well, Endah Murniyati! Enjoy the big blooms of your amaryllis :-)
DeleteNot sure why..
ReplyDeleteYour add comment box suddenly gone missing..
I click on Reply and then it appeared - strange.
I guess the Copper Leaf Plant - I call it Black Flamingo (in my garden blog) seemed to be the one of its kind - the closest family is Flame Violets & Gloxinia.
They will die back time to time but do check on the root tuber. They will regenerate from there again time to time.
I'm very cautious with succulents - I don't put them together with my daily watering plants.
Less accidentally (which always happen) I water them too often.
But still - these types are quite sensitive - I never able to keep them longer than few months compared to hardy ones which stays with me for years and gives out many babies.
Glad that you are setting your bulbs for flowering.
I had done that many times until I got bored with it..
Hahaahaaahahhaa...
Enjoy your coming weekend with many more garden stories.
Re copper leaf plant, yes I know you call it black flamingo :-) I usually just discard the bigger ones and let the smaller shrubs flourish. Re succulents, I think temperature also affect growth of those 'sensitive' succulents. After a while (after planting the many types) we will know which are the ones that will not able to tolerate the condition of our gardens :-) As for the bulbs, I hope all three will flower!
DeleteSame to you, enjoy the coming weekend, James :-D
I love amaryllis. Too bad they only bloom once or twice a year and many times require "forcing" to bloom.
ReplyDeleteThe pink one, some called it Mrs Garfield, it reblooms freely on its own :-)
Delete