The Ups and Downs of Gardening
Thursday, May 22, 2014
If I am a plant, I probably would have caught a cold by now. The mornings are sunny but in the afternoons, the sky just darkens and heavy downpours follow. This is how the weather has been going these days in Petaling Jaya - chaotic!
Save for the plants that are in the porch, I have not been watering them for days already. Nevertheless, my Lemon Ginger (Monocostus uniflorus) that flowers intermittently continues to do so. I am so delighted :-)
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Also when this Siam Tulip bloom (Curcuma alismatifolia) shows up, it still looks really good in spite of the dark sky and constant drizzle. The colour was as bright as usual and the real flowers blossomed one by one, wonderfully!
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And hurrah to the Tree of a Thousand Stars (Serissa foetida)! It was flowering and catching a glimpse of it in the morning put a smile on my face :-)
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The flowers of my Acerola (Malpighia glabra) never failed to set fruit! I must say that this is quite an outstanding shrub. And when the cherries turn red, it is a pretty sight to behold - don't you think so?
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It feels like my Brown Spiderwort or Bear's Ears (Siderasis fuscata) is enjoying the cooler weather as well. I am so proud of this little flower... the next flower (not in pic) however was even smaller.
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Productive is the word for this succulent called Zebra Cactus (Haworthis fasciata). It has grown more leaves now...
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I separated the liquid of the garbage enzyme from the residues. The liquid is now contained in small up-cycled plastic bottles and the residues I had mixed them into some soil to be used as compost later.
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Patience paid off when my Medinilla sp. flourished more leaves and gotten denser. The shrub however is always infested with bugs. I think I have to spray some stronger pesticide soon. Do you happen to grow this plant as well?
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As for my Chilli plant, as you can see in pic below, its leaves look like they were attacked by some kind of insects and made lots of holes on them. And notice the Spring Onions in the same pot - the number of plants have been shrinking due to the prolong rain. Most bulbs have rotted :-(
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I hope that your days are sunnier. Happy gardening!
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16 comments
You are so lucky. I planted an acerola in a pot on my balcony, the plant looks so flourish and sometime show me its flowers, but the flowers have never formeda fruitlet. Oh ya... Several years ago I took a pot of Medinilla from my parent's garden. The plant looked so poor, I thought that the plant need to be repotting and new better media. The plant looked better at the first, but... it became dry and then died. I found some mealy bug on the leaves, stem, also the upper roots. I really love this plant, so I have planned to buy a new Medinilla as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your garden
Hello Endah Murniyati, thank you but not sure why your acerola didn't form fruit. Maybe the balcony is windy? Re Medinilla, I am still learning how to grow this plant better. This is my second one. My first Medinilla died after flowering. And yes mealy bugs love the plant a lot!
DeleteYour flowers are very original and so beautiful. Lovely photos !
ReplyDeleteGreetings
Thank you Ela! It's nice to hear from you.
DeleteI know chaotic weather all too well. Our rainy season starts next month.
ReplyDeleteKeeping fingers crossed for you, Mystic Dreamer. The pots get waterlogged fast during rainy season.
DeleteBeautiful Siam Tulip. I love the color.
ReplyDeleteGlad you love the colour. Siam Tulip is one of my favourite blooms :-)
DeleteNo chaotic weather here. As our wintertime approaches, the days are filled with blue skies and clear weather. Our dry season is very close now, so there will be no more rain for quite some time. Serissa is one of my favourite plants. I have a couple in my garden here too and I just love those little stark white flowers. I also love your Siam Tulip. It's gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThere is plenty of sunshine here today! I am feeling the sun again... yay! Bernie, we had the worst dry spell last month. No water supply for many days in certain places. I was fortunate as where I stay was not affected (and so are my plants!). The next dry spell will happen in June... hopefully it is not going to affect me :-).
DeleteL like your Curcuma. I first fell in love with them in Bangkok. They were mass planted in a container. My Serrisa foetida is tall and langky. I should trimmed it shorter like yours.
ReplyDeleteThe Siam tulip bloom was really striking. Whenever I am outside my house, in the garden, I will check on it hehe... Happy trimming your Serrisa foetida!
DeleteHi Steph, is the weather you describe unusual or the usual wet season? We have had a weirdly hot May. It's nearly winter, but temperatures have been unseasonably high. I guess some plants will be happy with all the rain, and others will not cope, like the bulbs. I think there are more insects when it's wet, hence the bugs in your Medinilla and on the chili leaves.
ReplyDeleteYup, that's probably the case. And certainly the weather is making 'life' tougher for the plants to flourish. Re bulbs, I hope the sunnier skies these few days will 'wake' them up :-) Btw, it is nice to hear from you :-)
DeleteHi Stephanie, if it is any consolation, our days here in the uk are very rainy too. However, your gorgeous flowers do not seem to be suffering, as they look fantastic ! We have had such torrential run here that it left all my poor lupins spread-eagled on the ground ! Why didn't I stake them in time ...
ReplyDeleteRainy as well? Sorry about that. The rain did the same thing to some my plants too. They bent down and I have to help them get up again haha... sometimes I shake the water off the plant so that they can stand up straight quicker hehe...
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