Cutting Back

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Would a tulip flourishes here? Nope, but the Siam Tulip does :-D 

The stalk of inflorescence below that emerged from the pot of Siam Tulips in my garden has developed fully this week. The formation of bright purplish-pink top bracts does resemble the real tulip. And there are tiny white and purple flowers that popped up randomly from the pockets of the lower bracts. It is fun to make a guess which pocket will have a flower showing next!



My Maranta leuconeura var. erythroneura sent out a few flowers on a long stem. The flower below is one of them. It's really tiny -- can you see it?




Inside my house, in one of the terrariums, I noticed that a patch of yellow stain on the white-crushed gravels seems to have turned darker by the weeks. Probably not a good idea to use these kind of crushed gravels as part the decor items in a terrarium. Also, one cactus seems to be growing into a funny shape. Can you spot it? It is the one in front, on the right hand side of the sphere-shaped terrarium below...


Few months ago, I was given two cuttings of the Alternanthera with variegated leaves. Glad they rooted easily and flourished quickly...


I have enjoyed looking at the little bush from the top each time I passed by it. Anyway, growing Alternanthera shrubs give me a lot of satisfaction. They not only bring colours to the garden, they are easy to care for and have pretty foliage.


The other Alternanthera plants that are in the garden are more colourful. This particular one looks red all the time...


But this Alternanthera variety has more green than red...


This week, my Episcia bloomed again. Look at these red blooms... cute :-)


Copper leaf plant (Chrysothemis pulchella) is another plant that gives me a lot of delight. Love the bright yellow flowers and the fact that the plant never fails to bounce back from dehydration. It also blooms reliably!


I spotted an umbel of white Plumbago flowers early one morning. The blooms look sweet when the sunlight is less intense -- isn't it?


I cut back a number of plants and got rid of the weeds in the pots. The Nepenthes sp. below however was not pruned as I thought that the vine still look good.


I discarded three bagfuls of foliage. Still, there are more plants that need pruning, so to be continued... 

Meanwhile, you have a great day!

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12 comments

  1. Oh, how nice to see the flower of beauty when it is snowing outside the window !
    Fantastic photos !
    Greetings from Poland under the snow !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So glad to hear from you. Still snowing? I thought it snow for Christmas only. Keep warm, Ela!

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  2. Beautiful siam tulip! I have never grown it. Such a beautiful plant! All of your plant looks so stunning, so fresh!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for complimenting the Siam tulip, Endah! Now I wish that more of its tubers flourish and bloom at the same time. At the moment, they are taking turns to bloom.

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  3. How beautiful collection of plants you have! pruning and weeding is never ending story! hahahhaa...

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    Replies
    1. Especially the weeding! next is the pruning haha... not so fun parts of gardening ;-)

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  4. Hi Steph,
    I like your knowledge about plants and mostly all are coming perfect with their botanic names. That the most part i lke. Good info.
    Until today I'm stil looking at the Siam Tulips & white plumbago. Lucky you have it...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Normala,
      I am sure you will find those two plants one day! Oh I learnt the botanic names through searching the Net and reading. And blogging about my garden and plants had really pushed me to find out the names since I have to write about them.
      Happy blogging and gardening!

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  5. They're so cute! But I'm still want to have some chocolate sunflower. Where did u buy them??? Do u think I can buy some seeds in Viet Nam????
    P.s: sorry if I said something wrong

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Bao Chau!

      Glad you like my chocolate sunflower! I haven't been growing the plant for a long time. You may want to try to source the seeds from ebay or this farm http://www.chocolateflowerfarm.com/seeds1

      Hope this helps.

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  6. Hi Stephanie,
    I like all your lovely blooms! How do you keep them so fresh and vibrant in this hot humid weather?
    Gong Xi Fa Cai to you and family! May the Year of the Goat brings you a healthy, prosperous, and a great gardening year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy CNY, Joyce! Hot humid weather it is!! Looks like we are having a very hot new year this time round. Anyway, enjoy the festivity :-D My plants are now under lots of stress... hot!!!

      Delete

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