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 five years ago and never flowered until now!
Hope you can spot the small bunch of light purple flowers from the pic below. It is on the left (hint: don't look at the Aranda orchid!). The vine is currently planted in a medium-sized pot and supported by two inverted U-shaped bamboo.
And here are plants that have 'resurrected'...
First of all is the Verbena, a Superbena. The plant shrunk in size, to a small little bush during the prolonged rain. When I repotted it earlier, I notice it was left with very little roots as well. I am surprised to see it able to bounce back and now blooming again!
My Justicia fulvicoma is also re-blooming. Its small spike of red bracts and orange flowers are surprisingly striking and showy.
Also my Hoya publicalyx's old flower stalk is re-blooming as well. It has re-flowered continuously since its blooms first appeared. Shortly after the old flowers have spent/dropped, new buds are starting to form now...
Meanwhile, the Hoya kerrii that I was trying to 'revive' is slowly turning green again - a promising sign but I am still keeping my fingers crossed.
Btw I was nominated for an award from Bernie of Bush Bernie's Blog. A veteran gardener who grows many types of plants in her wonderful garden. All her plants are always in incredibly good conditions.
Thanks Bernie! :-D
Here are the rules upon accepting The Versatile Blogger award:
- Thank the person who gave you the award.
- Include a link to their blog.
- Select 15 bloggers that you follow or have just discovered who you would consider fit the bill of a 'versatile' blogger.
- Tell 7 random facts about yourself.
- Include this set of rules in your post.
- Inform each of your nominated bloggers of their nomination.
1. Malar of My Little Garden. Although she has little spare time, she still managed to grow many beautiful ornamental plants as well as edibles (herbs and vegetables) in her garden.
2. James of Garden Chronicles. A person who grows as many plants as he could in a small garden. Exactly like me, haha... And he really knows all his plants really well.
3. Diane AZ of Desert Colors. An excellent photographer who knows and grows many plants herself. I love to check out the many wonderful pics she snapped and posted in her blog.
4. Rohrerbot of Las Aventuras. I enjoy seeing and knowing the diversity of flora and fauna in his posts.
5. Brad of Here to Ann Arbor. I love the dishes he cooks for the many festivals and celebration he plays host to.
6. Mia of Mias Hageliv. She lives in a place that has really cold winter. I am amazed by how she could turn her garden into a thing of beauty during spring and summer... in such a short time.
7. Gudrun of Gudruns Keramik. She makes really good ceramic pieces, mostly using heart-shape motive and I love her pretty and tidy garden.
8. Bom of Plant Chaser. His collection of tillandsias etc and knowledge in plants amazes me.
9. Wendy of Greenish Thumb. She is one busy bee, grows beautiful plants, cooks many delicious food from scratch and has pretty daughters.
10. Diana of Kebun Malay-Kadazan Girls. She grows a vast variety of vegetable in her garden. And all her vegetables are of supermarket quality!
11. Orkid La of Orkidla. A blogger with enormous passion in cultivating orchids.
12. Catmint of Diary of a Suburban Gardener. Not only gardens a lot but reads a lot as well. Some of the plants that she grows in her wonderful garden are really interesting and which I have not seen in real before.
13. Adam of Growing Paradise. His garden is really a paradise! He grows lots of exotic plants. In his blog, he also introduces plants that caught his attention.
14. Prospero of Serendipitous Garden. He is just not only a skilful and an artistic photographer but also a gardener with lots of wisdom.
15. Vicky Nguyen of About tree planting. I have just started to follow her blog. She has a big garden and grows lots of beautiful plants that I like :-D.
16. Lona of A Hocking Hill's Garden. She has the most beautiful roses. Her beds of flowers are outstanding and every summer she specially chooses new flowers for her garden.
17. Lrong of Potager Y @ Japan. A fantastic gardener - grows beautiful trees, flowers and edibles. His sweet wife uses the fruit of his labour in her cooking.
18. Erika of Expat Abroad. If you are new to Malaysia - an expat just moved in or visiting Malaysia for the first time, her blog has all the pertinent information for making your stay here a wonderful one.
19. Kanak of Terra Farmer. Her love for Nature and passion in gardening truly shows in her blogs.
20. Kitchen Flavours of My Little Potted Garden. A mighty gardener, baker and chef for her family and friends :-D
Special mention:
Titania of Lavender & Vanilla, J.C. of My Sunny Happy Garden, Andrea of Andrea in this Lifetime and Aaron of Aaron's Gardening Blog - though they have been nominated for the award by Bernie also, I would like to commend them for their great enthusiasm in their hobbies - more than one! Puts a lazy bump like myself to shame ;-)
Seven random facts about myself:
- Besides gardening, I also love baking and cooking...
- I love to learn new dance steps
- I love the skinny jeans that is in fashion now
- I love seafood especially crabs
- I love to watch Korean dramas
- I love coffee... cappuccino, piccolo, flat white and americano are my favourites!
- I love visiting new places
Btw I respect your time and priorities, so it is not compulsory that you need to accept this nomination like I did.
Cheers! :-D
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 turns to blossom.
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 turns to blossom.
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 to get this plant to reach flowering stage. Perhaps due to the lack of sunshine, hehe...
And I have to thank a dear friend for parting the stem cuttings to me. At that time I was hunting high and low for a small plant but couldn't find one as most of those at the nurseries are sold in big pots/plants (meaning they are expensive!) and they are usually in the common red.
The tips of my Aloe Vera spikes of flowers meanwhile are drying up fast. Hence, the flowers did not develop as nice as I expected them to be... sigh :-(
Here is one of the first flowers of my pale yellow Fountain Plant. It has taken me months to get this plant to reach flowering stage. Perhaps due to the lack of sunshine, hehe...
And I have to thank a dear friend for parting the stem cuttings to me. At that time I was hunting high and low for a small plant but couldn't find one as most of those at the nurseries are sold in big pots/plants (meaning they are expensive!) and they are usually in the common red.
The tips of my Aloe Vera spikes of flowers meanwhile are drying up fast. Hence, the flowers did not develop as nice as I expected them to be... sigh :-(
I think my Lantana does not mind hard pruning at all. Two months ago, I gave the plant some hard pruning and it is now flowering. I even saw butterflies coming for the nectar but didn't manage to snap a shot. Here is just the blooms...
Unlike the Lantana, I find that the Polka Dot plant does not like to be pruned after it has grown leggy and the leaves became small. So for this precious little rooted stem cutting, I just used a stone to press down the stem to the soil. It seems to be growing some larger leaves now :-D
Unlike the Lantana, I find that the Polka Dot plant does not like to be pruned after it has grown leggy and the leaves became small. So for this precious little rooted stem cutting, I just used a stone to press down the stem to the soil. It seems to be growing some larger leaves now :-D
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