Blooms From My Garden

I have been experimenting with stem cuttings of the Plumeria or the Frangipani. I got a couple of cuttings from my neighbors and found that they were relatively easy to start. To my delight it didn't take long for them to start flowering too. There are two of my cuttings in bloom.

Forcing Amaryllis To Bloom

Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) are showy flowers that will always draw attention. I fell in love with the bulbs many Lunar New Years ago. Over the years, I have finally perfected the method of forcing these bulbs to bloom over and over again.

If you plan to keep your amaryllis bulb to bloom over and over again, you need to give it a good start and ongoing care. The biggest problems seem to be planting too deep (cover only half the bulb with soil) and/or over watering which cause the bulb to rot, lack of light which makes the foliage weak, and lack of vigorous foliage which makes the bulb weak.
Remember that it all starts with the bulb. If the bulb is not healthy it will not flower.
Selection: Buy the biggest bulb you can find. Make sure it is heavy for its size, firm and plump. There should be no soft spots, no mold, no smell.
Amaryllis bulbs are often packaged like a kit with a small pot and some dry fluffy peat moss rather than a potting soil mix.
After Bloom: After the bulb blooms the first time, either re-pot into a wider but shallow container with good soil or do what I do if you have a garden and feed. Plant the dormant bulbs in the garden to fatten them up.
You may also get offsets (baby bulbs) during this period. Just split them off the main bulb and let them mature. Offsets will have the same flower as the mother bulb.
Bulb Storage: Clean the bulb and place it in a cool, dark place such as the crisper of your fridge for a minimum of 6 weeks. Caution: Do not store amaryllis bulbs in a fridge that contains apples, this will sterilize the bulbs. Store the bulbs for a minimum of 6 weeks.

Plant Again: After 6 weeks you may remove bulbs whenever you would like to plant them. Plant bulbs 3 weeks before you would like them to bloom.

All that you have to do next is plant the bulb in a good potting mix and let nature take its course. Like the paper said just add water.

New Plants At Home

I bought several new plants a week before Christmas to add some cheer around the home and I thought it would be nice to introduce these plants. I had to have this hibiscus plant as the bloom was large and showy. This is my Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis Byron Metts, the flower is 6 inches in diameter and pure white.Then came two pots of Rex Begonias, that are priced for their colorful leaves. I placed these two pots by a window and they immediately brightened up the living room. Cyclamens caught my eye and I bought this pot as the color of the flowers are just stunning. This is an indoor plant that is showy but oh so fussy. I hope it plant will thrive in the living room. This pot of anthurium was Bangkok inspired. I loved the huge cut blooms at the Inter-Continental and this pot seemed perfect at the corner of my patio.Last but not the least, I added a pot of Amaryllis. I've perfected the art of keeping these plants and making them flower even in the tropics.

Paddy Plants For Decoration

I've been growing paddy since I visited Myanmar some four years ago. I love paddy plants for the vibrant green color that the blades have and I am always happy just sitting by the road watching the paddy sway in the wind in places like Bali, Vietnam and Myanmar.
I have over the years harvested enough seeds to keep growing paddy as ornamental plants in my home. We pulled out an old Chinese themed dish to start out a handful of seeds and look how beautiful they are sitting in the middle of my dining table.
I had to move my dining table and thank goodness that I have a covered patio on the back to allow outside dining.

Fertilizers Pay Dividends

I finally got my night blooming water lily to bloom again. The plants seem to love the fertilizer that I brought back from Chatuchak.
The Pure White Night Blooming Tropical Water Lily begins to bloom in the late afternoon and stays open in the evening and into the night. They will close the following morning around noon.
I spent sometime in the morning photographing the first bloom before the rains came again. This plant is fragrant and with the ylang ylang next to it perfumes the cool morning air.The little bees love the water lily blooms.

Gardening Today

There wasn't anyway to really step out and go today. I finally buckled down and worked in the garden instead. Pruning back the heliconia and other plants that have become a overgrown. I did also play with my camera of course in the garden.

My new water lily plant's first bloom caught on camera. This was in the morning and the next shot was hours later when a weak sun came out.My rosemary cuttings have also taken and are nice and healthy.

Update - Project Raising Dragon Fruit Plants

These are the red dragon fruit seedlings thus far. In another two weeks they will out grow the pot that I have them in.
I will leave it to mother nature to decide how many of these will grow up.

Project Raising Dragon Fruit Cacti

I did say I would set out to grow the red dragon fruit plants from seeds. This is the second batch of seeds that I started in a dish instead of in potting mix to photograph.
The seeds are encased within their own gel sack which keeps the seed moist. I just kept them soaked in water. As you can see operation sprout is well on the way. What a difference a day makes with these young ones.

Snow White

This bloom is from a plant bought here. It is blooming again after being dormant.
The other white water lily plant from Bangkok is now dormant. However, both plants are different the thai specie blooms later in the day and has a sweet scent.

Water Hyacinth in Bloom

My natural mozzie controls were dying in my water lily containers and in the pond. The man who sells me fishes at the market recommended that I buy some water hyacinth to fix the problem. A dollar got me two plants which multiplied in no time.

In the natural habitat, water hyacinths are an invasive species but surprise of surprises these plants actually bloom. On an erect stalk were 4 delicate attractive flowers in lilac color to my delight.

Heliconia - Peek-A-Boo

It's only been a month and they are ready to bloom. I collected this heliconia specimen on 20 Feb, when I was showing an American friend around. We chanced upon it at an old bungalow that was under reconstruction. I immediately pulled the car over and asked an Indian worker to get me a plant.

He climbed up the steep slope and promptly plucked a bloom and was ready to hand it to me. :-)

It took a whole lot of gesticulation, more explaining in very simple English and help from other workers at the worksite before he finally understood what I wanted.

Heady Scents

These are the blooms that add scent amongst the heliconia and canna blooms in the garden. Jasmine (single and dual petal); Sui Mei; Dwarf Ylang Ylang

Orchid - Brassolaeliocattleya Chian Tzy Lass

I just acquired this plant today and I hope it will be as free flowering as my other orchids have been.

What I love about this plant is the scented flowers.

There is another pot that I may want to go back to acquire, which has a lovely orangy yellow blooms.

Water Lilies

Orchid - Cattleya Hybrid

Herbaliscious

These are some of the herbs that grown in my back herb patch.

Basil - Holy	Basil – Thai/Sweet
Basil - Lemon	Bay Laurel
Curry Leaves	Daun Kesom
Lavendar	Lemongrass
Mint	Rosemary

Orchid - Phalaenopsis

I started out with two pots which didn't quite do well till I learnt how to take care of them. Since then, I've added a couple more plants which were rescued from the cheap sale counter at the flower garden. These beauties now flower quite often and they are very showy indeed when you have all three plants in bloom with multiple stalks.