Reaching to great heights

Alisma plantago-aquatica, a common water-plantain, blooms everyday this week. White paper thin flowers with yellow center; blooms once then closes during sunset. When all buds finished blooming, sprouts new leaves. You can cut it to replant or re-pot when new leaves 3" tall.

We've bought Alisma in Aug'08, divided into 2 pots, hadn't flowered since Oct'08. Late May'09, we bought fertilizer seeds, half an inch round, specially made for water-plants from One-stop DIY. Use 1.5 seeds and bury deep into each pot - for a plant size like mine. But I started out with a single fertilizer seed and 2 weeks later, each potted Alisma in the courtyard - grew a long trailing stem with flower buds. The biggest pot had the longest stem with buds reaching 5.5' tall - remarkable!

http://jaimeboey.blogspot.com/2009/05/surviving-in-malaysian-heat.html
http://jaimeboey.blogspot.com/2009/05/o-blessed-rain.html

Our Vinca Periwinkle, as predicted, reached 5' tall and out grown the foldable plant support. I grit my teeth for buying 4' high support instead of 5' high - but I hadn't expected it to grow so tall and so fast! Even my in-laws (who gave us the seedlings) were amazed.


Vinca Periwinkle seedlings filling up the grass patch too. Pinch off seed pods from the plant from time to time, reduce germination. Quite a havoc but it gives pleasurable view as it never fails to bloom everyday. It's a plant that'll reminds me to strive on reaching to great heights.

Flowerbed filled with Marigolds

We've planted African marigolds; yellow 'Doubloon' and deep orange 'Double Eagle' behind our Zinnias.


A full bloomed African marigold risk bent-neck or stooping down, heavy from watering. If we're lucky, the bloom may rise when dry and light but usually the bloom fades faster if bent.


I had to staked one of the Marigolds after a heavy downpour. It was bent at the base just above the soil level.A good Marigold bloom last 2 weeks before turning ugly brown while attached to its stem.

Could be the hot weather causing the bloom to dry up prematurely. Sadly this hot weather, said to last til September.


Buds starting to bloom (pic). Petals folded in the flowerhead, curls out as it unfolds & grows.Colours were so bright that I had to darken for light shadows to view the curls on petals. It was a harder task than roses.

Marigolds are categorized into 4 groups: French, African, Triploid and Single.

• French marigolds (Tagetes patula) > small bushy, 12" ht, flowers 2" (5 cm) across.
• African marigolds (Tagetes erecta) > tall stout, 3 ft ht, larger blossoms like pom-pom but shorter flowering period (p/s-remove faded flowers to encourage a second flush of bloom).
• Triploid marigolds > sterile hybrids (French + African), non-stop bloomers with impressive 3" flower heads in warm colors of gold, yellow, red and russet.
• Single Marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia (signata) pumila) > simple, daisy-like blooms and long stems; some varieties of merit are Cinnabar, Burgundy, Ripples and Chippendale Daisy.

The leaves of all marigolds are dark green, deeply divided and have a somewhat unpleasant, aromatic fragrance.

• Growing: Marigolds are not fussy, they will adapt to most garden soils.
• Light: Full sun.
• Moisture: Water during periods of drought.
• Propagation: The black needle-like seeds can be easily sown directly where they are to be grown. Seedlings are 2" long.
• Hardiness: Marigolds are tender tropical plants and are killed by frost. Minimum 6 hours of direct sunlight. Resistance to disease and pests.

Use: Common, inexpensive and easy to germinate, and grow in beds and borders. Blooms non-stop. Some advice to plant marigolds in the vegetable garden to discourage certain insect pests. Summer care of marigolds is simple. Water occasionally during dry weather and pinch off faded flowers to encourage additional bloom. Tall African marigolds may require staking to prevent the plants from falling over or lodging during storms. Marigolds require approximately 45 to 50 days to flower after seeding.

http://marvelousmarigolds.wordpress.com/
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/hortanswers/plantdetail.cfm?PlantID=768&PlantTypeID=1



Gromphrenas (upclose).

Its a Common Tailorbird afterall!

Thiam happened to chance upon a book on Southeast Asia Birds. Cleverly he discovered the actual name of the bird, Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) instead of Long-Tailed Tit as posted earlier.

See how Common Tailorbird weave its nest, http://jaimeboey.blogspot.com/2009/03/spirit-of-nature.html

See Common Tailorbird's eggs in its new nest, http://jaimeboey.blogspot.com/2009/04/long-tailed-tits-making-home-with-us.html

See how Common Tailorbird hatchlings and its feeding, http://jaimeboey.blogspot.com/2009/04/upclose-personal-with-hatchlings.html

Also found the name of bird who eavesdroped neighbour's phone call conversation on Apr-18,'09. It's called Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier). To watch the video at http://jaimeboey.blogspot.com/2009/04/long-tailed-tits-making-home-with-us.html

A glimpse of Flowerbed

Glimpses of newly installed flowerbed filled with new flower plants. Pictures taken during sunrise, I didn't include those during sunset due to high contrast from over-exposure sunlight.

They survived from a heavy downpour over an hour yesterday afternoon. Some Yellow Marigolds with bent necks, because of its full bloomed flower heavy with water.

Zinnia Yellow Flame, bud starts to bloom (left) and full bloom (right). Petals grows from the sides followed by petals closer to the center, in sequence, until all petals filled the whole flower head then its colours will fade and start to wilt.

I'm waiting for the chance to collect seeds from the wilting Zinnia and grow them. Another learning curve for me. Wish me luck!


Here's how Zinnia Pink's petals growing from the sides (left) then towards the middle (right). Tiny yellow flowers in the middle will soon fade and fall off and followed by its pink petals (right). Notice how the petals curl at the beginning as it takes into shape, this differs from Zinnia Yellow Flame.

Also Zinnia Pink could grow a foot taller than Zinnia Yellow Flame, almost covering our Marigolds.

Here, a full bloomed Zinnia Pink with Zinnia Yellow Flame.

Gomphrena globosa and marigold, striking orange against purple.

Red rose (Choon's) bloomed beautifully in a sea of crimson tipped leaves. It's a healthy & refreshing sight.

Elsewhere in our garden, eye-catching of millions of blooms. Ixora looked like snow-capped mountains to me.

Below, our Common Water-plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica) spotting growth of new buds on a stem on each - so that means all 3 pots of Alisma will flower soon!

DIY your own raised flower bed

Ever dreamed of having a bed filled with colours to greet you from a tough day at work, shopping fatigue, etc? There's healing in colours when it is sent through the body.

Pink - promotes inner peace and love; helps people to become relaxed and can help with stress related problems.

Orange - helps one to become passionate and filled with desire in either love or life itself.

Yellow - helps a person to feel strong and have a sense of will to achieve in their life. It also helps people to let go of negative issues that are blocking them from moving on in their life.


Purple - helps a person to activate their psychic abilities, to restore memory loss and help to remove negative images that store in the brain.

Green - heals any traumas that a person has had or is facing within their life. Green is a positive colour that represents hope and healing on all the levels of consciousness. It can also open one up to unconditional love.

Step 1 : Spot a space for flower bed 7' by 2'. Gardeners will recommend you to choose a spot where it'll conveniently draw attention daily. Do lookout for ideas of flower beds and plants on the internet or any home magazines. Visualise a design that fits you. Draw up a simple map using measured squares and fill in the surrounding environment and your desired plants - this will give you an estimate cost for your budget.

P/S: We deviated a bit during plants-shopping. I would recommend you to visit nursery with plants-variety to choose from; arrange as if you were at your flower bed to decide on the plant colours, structure and theme - before your purchase. This prevents over-buying while you'll get the right look and satisfaction.

Yellow, Orange Marigolds takes backstage, Zinnia Yellow Flame takes center stage accompanied with Zinnia Pink and ends with matching leaves, oblong to ovate 3-10 cm long, the everlasting purple Gomphrena globosa. Gomphrena is commonly known as globe amaranth or Bachelor's Buttons.


Step 2 : Observe for a) 8-hours of sunlight, b) a distance away from trees and shrubs and c) no direct rainfall off the roof. Flowers need sunlight and heat for growth and blooms while strong rainfall impact will cause tender flower stems to bend out of shape and root rot from excessive watering.

Here, rainfall lands on the floor tiles, sends water splatters to neighbouring flower pots (left) and future flower bed (right) -which is good.

The new flowers are able to withstand the heat and rain for 2 days before planting.

Step 3 : To shore the Flower Bed edge, I decided on having rails of wood pieces (1' tall, cut into semi-circle) stapled to a weatherproof black band on reverse side - this forms a linkage. Why? It is lighter than rocks, taller than stones, flexible to shape the bed and easier to transport/carry. Weighs about 5kg each rail of wood pieces c/w steel needle 6" long stuck at bottom of both ends; needles act as anchor into the ground for firm grip.

The untreated flowerbed edge is then coated with Jotun's Woodshield protection to withstand high humidity and heavy downpours for long term. We selected colour 'Mahogany' to match our home exterior.

If you observe the end result, the linkages' coat colour harmonises with the dark soils - wonderful.

Step 4 : Here, our matured Philippine grass is cut according to the required shape and removed.

To my delight, previous fill 3'-4' of sand was enough a) to hold the linkage at the bottom and b) for drainage.

Step 5 : We dug a mini-trench to fit the linkages.

Once the linkages inserted into place, we flatten the sand from the middle to fill up the sides and gaps for firmer grip. Grass will fill up the outer sides over time. Voilà, a flower bed!

Step 6 : Flower plants are then placed into the flower bed as planned. Removed 1/10 of bottom roots each to fit below the level shortest linkage. Using black organic soil to a) fill the gaps between the plants and b) cover the plants' root and base of stems. Soil is pressed to remove air pockets and hold plants firmly. Removing air pockets in soil minimise root diseases and minimise sunken soil after watering.


Step 7 : Water to hydrate the new soil and to encourage root growth after all the damages during planting. Then add time-release fertiliser pellets.

Amazing colours in the sun.



Flower plants from Sg Buloh, flower bed edge and Jotun Woodshield from One-Stop and garden maintenance by Bkt Rimau Nursery.