This flower is in early stage as can be seen by the smaller centre and the stamens still look fresh.
This stamens of this one in later stage of bloom have dried up and fallen off.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Nona up close!
I googled and found out that Custard Apples are of the Annonaceae family ~ Annona reticulata. Its flower has 3 thick petals that are light green on the outside, probably fused with the sepals, and light yellow on the inside.
This flower is in early stage as can be seen by the smaller centre and the stamens still look fresh.
This stamens of this one in later stage of bloom have dried up and fallen off.
This flower is in early stage as can be seen by the smaller centre and the stamens still look fresh.
This stamens of this one in later stage of bloom have dried up and fallen off.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Nona a plenty!
After an absence of 17 days, I returned to a happy garden. I left it in the care of a friend who came and pick caterpillars off the pomelo and water some potted plants once a week. And all's well!
The custard apple (or what my friends in Penang call "nona") flowers are unusual - forgotten what it looked like the last time as there was only one. Now there are a few in various stages of blooming and I really don't know how to describe them - so see it for yourself :)
The 5 new okra plants have grown but their leaves are different from the previous batch in that it is rather completely round rather than sharply tri-lobed! I wonder why - it was from my previous plant - so, what happened? Recently, in Penang, I saw an okra plant that had distinct tri-lobed leaves.
The custard apple (or what my friends in Penang call "nona") flowers are unusual - forgotten what it looked like the last time as there was only one. Now there are a few in various stages of blooming and I really don't know how to describe them - so see it for yourself :)
The 5 new okra plants have grown but their leaves are different from the previous batch in that it is rather completely round rather than sharply tri-lobed! I wonder why - it was from my previous plant - so, what happened? Recently, in Penang, I saw an okra plant that had distinct tri-lobed leaves.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Another pest in cammies!
Spotted this insect or aphid in camouflage - crawling around on the Kumquat plant, planning damage like a guerilla!
Wonder if the "wings" are functional, if it can fly?? I supposed it could, else how did it get on the kumquat or maybe it help the aphid to "ride" the wind because the wings don't look like they could flap!
P.S. Here is one more I found today 11 Jan 2012 - a Puli of the insect world ~ I think it is a camouflaged aphid. See its size - 3 mm(?) relative to the lime leaf!
Wonder if the "wings" are functional, if it can fly?? I supposed it could, else how did it get on the kumquat or maybe it help the aphid to "ride" the wind because the wings don't look like they could flap!
P.S. Here is one more I found today 11 Jan 2012 - a Puli of the insect world ~ I think it is a camouflaged aphid. See its size - 3 mm(?) relative to the lime leaf!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Such a feeling ...!
Thinking of my garden gives me such a nice lovey feeling! And great satisfaction too! Because I just finished planting my precious custard apple in the ground before breakfast this morning.
Yesterday I uprooted and harvested all the sweet potatoes and ginger. I had replanted some of ginger closer to the fence but have decided not to renew the tenure of the sweet potato. Rather, I am making way for new species - some seedlings of the purple cauliflower have sprouted and I am waiting for the tomato and snap beans seedlings to show up too. By next weekend I hope to plant the cauliflower into the bed that I had prepared.
Another major task up ahead is to redo the auto-watering system. The weather has been so dry and hot this last week that some of my plants are suffering. (Will add pictures later)
Yesterday I uprooted and harvested all the sweet potatoes and ginger. I had replanted some of ginger closer to the fence but have decided not to renew the tenure of the sweet potato. Rather, I am making way for new species - some seedlings of the purple cauliflower have sprouted and I am waiting for the tomato and snap beans seedlings to show up too. By next weekend I hope to plant the cauliflower into the bed that I had prepared.
Another major task up ahead is to redo the auto-watering system. The weather has been so dry and hot this last week that some of my plants are suffering. (Will add pictures later)
Monday, January 2, 2012
Did my garden tame me?
..... Or did I tame my garden? Did Chuan-tse dream that he was the butterfly or did the butterfly dream it was Chuan-tse? (for the butterfly story: http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~lxl/personal/butterfly.html)? ~ "transformation of things proved that differences between things are not absolute"!
Or is it as in "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, that in the process of taming between the rose and the little prince; and the little prince and the fox ~ relationships were transformed from being non-vested to being loved and being unique? And then there were the rituals of love that were necessary to create a sense of expectation and anticipation - as described by the fox!
I like the "taming" thingy in The Little Prince! I transformed the garden, and in the process it transformed me! I "tamed" the plants but I think ultimately "I was the one being tamed"! The garden rewards me now and then with produce that I can eat provided I do what it wants, like watering, fertilizing, weeding, and so on. Oh, what a thought!
But then, on the other hand, I tamed it, because by caring for it (like in The Little Prince's rose) my garden became unique and it is mine :)
Anyway, tomorrow my Happy Garden will be 1 year old! I will mark today - the last day of Year 1 with these pictures of the lime plant because this plant had almost died and now it is sprouting new flowers, has a lime that is growing bigger by the day, and it is sending out many new shoots.
Or is it as in "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, that in the process of taming between the rose and the little prince; and the little prince and the fox ~ relationships were transformed from being non-vested to being loved and being unique? And then there were the rituals of love that were necessary to create a sense of expectation and anticipation - as described by the fox!
I like the "taming" thingy in The Little Prince! I transformed the garden, and in the process it transformed me! I "tamed" the plants but I think ultimately "I was the one being tamed"! The garden rewards me now and then with produce that I can eat provided I do what it wants, like watering, fertilizing, weeding, and so on. Oh, what a thought!
But then, on the other hand, I tamed it, because by caring for it (like in The Little Prince's rose) my garden became unique and it is mine :)
Anyway, tomorrow my Happy Garden will be 1 year old! I will mark today - the last day of Year 1 with these pictures of the lime plant because this plant had almost died and now it is sprouting new flowers, has a lime that is growing bigger by the day, and it is sending out many new shoots.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Absence makes the garden grow faster!
I was away for 11 days and when I came home the garden was almost unrecognizable!
The Okra plant were bent over from the weight of overgrown okras, the Thai Basil and Sweet Potato plants have ran amok, the bountiful turmeric has dried out because the batteries in the auto-watering system have died (I think) and the Dill looks set on growing into a tree - it is now about 5 feet tall.
And someone has pinched the bigger of my 2 prized Milk Fruit seedlings. I have moved the remaining plant into the secure fenced area.
On the brighter side, the sole custard apple has ripened on the plant and I harvested it and will savour it later today (hopefully it tastes good). For the record and future reference, the custard apple took 3+ months flower to fruit.
Two Bell Lilies have bloomed in tandem.
The Lime has flourished without signs of caterpillar attacks (because I sprayed some diluted Neem oil onto its stem before I left).
The rescued Kumquat plant has plenty of leaves and a few "Bird-shit" caterpillars but no flowers although it should bloom now and fruit in time for Chinese New Year 2012. Well, maybe next CNY in 2013.
The yam has also multiplied - I think there should be at least 3 yams growing underground now.
And the beet root has sprouted lots of leaves. Understand that the leaves are very nutritious.
Last but not least, one of my longest surviving pet plants (it reminds me of my dog-in-heaven, Humphrey) - the "Batubulan" plant is flourishing.
The Okra plant were bent over from the weight of overgrown okras, the Thai Basil and Sweet Potato plants have ran amok, the bountiful turmeric has dried out because the batteries in the auto-watering system have died (I think) and the Dill looks set on growing into a tree - it is now about 5 feet tall.
And someone has pinched the bigger of my 2 prized Milk Fruit seedlings. I have moved the remaining plant into the secure fenced area.
On the brighter side, the sole custard apple has ripened on the plant and I harvested it and will savour it later today (hopefully it tastes good). For the record and future reference, the custard apple took 3+ months flower to fruit.
Two Bell Lilies have bloomed in tandem.
The Lime has flourished without signs of caterpillar attacks (because I sprayed some diluted Neem oil onto its stem before I left).
The rescued Kumquat plant has plenty of leaves and a few "Bird-shit" caterpillars but no flowers although it should bloom now and fruit in time for Chinese New Year 2012. Well, maybe next CNY in 2013.
The yam has also multiplied - I think there should be at least 3 yams growing underground now.
And the beet root has sprouted lots of leaves. Understand that the leaves are very nutritious.
Last but not least, one of my longest surviving pet plants (it reminds me of my dog-in-heaven, Humphrey) - the "Batubulan" plant is flourishing.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Not one but two .... !
This morning, I had planned to harvest that sweet potato I spotted two days ago but ended up with two instead. It was a surprise find - I noticed a bulge in the soil next to the ginger and I thought "wow, my ginger has really grown - maybe I can dig out some for cooking." But surprise, surprise, it turned out to be a sweet potato tuber and I am puzzled as to how it got there. It was pat against the ginger some distance from the first tuber I was going to dig out.
The sweet potatoes were very thin-skinned, different from the ones I get from the market. After washing off the soil, they looked such a raw pink. I will probably make some sweet potato dessert soup and maybe steam some for a salad too.
Actually, from the top view of my garden, I can see how profusely the sweet potato plant has grown (it has taken over the whole fencing along the back lane) and I think I will most likely find more and probably bigger tubers underground :))
The sweet potatoes were very thin-skinned, different from the ones I get from the market. After washing off the soil, they looked such a raw pink. I will probably make some sweet potato dessert soup and maybe steam some for a salad too.
Actually, from the top view of my garden, I can see how profusely the sweet potato plant has grown (it has taken over the whole fencing along the back lane) and I think I will most likely find more and probably bigger tubers underground :))
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