One Step at A Time

I did quite a lot for the past few days. I hired gardeners to prune the rambutan tree which hung too low. The grass around the area would benefit a lot too. The plot's quite bald. 

Finding the lowland hydrangea has been quite a challenge. I finally got of 2 from an online seller in Johor. I thought I needed 4 of them but turned out 2 was just nice for the plot under the Kauka Wilder. 

Impatient as usual, I transplanted them during the hottest of the day, so they withered. 

This is 2 days later - they looked happy. 

Odyssey dug herself a little hole and rested herself in while watching me digging holes for the hydrangeas.

A quick look at my heirloom tomatoes. Heavy rain pelted one of my tomato plants and broke the stem so all of them droop to the ground. I noticed the stems are growing nodes which could be aerial roots. 

The tomatoes love it here I must say. I am going to have quite a harvest (compared to my previous attempt). 

A random jasmine-lookalike plant previous tenant hid among bird of paradise bush(?). I got her out and gave her some fertilizer. She seems to have a flower bud.

My plumerias with lemon/mandarin seedlings.

I've transplanted my tuberose and amaryllis to the ground. They don't look too good and occasionally walked upon by Odyssey. 

Our driveway is flanked by ruellia and ruellia isn't really my favourite. Odyssey loves to walk over them since she was young. And she did the same here so they went all over the place and messy which I really hate. So I pruned them to the ground on one side of the sideway and stuck some cuttings into the sparser area (they need to be dense to support each other). I don't hope to work so I can grow sunflowers here. The bigger plumeria is my Kauka Wilder and the shorter one to the left is a dwarf variety that was water-logged and isn't doing too well now. I can't remember the other one. We have the best sun here so I wouldn't have to wait too long to her bloom.

I brought my epiphyte gang out for a water and tanning session. 

But will you look at my Chinese kale! I harvested some yesterday for dinner.

My backyard that has a pergola made out of PVC pipe by previous tenant is intended to be my herb garden. I've acquired most of the herbs I wanted except dill and Thai basil. Actually, I don't really need to Thai Basil but....

A close-up of the neglected hoya. Fertilizer has been given to her, hope she bounces back.

Clockwise from 12 o'clock - rosemary, coriander, thyme, Italian parsley, bird's eye chilli (cili padi), Vietnamese basil (according to the nursery lady) and 2 pots of lavender.

My own basil, gingers, aloe veras and mint which also go into that plot.

Let' not forget kaffir lime, curry plant and chives!

I also scored these - maidenhair fern and Platycerium Superbum.

I pinched this but it doesn't seem to survive when I looked at it this morning.

Here it is! Now I just need to observe how the sun works on this plot to see if I need to put the black netting up for more shade. I'm growing mint in the existing styrofoam box to control its crazy evasive nature.

 I will add that the rosemary I acquired isn't the common rosemary you'd find at the supermarket. The leaves are tinier and denser with purple flower, instead of white. This particular plant also is growing aerial roots that I cut one stem to propagate. Let's see if it works. 

I plan to kokedama this maidenhair and feature her in the dining area.

  

I'm very surprised to find the nursery selling platyceriums and a variety that isn't that common. A platycerium group member confirmed that it's a Superbum.

My dinner last night.

I really can't remember what this is called. I'm thinking if I should remove birds of paradise and just let this be. **It's called Heliconia, False Birds of Paradise**

When your neighbour's plumeria game is strong. This Penang Peach is so pretty. She also has Rangoon Creeper creeps all over her.

My wall! 

My huperzia beside my lounging chair.

Oakleaf fern outside the maindoor.

And more in our dining area.

This Bifurcatum resides in our bedroom.

After dark orchids at the kitchen windowsill.

This is how my magnolia lily is now. 

What the heck is this!?

Building My Own Urban Jungle

I decided to clean my balcony up and so I spent RM80 getting a new garden hose (bought a wrong one and had to buy another).  It was such a b*tch de-kinking the new hose I was throwing a b*tch fit. All I wanted to do was just cleaning my balcony.

In the end, I threw the hose in the dryer and spin for 10 minutes, they came off hot and easier to handle. After spending almost 2 hourse scrubbing the floor and some of the pots that covered with those ugly mineral deposits, KL decided to rain, scratch that, it was not rain - it was a storm so my balcony was dirty again. Thank you very much.

That aside, I would like to point out that this apartment has the best sunlight, it is VERY bright so I should take advantage of this although I have to be careful and be selective with the plants I want grow indoor. I've started with 2 platyceriums (the humble and common bifurcatum) and tomorrow I should be getting at least a Ridleyi as the nursery texted me this morning saying she has one coming in. I've missed out a P. Wallichii and a P. Elephantotis at a very cheap price last week for I wasn't sure if it's a Bifurcatum. Having that said, my quest for platyceriums has been very challenging.

Lesson learnt, that one. 

I'm quite fascinated with kokedama and am thinking if I should do kokedama for the hanging plants or should I just use pots. 

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