Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.” - Kurt Vonnegut
I unconsciously gave myself a new thing to do for 2014; gardening. This blog will serve as a platform to chronicle and share my experience in this new hobby.
I grew up having watering my grandma's plants as my main chore. And it was always at 5pm, everyday. My childhood was filled with bougainvilleas, balsams and and kalanchoes. Balsams were a favourite because of their cute little seed pods. It's fun to pop the mature ones.
I grew up having watering my grandma's plants as my main chore. And it was always at 5pm, everyday. My childhood was filled with bougainvilleas, balsams and and kalanchoes. Balsams were a favourite because of their cute little seed pods. It's fun to pop the mature ones.
My father has a green thumb and has a great collection of plants and bonsai, but mother nature decided to play some game and gave me a brown thumb instead. Heh.
I believe the first plant I bought was a small pot of herb from the local supermarket when I was working in Singapore but it died. I also invested in an orchid when I was still in Singapore and I left it there so I have no idea what happened to it. After that, I bought a vanilla orchid in KL and left it with my dad. It died.
Fast forward, I tried to plant green onions, parsley and bought a reasonable-sized pot of rosemary from my favorite florist. Green onions and parsley sprouted but they died quickly. So did the rosemary.I decided to try again and bought plants from Cameron Highlands when my BF and I made a trip there; succulent, hydrangea, mexican sunflower and miniature rose.
Rather a bad idea, as they don't suit KL's hot weather. They died within 3 weeks. Yes even the succulent; I overwatered. Hydrangea could have survived but I killed it by overdoing with the pesticide. The hydrangea was sprouting so many babies. My heart was broken. I still have the plant in the pot and water it frequently. Who knows, one fine day, it will thrive again.
Meanwhile, I started to snoop around the internet and found there are a cluster of avid gardeners sharing tips and info online, that's how I found out about acclimatized hydrangeas, air-filtering plants and stuff like that. After learning my mistakes (I must resist overwatering. I believe I will have the tendency of overfeeding kids when I have my own. I overfeed my BF too) and since we are moving to a bigger apartment, I made a list of plants I would want. I got all the plants I wanted on my first trip to the stretch of plant nurseries at Sungai Buloh. What a great start.
Clockwise: Fiddle Leaf Fig tree, deep red plumeria aka frangipani, hydrangea from Cameron and acclimatized hydrangea.
Meanwhile, I started to snoop around the internet and found there are a cluster of avid gardeners sharing tips and info online, that's how I found out about acclimatized hydrangeas, air-filtering plants and stuff like that. After learning my mistakes (I must resist overwatering. I believe I will have the tendency of overfeeding kids when I have my own. I overfeed my BF too) and since we are moving to a bigger apartment, I made a list of plants I would want. I got all the plants I wanted on my first trip to the stretch of plant nurseries at Sungai Buloh. What a great start.
Here are the reasons why I chose these plants:
1. Fiddle leaf fig - Hardy and I love the way it looks. I had the experience of taking care of two of them (over 10 feet each) when I was managing a Coach Leatherware store. They didn't need much fuss; water once a week or so and that's it. They didn't even have natural sunlight and they still grow. We had to trim them few times year because they were blocking the CCTV cameras. I chose a 3-footer thinking I wouldn't need a bigger tree since our apartment isn't that big but I'm wrong, the bigger the better. Haha. A 5-footer or a 6 would be ideal. Let's grow baby!
2. Plumeria - They are everywhere around my current neighbourhood; in the yards and along the public roads. They are also very prominent at my hometown, Lumut. You can see them along the waterfront and they are huge. I chose a deep red ones because the white ones (Singapore White) are kinda a no-no, they are associated with ghosts. You can always find them around Malay graveyards. The scent of the flower reminded my Malay friends of graveyards. I know it doesn't make sense but I blame my upbringing. I will be getting more varieties like yellow and pinks after settling down in the new apartment and who knows by then, my head will be out of my butt and accept Singapore White as it deserved to be.
3. Hydrangea from Cameron - It's light violet in colour, not really my color. I tend to fancy deeper-coloured flowers. It's not recommended by the gardeners as they are not acclimatized yet, chances of them not blooming is present. But the healthy shoots and the leaves are so green they scream in pink of health. This particular plant reminds me so much of my old hydrangea.
4. Acclimatized hydrangea - Blue color, also not my color. Not as robust and healthy as the Cameron one but I chose this because it has been acclimatized and the parent looks ok. The stems and leaves are thinner in comparison and the green colour is paler with whitish spots. A quick Google says it lacks nutrient. I've repotted and put some fertilizer we bought from Cameron Highlands. Let's hope this helps.
I recently bought some cut white spray carnation and I used some of the new shoots as foliage; two of them are growing some roots! I have had this experience before and I don't remember the details but they didn't survive due to the hot climate. Perhaps I should wait for them to grow longer and I shall try to pot them.
After learning about certain plants doubling as air-purifier, I'm very encouraged to get more. Those listed plants by NASA don't really tickle my fancy, perhaps just the orchids and potted lemon tree that passed my test. I'm currently searching for alternatives; water lilies or lotus are pleasing to the eyes but I'm unsure how it will work indoor and it's pretty big. You may suggest to plant herbs, but I realise I hardly use western herbs for my cooking and I don't cook as often as I would like to. I suppose I can try succulents again, I just need to resist myself from watering them!
So there. A great start to my new hobby and let's hope the plants grow!
1. Fiddle leaf fig - Hardy and I love the way it looks. I had the experience of taking care of two of them (over 10 feet each) when I was managing a Coach Leatherware store. They didn't need much fuss; water once a week or so and that's it. They didn't even have natural sunlight and they still grow. We had to trim them few times year because they were blocking the CCTV cameras. I chose a 3-footer thinking I wouldn't need a bigger tree since our apartment isn't that big but I'm wrong, the bigger the better. Haha. A 5-footer or a 6 would be ideal. Let's grow baby!
2. Plumeria - They are everywhere around my current neighbourhood; in the yards and along the public roads. They are also very prominent at my hometown, Lumut. You can see them along the waterfront and they are huge. I chose a deep red ones because the white ones (Singapore White) are kinda a no-no, they are associated with ghosts. You can always find them around Malay graveyards. The scent of the flower reminded my Malay friends of graveyards. I know it doesn't make sense but I blame my upbringing. I will be getting more varieties like yellow and pinks after settling down in the new apartment and who knows by then, my head will be out of my butt and accept Singapore White as it deserved to be.
3. Hydrangea from Cameron - It's light violet in colour, not really my color. I tend to fancy deeper-coloured flowers. It's not recommended by the gardeners as they are not acclimatized yet, chances of them not blooming is present. But the healthy shoots and the leaves are so green they scream in pink of health. This particular plant reminds me so much of my old hydrangea.
4. Acclimatized hydrangea - Blue color, also not my color. Not as robust and healthy as the Cameron one but I chose this because it has been acclimatized and the parent looks ok. The stems and leaves are thinner in comparison and the green colour is paler with whitish spots. A quick Google says it lacks nutrient. I've repotted and put some fertilizer we bought from Cameron Highlands. Let's hope this helps.
I recently bought some cut white spray carnation and I used some of the new shoots as foliage; two of them are growing some roots! I have had this experience before and I don't remember the details but they didn't survive due to the hot climate. Perhaps I should wait for them to grow longer and I shall try to pot them.
After learning about certain plants doubling as air-purifier, I'm very encouraged to get more. Those listed plants by NASA don't really tickle my fancy, perhaps just the orchids and potted lemon tree that passed my test. I'm currently searching for alternatives; water lilies or lotus are pleasing to the eyes but I'm unsure how it will work indoor and it's pretty big. You may suggest to plant herbs, but I realise I hardly use western herbs for my cooking and I don't cook as often as I would like to. I suppose I can try succulents again, I just need to resist myself from watering them!
So there. A great start to my new hobby and let's hope the plants grow!
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