Red frangipani flowers

While shopping at Gambier Street in down town Kuching, I stopped by the jetty to watch the serenity of the Sarawak River and the rustic and historical 'Astana' on the opposite riverbank. The Astana is the official residence of the Governor of Sarawak now. I was taken aback by the blood red colours of the above frangipani species planted in planter boxes in front of the shophouses area. I have often seen pink or a mixture of pink and orange colours but pure red colours are hard to come by.

Heliconia collection

As part of the landscaping plan for my eco-farm, I have included a section for my collection of heliconias. It is envisaged that the area will ultimately develop into a 'heliconia valley' where one can enjoy the the stark beauty of heliconia colourful bracts.

Today I cleared the footsteps of a path in the valley area and trimmed the heliconia clumps along the way. Below is the scene of my morning workout. Despite being a Sunday, I enjoyed the morning hours clearing the undergrowth and overgrown grasses and sweeping off the fallen leaves.

The long string of pinkish bracts of heliconia 'sassy pink' below are a real treat. Some can be more than a meter long.

The deep red lipstick colours of the heliconia stricta below is very attractive. It is for their colourful bracts ( 'false flowers') that heliconias are better known.

And finally, before the day is done, I displayed four varieties of heliconias into this glass fish bowl.

Daily Cut Flowers

The heliconia species below is fondly called 'sassy pink'. Its bracts are pendulous.The pink colour is unique and striking. This particular stand is seen next to the front gate of our house in Kuching.

From this morning garden workout( about one and half hours of digging and planting work) I selected a few bracts of heliconias and two fronds of cycas plant. Here's how they look :

A closer view of another interesting heliconia species called' the fire crackers' is shown above.

And this was how I was inspired this morning to create a new blog ......well about CUT FLOWERS. While cutting the fronds of this sea cycas( pakis laut) it dawned upon me to do cut flowers arrangement on a daily basis. A tall order. Yes, but I am ready to take up the challenge. Therefore I am now thinking of the title of the blog. Could it be.....Daily Cut Flowers? Well, that's a start.....

Luak Bay 'Millionaire's Road'

On the way back to Bintulu by the new coastal highway, I was attracted to this group of mussaendas grown as intermediate shrub in the central median along Luak Bay's famous 'millionare road' stretch. Here in Miri the rich and famous have bought and invested ( some speculated) land along the beach to build mansions with huge garden spaces. What is interesting about mussendas are the colourful masses of colours which are actually not flowers. There are but the bracts or false flowers. I suspect the species shown above to be 'Donna Luz', which has a rose -pink hue to its colour. The full name of this plant is Mussaenda philipicca, which is believed to have originated from the Philippines.

Here's to Fragrance

Nice to see, nice to hold, nice to smell. Today I celebrate this new web blog with a variegated gardenia flower. After a good two hours workout this morning ( before the scorching heat falls on the garden), I had an excellent mind -bending, mind -stretching exercise in the form of rapidly setting up this blog. For the record , I managed to build up this blog in about two hours with all its links done. I would say a most fruitful morning workout and dare I say it- a spiritual workout as well ( remember, the fragrance and the instant hope and energy it gives you). I will write more on gardening as a spiritual workout in later postings.