Funky Bug

I have not put up any post recently for the main reason that I was very focused on completing my assignment. Well, I'm through with it this afternoon and have submitted it. Thus with my mind freed I took time this afternoon to catch up with the garden. While busy photographing the hibiscus flower I saw a few tiny bugs that moved about the leaves and petals of the hibiscus plant. You can see one tiny bug at the top right hand corner of the picture on the left. Mu curiosity paid off. On closer examination it was not an ordinary bug. One of them had the look of an alien. I call it the ET Bug. Next, came one that looked very familiar. He looked very punky with blue Indian Sioux hairstyle. His two round eyes and nose came with a matching set of mouth full of white teeth. Seconds later I saw two punky bugs coming out from below the cream petals of the hibiscus flower. My camera phone kept tracking their movements. In the wink of an eye both bugs got stucked to each other. Ooops, caught them in the act. Or shall I say--Two Heads is better than One.

ET Bug

Blue Punk Bug ( Sorry couldn't name it better)

Ooopsy Daisy !! Caught in the Act!!

( Or shall I say..Two Heads is Better Than One)

The Drunken Sailor Drops By

Right Hand Corner of Front Garden with the 'Sepenuh' plant in full bloom, a rare occurrence.

I introduced another species of heliconia to add variety to the collection, which has long, wide and green  banana-like leaves as seen on the right foreground.

Lately I have been closely watching the right hand corner of the front garden in Kuching.  The plants seemed to be doing very well.  The variegated wild banana leaves have provided much needed shade to the plants below.  On this trip I saw the  'Sepenuh' (Eurcycles amboinensis ) plant in full flower, an uncommon sight and therefore considered myself lucky.  I was enthralled to see the 'Drunken Sailor' (Quisqualis indica ) droppin' by.  Somehow, it has managed to creep over the banana leaves and unabashedly  show off itself at a tight spot by the right hand corner of the front garden.

 

Sometimes referred to Red Jasmine the flowers are scented.  When in bloom the petals initially appear pale pink then gradually turning red as the day develops, akin to the face of a drunken sailor.  I am still undecided of  what to do with the Drunken Sailor.  Should I allow it to remain as a permanent feature or prune it?  Well, let's see how worthy the Drunken Sailor proove itself.  Then we decide.  I guess for this time around I can extend some patience with the Drunken Sailor.

If a bird must be, she must be

Today I decided to have plenty of rest. I've been very busy the whole week that made me feel stressed but all for a good reason of which I'll speak about in later postings. Since we came to Kuching last week the front garden has given us much delight unceasingly greeting us with its colourful blooms . It has now become a popular spot for birds to perch and sing. Today Inul, our cat caught a chick from the garden and brought it in the house to show me. Before letting it free I took a close up view of it and reminded of a poem I wrote a long time ago. If a bird must be, she must be.

Windswept Lawn

Like a bird one day

I was out in the open air

rested on a tall casuarina branch

and looked onto the ground

It was a small garden

recently mown

the grasses were dense

dry and brown

The place was quiet

a little breeze blew

moved the silent leaves

and branches too

The house looked firm

friendly and warm

so I flew

to a lazy rattan chair

sat relaxed and heartily thought;

Here's indeed a place to rest

to seek a peaceful mind

a mind that will

remember and recall

this windswept lawn

the trees and house

I wish to be my own.

MOOD

Back to Bintulu

After a 10 hours journey through Sarawak's green countryside we arrived at 7.00 pm yesterday evening ( 27/4) in relative darkness at our farm in Bintulu. Throughout the whole journey the skies were cloudy and we encountered light showers briefly towards the middle part of the journey. Before leaving the house in Kuching I had a short morning workout in the garden. Planted plants where necessary and applied manure heavily to some of the beds. I was very happy to see the planting results to the front garden so far. Thus after I finished the early morning workout I took this close-up image of a pink canna ( inset) and the front garden too before departure. Canna blooms will last for about a week because other buds on the flowering stalk will open up in succession.

The front garden with orange flowers of the ixora coccinea at the foreground and two pink canna blooms in the middle background.


As usual our two cats Inul and Mama Daisy joined us to make this their 14th trip to Bintulu in their record breaking attempt for the most travelled cats in Sarawak. More stories of their adventure can be gleaned here.

On this trip we visited the town of Sarikei with about half of the journey covered. I insert below a picture of Sarikei 's express boat terminal. In the days of river transportation the terminal was very busy because it was the only means of travel to and out of the town. While today the mode of travelling by road is more popular it cannot yet replace the express boats for upriver or downriver destinations .

Boats at Sarikei Express Boat Terminal


A river scene at Selangau, the last leg of the journey.

Most longhouses or 'kampungs' in Sarawak are sited along major rivers to capitalise on its water resource for drinking, bathing, washing, cooking, etc,. and for means of transport.

The farm at 7.00 pm showing a new moon on the western sky.

Kuching Garden Progress

20 April'09

Our front garden in Kuching is now about 1 year 4 months old. The planting progress photographs are shown below. Up to this point my initial design concept is more or less achieved. Just this month I added one cordyline plant, variegated yellow in colour for that golden sparkle to the garden. Now every morning I'll take a brief excercise at the front porch and then go for a bicycle ride around the neighbourhood. It's good for the health.

20 April'09

4 Dec.'08

7 June'08

30 March'08

18 Dec.'07

Trailing Parasol

Who's that wearing the Chinese Hat at the fence? Her face red in the hot sun? Looking chubby all day long? Are the Dragon girls in town? Like light umbrellas or a hundred beach umbrellas shielding us from the hot sun, these tiny inflorescences of the Cup and Saucer plants ( Holmekioldia sanguinea) are having a fantastic time trailing along my south fence . It was not easy for me to get them established since five months ago. But once set, they spread along the low fence fast albeit with a little help from a caring hand. Now my idea of having a fence that is glowing in orangy red inflorescence's daily is achieved. On closer look the Holmekiolda sanguinea plant has crimson trumpet-like flowers ( here looking like cups) that protrude from a base of orange-red calyxes -that resemble saucers. This Cup and Saucer plant is best grown in the open sun and needs support like the metal fence to encourage its trailing or shall I say foraging habit. I'm inclined to believe after seeing this tiny success that the Holmekioldia is an excellent tropical trailer for small urban gardens.

Colourful Hearts

View of side garden with coleus planted as cover in border planting.

I am pleasantly surprised to see the coleus plants parading their best colours today. It must have been the manure that I generously applied before I left for Bintulu two weeks ago that did the magic. Coleus ( Solenostemon scutellariodes ) are known here as 'Ati- Ati ' derived from the Malay root word 'Hati- Hati' meaning hearts. I plant them for their gorgeously bright multi- coloured foliage. In our tropical evergreen environment where the green wash is an everyday occurrence, splashes of colours can be obtained by planting the coleus plants. Being herbaceous perennials ( i.e. they don't have woody stems above the ground) they are rather short-lived,maybe surviving for 1-3 years at the most. However they grow very fast and thus useful for 'instant' garden results. It is important to prune them head back after every flowering season for renewed growth and fresh new foliage thus creating showy masses of colours in the garden daily.

Collection of Coleus Plant Cultivars at my Kuching Garden presently:

Colour the Garden

Living in an evergreen tropical climate one's eyes is constantly washed by the refreshing and healing colours of green. Often times when I enter a room or an office my eyes are naturally attracted to live plants that would indicate to me that there is live, growth or stability in the living or work place I am part of. Green is easy on the eye.

Still, we do need colours in our lives just as we need them to add vitality, appeal, sparkle and warmth to the garden. The green wash is considered a 'cool colour' and it is the hot or warm colours that we need to paint the garden to make it look vibrant and invigorating. After about a year since we started digging and experimenting with our garden in Kuching, some positive results are showing up. My focus today is flowers of the red hue( fully saturated). Add a little white and the redness dissolves into more pink values (tints) and here I have planted a couple of species like the heliconia 'sassy pink', pink hibiscus and pink frangipani that hopefully would tickle my senses ( see inset above).

The green wash of the small lawn, palm leaves and shrubbery at the front garden gives out much oxygen and freshness. Besides the the overall greeness, I have added darker values of red ( shades ) to the lower storey plants, thus the dark red or maroon leaves of the irisine. Even the wild banana leaves are variegated with blood red shades of colour.

Pink Hibiscus

In order to enjoy the garden early my strategy was to complete the front garden first. The side garden and the back garden would evolve later. Presently I plant all sorts of species at the back garden as 'advance nursery' which would provide me with the required quantities and heights of the plants upon transplanting . This method is cost saving because you get to propagate the plants yourself instead of purchasing them which is not cheap considering the quantities involved later.

Above, I use a lot of the highly variegated coleus species ( darker shades of red) as under storey plants for the side garden which is slowly emerging.

Having spent a good morning walk about at my garden , I was delighted to make fresh cuttings of the frangipani, hibiscus and heliconia that make their starring performances today. As a test to my kambatik garden concept, I would put it that in our rich tropical diversity, one should be able to move out of the house and within minutes make a simple composition for the table. I attempted it just now and pleased to call this composition 'My Pink Lady'. For more fast compositions of floral arrangements from the kambatik garden please browse here.

My Kuching Garden Shaping Up

The small garden plot at our residence in Kuching is shaping up since we started planting sometime early last year.

The above picture was taken in November, 2007. No grasses were planted then.

Young cycas fronds are seen sprouting this morning.  The wild banana trees have grown above the fence height and so is the majestic palm.

Here's a cu view of the wild banana tree in flower and fruiting at the same time seen early this morning.

Another plant seen flowering yesterday was this ginger lily ( Hedychium coronarium ) which sends out a strong sweet scent around the garden.