Tibouchina granulosa - Senduduk

The name refers to the grainy, granular texture of the leaves. This shrub can be found growing wild but thrives well under cultivation. It blooms frequently.

 Each blossom is five-petaled and about 2" wide. 

 The petals are delicate and is a deep rose-violet to deep purple 

 in color.  

The flowers are borne in erect terminal panicles.

The stamens are gnarled and are a favourite of pollen-collecting bees

  Flowering panicles at branch tips can completely cover the tree with rich, velvet-like blossoms.


The dark green leaves are elliptic in shape and pubescent.

 

New growth is covered in a reddish bronze felt. 

Aphids having a field day on the flower buds.

 

Grasshoppers have a field day too.

Tibouchina granulosa and a silver tribal neck accessory.

Dracaena marginata - Tales of Bulbuls and Grasshopper

Dracaena marginata (Madagascar Dragon Tree, Red Edged Dracaena) is in much demand for landscaping as its red margins provide the vibrant colour. It is easily propagated from cuttings and thus can be used extensively.

This pair of Yellow Vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier) perched prettily on a curved stem of a Dracaena marginata

A few cuttings of different heights grown in a container makes a lovely ornamental specimen for enhancing indoor decors.

Grown under full sunshine, it takes on orangy hues. This long stem dipped down as it was not supported, triggering two side shoots at the top of the greatest curvature.

I saw this pair of Yellow Vented Bulbuls on a ledge enjoying an overview of the garden. When they were done with that they flew off ...

... to perch on this curved Dracaena stem.

When they have enough of this view, one of the pair flew off followed by the other.


and landed on the same ledge.


This variety of Dracaena marginata has more green to it. Just like the red variety, it makes a good indoor plant too.

A grasshopper crawled up a blade of leaf.


When it reached a part that is horizontal, it climbed up to the one above it.

 It then had a soft hammock to rest and dilly-dally away its time. This was very reminiscent of Aesop's tale of 'The Grasshopper and the Ant'.

Impatiens walleriana - Buzy Lizzie

My last post which on Argyreia nervosa (Elephant Vine), where I follow it skywards as it scrambled up the wall. For this post, I've decided to be more down-to-earth and shall feature one of my favourite bedding plants; Impatiens walleriana. It is extremely easy to propagate from cuttings. We simply pinched off any leggy stems and stick them into some potting material. Within a few days, it produces blooms as fresh as ever.

The moniker 'Busy Lizzy' for this plant is most apt as they flower almost non-stop. Masses of flowers are produced at low height, making them good bedding plants and excellent for use as ground cover.

Here in the tropics, it tends to wilt a little by late afternoon, so I plant them under the shade of taller plants such as this shrub of yellow Pachystachys lutea (Lollipop Plant, Golden Shrimp Plant). Here they thrive happily on partial shade and fitered sunlight. The Philodendron Imbe at the back slowly encroah on its space.

Peachy orange with dark green leaves.

Some have lime green foliage.

A variation is Powder pink flowers. This has sprouted in between some Caladium leaves.

A tiny Zizula hylax pygmaea (Pygmy Grass Blue) reposed contentedly on a leaf.

A juicy caterpillar of the Common Lime strangely ended up on this flower.

A grasshopper on Alpinia purpurata stem overlooking a bed of Impatiens.

 The Magdagascar Periwinkle complement them as low border plants for a grassy pathway to the pool.

Jatropha podagrica and the Green Grasshopper

I remember forever having Jatropha podagrica (Buddha Belly Plant) in my garden. They are self-seeding and generally flourished without much effort on my part.

The leaves are large and round  with a few shallow indents.  Spines radiate from the centre of the leaf giving it a star shape.

Upright flowers stalks soon follow. Five flowers of the inflorescence are in anthesis while the remaining tiny round globes are probably the male flowers.



The fruit is large compared to the flower. It is in the form of an elongated globule and consist of five segments.



 

 Pollination is a frequent success story with fruits forming easily. It is  evidenced here by the presence of five well-formed fruits. 

The fruits are a powdery light teal green colour which is quite similar to the colour of the leaves. They stay on the stalk for many weeks before bursting.

The stem of the plant is swollen hence its moniker, 'Buddha Belly'. Its characteristics are similiar to succulents. When any part of the plant is broken off, a light murky sap oozes out.

 

I was snipping off the half chomped-off leaves of the Pseuderanthemum reticulatum when the mystery of the jagged leaf edges was uncovered.

 
The uninvited dinner guest was a homogeneously green grasshopper. being caught red-handed, it quickly hopped on to a sturdy leaf stalk of Jatropha podagrica.

Through the filtered sunlight, the limbs appeared like translucent jade. Only the reddish-grey antennae and yellow spikes on its lower leg detract from its homogenous green colour. The claws have a reddish tinge. I thought they look like manicured and pedicured painted nails.

 
Here its head is seen admist the leaf, flowers and fruits.


It clinged on the stalk with its vice-grip.



Before long it decided to ascend by spreading out its limbs all over for anchorage until it could clutched the edge of a leaf.

It then heaved itself up on to the leaf surface.

 Old Tibetan rosary comprising one hundred and five-beads. The black beads are interspersed with yellow ember, sky-blue turquoise, red coral and silver beads. (From my sister's collection of antique beads and baubles).