Thunbergia Grandiflora - A Sky Blue Curtain

I have this vine of Thunbergia Grandiflora and Tristellateia australasiae (Maiden's jealousy) planted on the right side of the house. Both were trained to clamber up the wall and cascade down the front of the car porch.

The Tristellateia australasiae vine is slower growing and just managed to reached the top of the porch. Its canary yellow flowers can be seen peeking out on the right side.

 This photo was shot in the late afternoon, so a number of blooms have wilted under the searing heat of the sun.


Over time this curtain gradually grew thick and lush.






The sky-blue flowers are the favourites of Carpenter bees.





A carpenter bee buzzes in without much ceremony.

  Thunbergia blooms on vine intertwined merrily with a tecoma stans shrub.

The flaming red spikes of Alpinia purpurata (Red ginger torch) added a dollop of dramatic pigments to an otherwise pastel curtain of sky-blue flowers.

Ants at a gathering on the underside of the leaf.

Come dusk, it was chow-down time for this scavenger snail.



A vessel of freshly-plucked flowers make for a welcoming eye candy.

A Fragranced Rose & Another Without

I have only two types of rose bushes. One is structured but totally devoid of fragrance. Yet it is frequented by predator insects like this semi-transparent tiny spider.

After a shower, this itsy bitsy spider emerged from somewhere and started flexing its eight hairy limbs. The big drop of water at the centre of the flower seemed to be its watering hole.


The progression from young flower bud to full bloom over several days:

 


 

 
 
Here it is at full bloom and at its most beautiful.

 
The day after full bloom, the petals curled back further, everting them.

This itsy bitsy spider has the run of the rose. On this bloom, it seemed to be possessed of strong territorial traits .

Probably because of its tiny size, it constantly raised its limbs to appear bigger and more threatening.

A single rose can be my garden...a single friend, my world ~ Leo Buscaglia.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The other type of rose that I've planted is the old fashioned rose which I've known from my childhood days. Someone told me it is called the damask rose.

It is bluish-red with unstructured petal arrangement

and imbued with the most glorious rose scent.

Sometimes when there are numerous blooms on the bush, I would plucked some and freezed them for rose-flavoured ice-cubes.

A single rose and Tristellateia australasiae (Maiden's jealousy) in a coloured glass bowl as centrepiece for the dining table.

These are old silver modesty plates from Sulawesi used by little girls. This were tied from the waist to hide the sex, both to protect the modesty of the child and to ward off evil forces (From my sister's antique silver collection). 

Tristellateia australasiae

These trusses of bright buttery yellow flowers bloom non-stop throughout the year. It's a haven for small bees and hurrying ants. I have this planted as a standard and have no qualms about allowing it to scramble over the wall to the neighbour's side which happens to be my parents' house.

This plant is a must-have to the most horticulturally-challenged ever as they exhibit vigorous, uninhibited growth.