Portulaca grandiflora - Splendour in the Sun

A pot fully draped with portulaca grandiflora of the brazilian variety. Their blooms are large averaging about 2" in diameter compared to the usual ones.

Two varieties, the white & pink bicolour and the fuchsia grace the rim of a pot of bougainvillea

 

These are real eye candy. This intense fuschia colour is most attractive and would brighthen up any garden

 They are sun worshippers but will wilt if the heat gets too strong by late afternoon. The blooms last a day but they will always be a fresh crop the next day.

Curiously the stigma is positioned towards the side and bottom of the whole mass of stamens. Towards the later part of the day the pollen pods would burst and scatter its contents. However the easier and preferred method of propagating is by stem cuttings. Simply just nick some thick stems and push them into some rich soil. No rooting hormone is needed at all; they practically thrive like weeds. In about two days they'll look fine and dandy with sturdy blooms.

Delicate petals flutter with the softest of breeze

An unlikely mix of both types is seen on this particular flower

The double petal flowers are smaller

A swath of double petal blooms. 

 Portulaca are also commonly called moss rose or Japanese rose


the purest white 

  
powder pink

two toned variety of white and pink

peachy and pretty

orange ones grab the eyes

peach colour with blushes of pink

Fuchsia ones are the original portulaca colour 

Poopoo scoop for Tasha, my chihuahua mix-breed on a bed of Portulaca

Tasha sporting a portulaca bloom behind her ear 

Splendour in the Sun - Portulaca grandiflora

Lantana Camara - A berryful harvest

This cluster of lantana camara is of the 'spreading sunset' variety.

 

 

The lush foliage is borne on sturdy stems which are from the wild lantanas. Soft-stemmed types of various hues are then grafted onto them. I got this specimen from the nursery last year and it has never failed to disappoint.

 

They bloom profusely and almost non stop throughout the year. The only downside comes from our harsh tropical rain which washes the delicate tiny flowers off their petioles.

I love these pristine white flowers with canary yellow centres. They remind me of a plateful of fried eggs with sunny-side-up .

Pure yellow florets can also be expressed. They add warm summery tones to the whole assemble.

Solid white and solid yellow florets can be seen too. The solitary ant must have lots of fun wandering around; from bridal white to royal yellow floral chambers.

These clusters of pink-white and yellow-white in the same inflorescense showcase the diverse permutations of hues possible. Often called the lanatana camara 'ham n eggs'.

 

These are some of the unripe berries which I've harvested to be used for a casual flower arrangement on my kitchen windowsill. The berries formed as a result of missing them out during deadheading of spent flowers.

 

This arrangement consists of materials which are the flotsam and jetsam from trimmings in the garden; bird's nest fern (Asplenium nidus), Mother-in-law's tongue (Sanseveria Trifasciata), red Carphalea Kirondon and Lantana Camara berries. It is such sheer waste to merely cast them off.

After about 2 days in the vase, the berries ripen into luscious globes and take on a jet black shade which looks good enough to be eaten. The pale green cores remained when all the ripe berries have fallen.

A Verdant Shade - Calathea Lutea

Instead of planting Calathea Lutea in the ground as is normally done, I had them planted in several pots several months ago. These tall majestic plants belong to the large prayer plant family, the Marantaceae. Their broad bluish-green leaves provide much welcome shade and reduce the glare from the hot afternoon sun. Tiny yellow flowers are carried on maroon cigar-like bracts. Read that in some South American country, the leaves are used as food wrappers for cooking in the way we used pandan leaves for pandan chicken.

Calathea fronds partially covered by a ginger torch plant

The flowers themselves are transient; probably lasting a day or so but the long lasting bracts are both an oddity and a novelty.

For dinner I wanted to make a leek and mushroom pie from a recipe that I’ve tried over the Chinese Spring festival. Leeks then were abundantly available. This morning I bought leeks but forgot about the mushroom so this dish would have to be taken out from tonight’s meal.

As I was cooling my potted Calatheas with buckets of water, I noticed a bunch of wild mushrooms sprouting at their bases. For a moment, I wonder whether I could make use of these but quickly banished the idea though they look rather innocuous, wholesome and palatable.

Blessed with the Midas touch

This bougainvillea cultivar is truly blessed with the Midas' touch. The blooms start off as burnt orange and as the petals mature, it turns bright yellow before fading to pale yellow.

This sun worshipper climbs tall and blooms non-stop to our greatest delight. Most of the foliage is converted into golden bracts in some sort of perpetual celebration of the fertility of Mother Earth.

Roof top view, from the first floor.

It straddles the edge of this rainwater gutter. My only misgiving is that the blooms are rather ephemeral. The petals are shed as readily as it replenishes them. This messy trait means that there is quite a fair amount of sweeping up to do. In exasperation, I have often toyed with the idea of chopping it down but just as often, the sight of the dazzling blooms prevented me from doing so.

The Grasshopper and the Ants

The Ant and the Grasshopper (Project Gutenberg etext 19994)

The fable of The Ant and the Grasshopper, is attributed to Aesop. The grasshopper frolicked and had much merriment all summer while the ants kept busy preparing for winter. The moral of the story is diligence and preparation. On the other hand it has often being quoted that “Some folks are so busy laying up for a rainy day that they cannot enjoy good weather”.

This grasshopper was an unexpected guest. He landed on the computer table right in front of me, basking in the limelight (the colourful light is from the monitor) instead of working. Tsk, tsk ... But as Mark Twain famously said, “Diligence is a good thing, but taking things easy is much more restful”

He was a teeny weeny thingy but has a big apetite for city lights and stayed motionless in the same spot, a perfect model for my shutterbugging. This vainglory trait in him proved to be his undoing as he finally ended up as a delightful mid-nite snack for Pickles the hedgehog. Pickles was extremely pleased to have this delicacy which was such a welcome change from her usual sanitised diet of hedgy or canine food pellets.
A tinge of guilt crossed me as I tossed him into Pickles 's food platter but then I rationalised that in the big scheme of things, the law of the jungle, "survival of the fittest" rules. To survive he should have the gumption to get out of the predicament. There was a big window of opportunity since at the time Pickles was still catching up on her beauty sleep.

Tabernaemontana orientalis

On the other hand, the ants were busy gathering and storing in preparation for a rainy day. A simple lesson but yet so insightful. The Gen Y born with silver spoons in their mouths should heed this. I observe that most of them live like they is no tomorrow. As the Greek Philosopher Aristotle observed way back in 300 BC, and still very relevant today, "The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things—and that means having exalted notions."

Some like the nectar and pollen of the whites while others prefer the reds (I can't identify this flower) Whatever their choice there is plenty for them in my little garden of Eden.

Aechmea Chantinii (Bromeliad)

Bigger, darker and aggressive-looking ants tend to seek out the more flamboyant blooms of the bromeliad to hoard up on their food supplies. These showy flowers last for months and always bring a bright spot of colour to the garden. The variegated leaves are thick but edged with viscious thorns, I suppose as a form of protection for its precious bounty. Propagation is simple enough; I started off with one but now there is a huge bunch of them.

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.