Purplish orchid

Wow, time flies. Since my last post, its now entering mid November and soon 2012 will come to an end. Over here, its been raining practically every day for the past several weeks now. Too much water risk washing away all the fertilizers but it does saves me a lot of time from having to water my plants daily.

Just last week while cleaning up my backyard, I noticed two buds emerging from my orchid plant. I had bought it back in May 2010 to color my otherwise plain green and brown garden. The color was spectacular and distinct. I couldn't remember but I think I bought only one orchid plant. After the flowers died, the stork remained but it never bloomed since then.

I have practically forgotten about it as it fade and hide itself among the ferns and other leafy plants. So when I saw the buds popping out again after more than two years, it was just sheer joy.

The plant is not only alive, its blooming again. And today, it has fully bloomed. I have the wet season to thank. I think the cooler and wet weather with constant rain must have made it ideal for the plant to bloom its beautiful flower.

This one that I have is purplish in color. I call it my purplish orchid. So as you can probably guess, I know extremely little about orchids, not even knowing the correct name of this particular type. If you know the proper name for it, please let me know.

One thing I noticed is the slight difference in color. The top most pic, which was taken today (11/11/12), has a more darker purplish tone compared to the bottom (right) pic, which was taken two years ago (5/20/10) despite the fact that its coming from the same plant.

While I enjoy the beauty, I wait anxiously for the second bud to open and show me its spectacular shape and striking color...

Pennywort (pegaga)

Indian pennywort or gotu kola

Today I decided to pen down some thoughts on my pennywort, known scientifically as centella asiatica and in Malay as pegaga. I have two types. The thicker leave type, known as Brazilian/marsh pennywort and the thinner/softer leave type, known as Indian pennywort or gotu kola. The latter is popular with the Malay community as a salad dish called ulam.

Cat's whiskers (misai kucing)

Growing tall

This, as most gardening lovers may know, is a herb plant that has white flowers with long 'whiskers', which is perhaps where it earned its name. In Malay, its called "misai kucing", a literal translation of the english name.

I don't have the flowers to show here as the plant has stopped flowering. And I do not know if the flowers are edible or not but the leaves are. Its a native plant and can easily be found in homes. It is also easily grown through stem cuttings. If I remember correctly, I bought this plant when it was still young in a small pot at a local floral fest.

White-striped green caterpillar

Can you find the caterpillar?

This is a beautiful caterpillar. I have seen tiny hairy caterpillars but this is the first time I saw one as beautiful as this. With its green and white-striped color, it camouflaged itself extremely well on one of my plants. It should be around 2.5 inch to 3 inch long. But how did it get that big? It should have been around for some time and while I keep a close eye on my plants, I wonder how I could have missed it.

Failed attempt on herbs

green and nice

I had been thinking of how I could obtain new herb plants for my collection. My concerns were:
1. Price - some of the herb plants sold in local nurseries are rather expensive (more expensive than normal plants), although I can understand the health values that the plants have.
2. Availability - while some can be found in nurseries, some are not available, either sold out or they don't carry them. The availability of herb seeds sold in supermarkets are also extremely limited.

Purple shamrock

Purple shamrock on ground

Okay, lets move from blue to purple now. This is my purple shamrock. I like the unique shape of the leaves (as you can see from the pic). It looks like the Irish shamrock clover doesn't it? I am not sure if its the same species or just look alike. Hope someone can tell me. Scientifically, its known as Oxalis atropurpurea.

Blue butterfly flower

The beautiful flower

Isn't this simply gorgeous? I first came to know about this plant when I read about it in My Nice Garden blog. The pics in the blog were so nicely taken that I wanted the same plant for myself. And that got me visiting the local nurseries here to look for that specific plant. Normally, I would go into a local nursery just to see what they have there and what plants catches my eye.

Jasmine (Kemuning)

The 5-petal white flower

I bought this plant at an annual floral fest slightly more than a year ago and it has grown tall since then. When I bought it, I think it was about 3 or 4 feet tall but then it was heavily attacked by scales and so I had to trim and cut it down to control the spread. Now, its over 7 feet tall but not as robust because its not getting full direct sunlight. Although scientifically called 'murraya paniculata', over here, its locally known as jasmine or bunga kemuning (in Malay).