Garden in the morning

Congea tomentosa

 Checking out the garden early this morning to see what we have missed. The showy bracts of the Congea tomentosa in colours of mauve pink immediately attracted my attention when I looked up at the bamboo clump.  It was trained to climb the broad-leaved Lumok tree ( Artocarpus odoratissimus) and did a good job of it, seemingly to scramble the bamboo clump next.   Of the palm trees I saw three that produce fruits.  They are the Pinang tree (Arecha catechu) or Betel-nut palm,  (from which came the name 'Penang' island), The Yellow Palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens) and the Carpentaria Palm (Carpentaria acuminata).  Then, there were  the grasshopper, a pipit bird  and a friendly neighbour's cat that made the morning alive with wildlife...

Areca catechu

Chrysalidocarpus lutescens

Carpentaria acuminata,

Grasshopper

A Pipit bird

A neighbour's cat enjoying the lawn

The Belimbing fruits are starring

Ripe starfruit a plenty

On this 49th trip to Kuching, the Belimbing fruits are giving us the best surprise.  There were many ripe ones to be juiced or blended.  However, we prefer to eat them raw, freshly plucked from the garden.  The Kedondong tree is also bearing some fruits but not as plenty as the starfruit tree.  The Pinang palm (Areca catechu) is bearing its first batch of fruits.  This tree was brought over from Bintulu.  There were many flowers that paraded themselves in the garden and a few were brought in to the house for a simple floral arrangement.

Kedondong

Pinang palm ( Betel nut palm) starting to bear young fruits

Flowers taken from the garden

Mussaenda 'Calcutta'

 Next to the inflorescences of the Pinang tree ( Areca catechu) or commonly called as Betel nut palm is a flowering stand of the Mussaenda hybrid called "Calcutta" which is showing off its best colours right now.  The Mussaendas are attractive largely because of their colourful 'calyx blades', resulting from the enlargement of the sepals around the flower.  In this case the tiny flower is a deep yellow.  Other mussaenda hybrids suitable for the Kambatik garden are the Mussaenda 'Queen Sirikit', Mussaenda philippica 'Dona Aurora', Mussaenda flava and Mussaenda erythrophylla...(try google these names)

Mussaenda 'Calcutta'
Family : Rubiaceae - Coffee family