Front Garden Update - July'09

The front garden's fence area is now well covered by the Drunken Sailor (Quisqalis indica). The two Carpentaria palms have passed the ceiling height and the Blood Banana has grown into a respectable clump. One new attraction has been the Hibiscus Hybrid which flowers reguarly in red hues. Below are update photos as at today - 8/7/09.

The Drunken Sailor scrambles for support.

CU of Hibiscus Hybrid - looking healthy after some heavy dose of chicken manure, which they adore.

Coleus Collection

After a couple of months planting and collecting coleus plants in Kuching, the coleus collection at the side garden is showing results. Coleus (Solenostemon scutellariodes) plants are appealing for its multi-coloured saw-edged leaves. Locally we call coleus as 'Bunga Ati-Ati' in reference to its heart-shaped leaves ( Hati= heart in Malay). I think my effort to plant them proved successful because these low shrubs are good as shirting material to to taller plants. They are very colourful, eye-catching and for one variety produces flowers that are attractive to butterflies. I have tried to use them as cut flowers and seemed effective for its colours and lasting effect if the stems receive water in the glass vase. Below are the growing collection of coleus in the Kuching garden right now.

Front Garden Update - July'09

At the front garden , a species of our local orchid seemed to be doing very well after being planted in early June just before we left for Bintulu.

Today - when it has grown big

Before - when it was just small

To the right of the front garden, the Drunken Sailor ( Quisqualis indica) meets the Blood Banana ( Musa zebrina). It appears now that the Drunken Sailor vine has twined itself to the banana stem. Interesting move.

Update on Kuching Garden

It has been a while since my last post (30/4/09). I have been very busy in May with my doctorate studies. May was my 1st semester with Asia e University where I'm taking up a doctoral study in Business Administration. This learning adventure will last for at least 4 years from now on i.e. according to plan. Thus after the 1 st semester exams I rushed back to Bintulu to spend a full month there to relax and look after the farm too. On Monday ( 29/6/09) we checked in at our house in Kuching in the evening after a 10 hours journey by road from Bintulu. Thus with the first available light the next morning I had a good look at the garden. The above picture shows the side garden with the grasses slightly higher than usual. However I was pleasantly surprised to see the Sassy Pink Heliconias showing off their long inflorescence's. Beautiful.

July- we would be here for the rest of the month. The 2nd semester will start next week and will end early August. This stint in Kuching will give me time to develop the garden further, especially the back portion.

Anyway, from today I'll do as much updates on the garden as possible.

Heliconia stricta

Last week while in Bintulu, I spent a considerable bit of time thinning the Heliconia collection at the Heliconia Valley area. All seemed to be doing fine. They are sufficiently established now and in particular I was busy making cuttings of the Heliconia stricta. Since I was planning to go to Kuching I might as well take a couple of cuttings to be used later in Kuching . Below is shown the result of my morning's harvest. Then I used one stalk and mixed it with other flowers to make a simple composition of the day( inset right). I have now made a considerable arrangement of floral display using heliconias. For more examples see here.