Seasonal Gardens Without Seasons

Where I stay, there are no apparent seasons.

Sometimes it rains, sometimes it is hot and dry.
Basically, the weather is almost the same throughout the year, usually ranging from 25 to 37 degree Celsius.

I used to think our weather is considered hot until I hear of the heat waves reports in many places recently.
I think I better appreciate our moderate weather in Malaysia.

Where you see the red firecracker plant above is where I used to grow tall, spiky agave plants.

Where you see the white stones on the ground now is where I had my lawn.

I got bored with spiky plants and so much green that I have changed the look of my garden.

I and am now enjoying the colour of snow.

I love the soft droopy look of many of these plants.

They seem to have a COOL and calming effect.

When I'm in the mood for Autumn, I can change the colours of the pebbles to brown and remove some leaves...

On a more serious note, I love the varied colours of Autumn.

That must be the most beautiful season.

Forget about Autumn for now.
Let's look at HOT Summer below!

This is a photo taken 2 years ago showing the same wall.

Spiky plants are from left to right, top to bottom.

They consisted of aloe vera, snake plants and agave plants.

This place looks very HOT to me.

As our taste change, our gardens evolve and even the look on our blogs go through modification.

I enjoy these changes.

Gardening without seasons need not be boring.

To create a cooler looking garden, I've made the following few changes.

- Spiky plants are replaced by droopy plants. 

- The lawn is replaced with white stones.

- White flowers overshadow bright coloured flowers.

Recently I created a new garden bed and transplanted some of my bushy plants there.

The dogs thought the bushes were in the way and kept digging them up.

Obviously, these plants suffered more than just transplanting shock.

The side effect is some pretty wintry look which the dragonflies seem attracted to.

Dried up plants with white background have enhanced the cool wintry garden look.

Seasonal gardens without seasons.

How much more fun can gardening get?
If you are fond of drgaonflies, come visit my Dragonfly Farm

(Don't remind me of the weeds, please. Clifford is taking care of that.)

Linking up with :
Cottage Flora Thursday
Fertilizer Friday
Fabulous Friday

Macro Friday

Vegetarian Ladybugs

It has been generally mistaken by some of us that all ladybugs are predators and feed on aphids.

Actually, some ladybugs are vegetarian.

Unlike other ladybugs, this species which is known as the Mexican Bean Beetle (Subcoccinella Vigintiquatuorpunctata) doesn't fly around as much. 

It is not shiny like other ladybugs but is completely covered with tiny hair instead. 

This ladybug is feeding on a tomato leaf. It feeds by clinging to the under surface of a leaf and eating irregular sections of the lower leaf surface.

It lays yellow cluster of eggs on the underside of leaves. 

How many eggs do you see up there?

Despite the damage done by these ladybugs, my cherry tomatoes have been growing acceptably well. Perhaps, it is not just these bugs that been having a good meal, so have the birds and dragonflies. Thank you to the existence of ecology.

In case you are wondering, the snake plant is there to provide a sturdy support for the tomatoes.