Wedding Bells

These two white antenna wasp moths are dating amongst the wild blue flowers.

Now that the trend is into organic gardening, it seems that most of our gardens are becoming very fertile ... for the small creatures.
You are invited to a bug wedding ceremony.

Entrance
to a 
BUG WEDDING CEREMONY.

Monthly Garden Bouquet

I visit Noelle from Ramblings from a Desert Garden... regularly as I always enjoy reading what she has to share. I don't do flower arrangements nor bouquets. However, regulars visits to her website has inspired me to take some initiative and get out of my comfort zone.

Since I feel shy about my own arrangement, I have decided to add some blurry effects as you can see above.

Oh...what the heck! Laugh if you want to.
I used chillies to cover up the sponge. I have loads of chillies.

Hmm...it looks to me that some green should be added between the flower and the chillies...

Does the red Zinnia flowers look better back here where it belong?

How would you rate the bouquet from minus 1 to minus 10?

You can keep the rating to yourself. :)
Will try to do a better job next time.

Flowering Agave

My agave plants are flowering right now.

This is the first bloom after 2 1/2 years.

There are two of them flowering side by side at the same time.

It wasn't easy to take these photos as the flower stalk is very tall.
Further, they are growing in a planter which has been built on the wall.

My 10 year old neighbour noticed that I was struggling to take the photos and offered to climb up the wall to help get a better picture. For him, it was probably an opportunity to climb but I must admit this boy loves to help...just like the rest of his family. 

Actually, it would have been great if he could take some shots of the flower buds and pollens but I wasn't good with my instruction and the plant was very prickly.
In the end, I settled with the zoom feature.

This is how the baby agave looks like from the top view.

Black ants and paper wasp call this agave plant their home.

Gardening A Game

I was invited to play a game by a beautiful lady who is very good at  growing healthy plants. Even the wild monkeys could not resist the temptations to the delicious tomatoes that she grew and helped themselves to the ripe ones. She is Malar from My Little Garden.

As part of the game, I have to list out 10 things I enjoy doing.

Ten Things I Love To Do

Digging

I enjoy digging although the clay soil and stones here sometimes prove too much for my spade. Everytime we dig the soil, we are exposed to Mycobacterium Vaccae which apparently relaxes us and even makes us smarter. Professor Roush from Gardening Musing wrote and interesting article about this bacteria in Garden Tranquilizer.

Growing

I love to grow plants. Sometimes I grow puppies, new born bunnies and sparrows too but these were not planned and are not in my future plans either. Occasionally, I propagate plants to giveaway. I enjoy the whole process of plant propagation and letting them be adopted by good families.

Seeds Giveaway

It is only these past few months that I started collecting seeds to giveaway. I intend to make that a habit. I do not expect anything in return but Jenn's Gardening Spot surprised me by sending California Poppies, Nasturtiums, Garlic Chives and Egyptian Walking Garlic. It is a pity that we are not allowed to grow poppies in Malaysia. I thought the flowers are beautiful. Thank you Jenn. I really appreciate them.

Staying Organic

It is my wish to maintain an organic and sustainable garden. Often I bumped into challenges with pest and diseases. Many people would advise me to spray some chemical and solve the problem instantly. I don't believe in instant cures. I have already fallen into the trap of instant coffees and instant noodles. For my plants,  I would rather work on improving the soil to attain healthier plants with better immune systems. 

Harvesting

Who doesn't like harvesting? Currently, I am picking mulberries , cherry tomatoes, chillies and papayas.  I am waiting for my sweet delicious mangoes to be ripe. My daughter makes sure our neighbour's rabbits get to enjoy the organic vegetable on a regular basis.

Odd-shaped Mulberry

Composting

It's a joy to keep all that organic rubbish!  It feels complete. :)

Photography

Through macro views, I get to see things I don't normally see. There are many beautiful creatures and plants that are too minute for our eyes to appreciate. Photography makes it possible to look at things at unusual angles too. Of course, photography also enable sweet moments to be captured.

An endearing moment of Goldee & her son, Clifford.

Blogging

To me, blogging allows me to pen down my thoughts and organize the photos that I take. The purpose was not to share with the world ... until connecting came about.

Connecting

I have got to know several new friends with similar interests recently in the Blogosphere. Our paths may not have crossed without the passion for blogging and connecting. I enjoy this friendship although we may never meet. I look forward to reading your blogs and receiving your comments.

Walking the Dogs

It is a joy to breathe fresh air early in the morning while walking the dogs. I would stop and rub my dogs' chest for a minute or two during that time and enjoy their beaming smiles.

Goldee's beaming smile.

The rule of this game is to:

1) Inform who invite you
2) List the 10 things you like to do
3) Invite another 10 bloggers

I am inviting 10 blogger friends to participate in this game. If you decide not to participate, nothing bad will happen to you ... in the next 10 days. I will still continue to enjoy reading your lovely blogs.

Garden Walk Garden Talk

Garden Musings

Aaron's Gardening Blog

Ramblings From A Desert Garden

Hippie Mama Urban Gardener

Missy's Garden

Veggiegobbler

Denise No Niwa

Handlebar Gardens

Busy Bee

Heliconia

All flowers are beautiful to me. 

Some are rather showy, like Heliconia.

Heliconia Rostrata

Heliconia Latispatha

Heliconia Psittacorum Golden Torch

These are all planted in front of my house by the developer, SP Setia Bhd. 

Lucky for me, I get to enjoy the beauty of heliconia without having to maintain them.

Heliconia Psittacorum Lady Di with Clifford

I find the Hanging Heliconia very attractive, resembling fire crackers. 

Even Clifford wanted to take a photo with it.

Identifying A True Friend

All gardeners know that this bright little creature is a gardener's friend. 

They are said to feed on soft-bodied creatures which feed on plants which would include aphids and mealybugs.

Since it is their young ones whom are the voracious feeders of aphids, we need to be able to identify them.

Many people including myself has previously mistaken the ladybug larvae as pests.

Continue Reading...

Found At Pet Creek

Who is this?

It has just arrived at Pet Creek on its own.

Continue Reading

Bountiful Fruits in Canada

Two days ago, I posted on some of the most Incredible Blooms in my niece's garden in Canada. 

I thought you might be interested to take a look at some of their fruit trees too.

Look at those pears!!!

...and cherries!!!

These are cherry flowers. 

Frankly, I would definitely want to plant a cherry tree if it blooms like that for me. 

Fruits doesn't matter but of course all the better.

Apart from huge tomatoes, there are also juicy watermelons almost ready to be harvested.

Do you want to know the secret of this beautiful and bountiful garden?

I was told it is through applying regular doses of self-made aerated compost tea and eliminating chemical fertilizer altogether.

Thanks to my niece and family for this wonderful information.

Try it out if you wish.

Chweet waiting for Speedy

On a side note,  GardenWalkGardenTalk has let out word that Speedy needs to be adopted. I agreed to take Speedy in but so far has not seen any signs of it. It's raining cats and dogs out there for the last few hours and we are getting rather worried. Kindly watch out for Speedy. You can find its image in gardenwalkgardentalk. Leave us a note if you spot Speedy, ok?

Growing A Sparrow

Occasionally, I blog about growing specific plants.

This time around it is about growing a sparrow.

We have asked this little sparrow for its name and it has replied.

READ MORE

Incredible Blooms

I must really share with you some astounding blooms.

Japanese Tree Peonies

More Peonies

Compact Clusters of Phlox

Various shades of Dianthus

Purple Rhododendron

Crocus on the Rocks

Flourishing Daffodils


Crocus, Phlox and Peonies,
Marvelous shots from niece.

I enjoy these great pictures,
Tho' I can't grow them here.

Thank you for sharing, dear,

Please send again next year.

New Comer at Pet Creek

This little baby bird with yellow beak has been staying in our study room for 3 days.
Is this a sparrow?

READ MORE

Lotus's Opening Hours

Three months ago, I posted photos of my very first lotus flower. At that time, I was totally caught unaware of the blooming hours. By the time I decided to take out the camera out in the afternoon, the petals were already closed. I was disappointed. I had to wait till the next day for it to bloom again. See what happens with a little procrastination.

Now that it is blooming for the second time, I am jotting down the opening hours of a Lotus Bloom for your information.

First Day

It starts to bloom at dawn.
The petals open to the maximum by around 8:30am.
It remains like this only for a few hours.

The flower petals closes almost entirely by 2pm on the same day.

Second Day

On the second day, it remains closed in the morning.
This photo was taken at noon.
It remained the same at 4pm, looking rather shy.
It closed at night.

Third Day

On the third day, the petals open up much earlier compared to the second day.
This photo was taken at 9am.
Notice the lack of freshness?
In Buddhism, flowers are used as a reminder that all things are impermanent.
They arise, mature and pass on...

The petals did not close up on the third day.
Instead, they begin to fall silently from 5pm onwards.

Fourth Day

Where have all the petals gone?
They have made way for the seed pod to develop. 

In summary, the opening hours of a Lotus Bloom are as follows:

• First Day : Morning
• Second Day : Late Afternoon
• Third Day : Morning

Timing may differ depending on which part of the world you are at.