Malayan Ground Orchid

Its Friday again!

Blooming Friday this week's theme is On the Ground - hosted by Katarina at Roses and Stuff. Today Im flaunting (Tootsie's Fertiliser Friday/Flaunting your Flowers) my ground orchid planted on my new flower bed near the pond.

Scientifically it is known as Spathoglottis Plicata or the Malayan Ground Orchid and the Philippines Ground Orchid. It is a native of South East Asian countries and the Philippines but it is one of the most common orchids found in the islands of Hawaii!

the first flowers of my Malayan Ground Orchid planted in a pot are white/pinkish with a bit of yellow in the centre

transplanted the whole clump on the ground...they love the sun or semi shade

the second time blooms show more yellow after that

The colour of the flowers are usually white, purple, lavender/violet, peach, light pink, orange/yellow

the plant was a big clump, had so many bulbs, so I broke them apart and planted them in the new flower bed circling the pond

How about this? This dainty sweet flowers are the Chinese Ground Orchid (Bletilla Striata) a tiny version of the showier Cattleya....though I dont have this in my garden, just to show here another variety of ground orchid

While doing my gardening, Im usually accompanied by the Ground Patrol, today is Comot's turn. She was the neighbour's kitten who came one day for lunch, then dinner....then stayed for good!

snooping and snipping around under the flower and vegetable beds...

hmmmm...can I eat this? snipping water cabbage thrown from the pond for my compost bin under my vegetables....dont disturb me...Im working! here's the weed! the weed!

not weed you....its my newly planted lemon grass!

hey you Ground Patrol...are you pooping or what? Ground Patrol indeed....making a mess of the ground in my garden!

Pop over to Katarina's garden to see what's on the ground there and to Tootsie's for her Spring flowers and seedlings!

ENJOY!

Wordless Wednesday - Perforated!

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Today's Flowers

Not only the flowering plants are blooming, the vegetables are also not to be left out!

Miss First Pumpkin

Miss Shy Eggplant

Miss Prim Bean

Last but not least...a big surprise indeed, a late entry - better late than never....

a rose? Nope....its

Miss Sassy Red Balsam!

( move over Miss Pink Balsam!)

Visit more flowers at http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com

Cat's Whiskers

Remember I took home the wrong plant a few months back? Well, this time I got the right one! The cat's whiskers (Orthosiphon Aristatus) or misai kucing as it is known locally. I just adore the pretty purple inflorescences.

The plant is not only a medicinal herb but a pretty ornamental one, found mainly throughout South East Asia and tropical Australia.

The leaves are dried and boiled like tea for drinking to treat ailments of the kidney, bladder stone, urinary tract infection, liver and bladder problems, rheumatism and gout.

the buds of Orthosiphon Aristatus campared to...

the buds of Clerodendrum Incisum which I mistakenly took home because of the similarity of their leaves

Im flaunting these pretty purple blooms showing the characteristic cat's whiskers for Tootsie's Fertilizer Friday/Flaunt Your Flowers this week.

Why is mine pink?

The balsam seeds Malar (My Little Garden) gave a month ago finally bloom today. But what a shock I had, its PINK not RED!

but still....its a beauty!

Could it be the soil or not enough fertiliser?

Malar's

I was looking forward to the red double layer blooms shown in Malar's and Bangchik's garden.

Bangchik's

But Im still happy they finally bloom, no matter what colour!

Thank you Malar for the seeds

Veggies for my pots

It has been raining since last night until this evening. The air smells fresh and invigorating. Harvested my vegetables yesterday and today after the rain.

today's harvest...pak choys, spinach, kangkung, long beans, eggplants, roselle fruits...will make sayur campur masak lemak putih (mixed vegetables in coconut milk)

yesterday's harvest...okras, chillies, tomatoes, capsicums

All those vegetables mostly came from my new vegetable beds and those planted in pots placed in my backyard.

before....new vegetable beds in January 2011

now....the beds are grown with pumpkins, 5 angled loofah (petola) just coming up, sweetcorns, pak choys, kangkung, celery, onions, 10 roselles, 2 banana trees, garden herbs (mint, kesum, Indian borage, lemon mint, Thai basil, local basil), lime tree (limau kasturi), kaffir lime (limau purut), lemon tree, belimbing tree, 6 new okra seedlings, 4 new eggplants, sayur manis, spinach, tumeric plants, lemon grass, blackberry and grape vines

soon I will have sweetcorns

seen a few of these on pumpkin plants..flower buds?

2 original okra plants in the backyard are still giving me endless harvest plus 6 new ones in the new beds

the capsicums I planted maybe small and cute but still sweet and crunchy for stir-fry mixed veggies

a lot of young beans on the plant for the next harvest

5 original eggplants in pots plus 4 more in new beds...all are flowering and fruiting now

It has been a joy to see my vegetable harvests since the new year. I have achieved at least half of what I planned to do in my post World Garden Carnival Jan 2011. Though it has its back-breaking moments, I have thoroughly enjoyed it even though doing it all alone! I wanted more greens in my new vegetable beds and I got them, though I still have lots of seeds to be planted and to try out like cabbage, radish, carrot, lettuce, french beans etc. I would like to thank Bangchik (My Little Vegetable Garden) and Diana (Kebun Malay-Kadazan Girls) whom have been very inspirational in starting my own vegetable garden!