Jade Vine

common name:Jade Vine
Botanical name:Strongylodon macrobotrys
Family:Fabaceae/Leguminosae
Other name:Tayabak(Philipine),Jade climber,
Origin: Philipine

A special evergreen vine with jade to blue flower. one thing uniue about this plant is the color was so green blue that you could hardly find in a plant.The structure also really looks like a artifial flower, at first i thought that they purposely hang the artifial flower to the vine.

Jade vine is a native plant in Philiphine and grows in wild in the tropical forest. It prefer neutral to acidic soil. in term of light we can grow jade vine in full sun with some shade in the mid day. Jade wind nomally grown over a pergola or trellis where the upper part is facing the direct sun and the lower under the shade.

a close up of Jade vine flower. This plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and birds. it can be propagated by stem cutting and seed.

Other link:
Jade vine at melur.com

Jasmine aka Melur

original post date: Thursday, August 24, 2006

Jasmine is one of my favorite flower.Jasmine or Melur in Malay language is a sweet smell with flower belong to a shrub herbs.

I have 2 var of jasmine at home. duke of tuscany and maid of orlean. Between those 2 the latter has stronger fragrant than the former.I plant jasmine in pots in my front garden.Jasmine is actually quite easy to grow. you must make sure water is sufficient and to ensure it blooms more expose it to the full sunlight. I'm living is a tropical country so sunlight all year round is not a problem. I give the jasmines flower inducer once a months. I cut the old stem ( where the flower drop) once a month so it will turn bushy.And to encourage it to produce more flower , harvest the flower frequently ( this is my tips and my own belief...:) you can call it mitos)I believe if we appreciate the plants, they will know how to return the favour back.... hahaha...I pick the flower every day after coming back from work and put it in a bowl of water. This can make the flower release it scent throughout the night.

And jasmine is good for your heart too. You can make tea from jasmine buds the same way as lavender buds. Pick the buds before it blooms and let it dry naturaly. After 2 or 3 days your can keep the buds in air tight container. Just add 2 or 3 buds to your cup of tea. It will strengthen your heart plus it can cool you down from a stress day.

Malay old folks always keep the jasmine flower in there 'bedak sejuk' container so the 'bedak sejuk' will smell goooooodddd...Bedak sejuk is a traditional malay cosmetic made from rice.The rice will be soak in the water for months before the water will disolve it into a tick paste.The tick paste then will be drop on daun pisang and left to dry under the sun. When it was fully dry, bedak sejuk will be kept in air tight container. the water have to be change regularly until the rice start to disolve ,so it will never produce a stink smell ...which is very2 stink. when i was a kid i try to make my own bedak sejuk but i forgot change the water for almost a month, and i can tell you i'm almost vomit when i open the container. That's my first and last attempt to make the bedak sejuk.

To aply the bedak sejuk , dissolve in a few drops of water and apply it on the face.The cooling effect of the bedak sejuk is very soothing to our face. You have to try it to beleve it. It also can eliminate excess oil from our face hence prevent the acne.

alamak...why i'm talking about bedak sejuk now. I'm suppose to talk about my jasmine.better stop now.

Bunga kesidang

original posting date : Thursday, March 01, 2007

my kesidang (vallaris glabra) is blooming. Every night when i reach home, the rich sweet pandan smell is in the air. Some people who like the pandan smell will really love it.My mother hate the smell, infact she said the smell will trigger her migrain. The smell of the kesidang flower is said to be resemble to the rice smell, describe why in nothern region of Malaysia it is called kerak nasi which literally means rice leftover.The flower also known in western as bread flower, perhaps because of the white color? hahh... just my wild guest.

Kesidang is a climber which make it a very nice companion to your trellis or pergola.It can be easily propagated by layering technic.Layering can be done by pull the branch until it touch the ground or the medium , then put something heavy , like a brick on the branch to make it always touch the ground. after +- 2 weeks, new root will come out for the part that touch the ground. Cut the branch and plant it somewhere else. It can be grown in a pot too...Other way to propagate is grafting. although stem cutting will grow into new plant if you are lucky, by the chance to stem cutting to root is quite low. A little help from root hormone might increase the chances to survive...:)

The leave is quite big, from a far it look like mango leave...:) the leave surface is shiny.Kesidang leave can easily turn yellow and drop if you give not enough water, esp in dry season like now. This the kesidang photo from my garden... Really love the clean white flower with the unique petals and the smellll.....so refereshing....My mother will hate me for this. Next time when she come to visit I'll make sure no buds is allow to bloom....:)

p/s: kesidang is said to be the symbol of malay folks, whic always rich with adab, budi bahasa dan kesopanan.

Corn tree

original post: 2007

Corn tree,sometime knows as iron tree or botanically known as Dracaena fragrans is a very popular indoor plant.Infact we can always stumble with it in almost every office.The behaviour of the plant that need less attention compare to other indoor plant make a perfect choice if you are not a plant lover.

Originated from West Africa, the plant has made its way around the globe. Belong to agave family give corn tree an advantage as it is very strong can tolerate a wide range of climate.the plant prefers low light and high humidity.

The wide leaves are long and arc gracefully from the stalk.The huge and strong stucture of the stem and leave turn it as an attractive green furniture to your room.Dracaena fragrans belongs to Agavaceae family, the same family agave, yucca and joshua plant.Same like others in agave family corn tree too can stand the dry zone.Though in its optimum condition the plant can grow until 20 feet tall, but normally as a houseplant the normal height of this plant is between 4 to 6 feet tall.Ovet time the plant loses lower leave revealing bare stem.D. f. ‘Massangeana’ is a popular cultivar that features a wide central yellow stripe on each leaf.


In tropical climate , it is quite difficult to see corn tree blooming. the flower somehow, very attarctive with the special fragrant any flower lover will treasure.To flower, the plant must be a very mature plant.It should be at least more that 6 feet in height.The flower stalk s emerge out from the center of tthe leave whorl and will extend untill almost 3 feet.the The fragrant is very strong , you can smell it even it is more than 100 feet away, especially in the evening. The fragrant normally will last more than 1 week or even longer if it is keep in the office or well protected environment.

Some people believe that the plant will die after flowering.Well, it is not true as the plant will keep on growing.Cutting the flower stalk when it wither is a good idea to boost up the groth rate.Propagation is simple, it can be done through stem cutting.Eventhough the plant bear fruits(berries type) , normally it is propaged using stem cuttings.If you notice that the leave turn brownish it could be because of to much or too litle water.Eventhough it is a tough plant, sometimes mites can get attracted to it.

Single layer gardenia

Monday, January 08, 2007

Hi...
it's me again...Last few days was really hectic for me...My eldest first days in school. going back to my hometown on the 2 past weekend and not sure whether have to go back again this weekend...Hmm... it's have been some time since i want to talk about my single layer gardenia. Well... most people know gardenia, the white fragrance flower that resemble the roses. But i bet not many people ever see this single layer gardenia. It's really a gardenia, with the smell and everything except the flower only has single layer.Normally we keep on looking for multi layer flower. but for me, single layer gardenia is even more pretty and unique( i like to use this word to describe it...:))

The behaviour, propagation, sun exposure is the same like multi-layer gardenia. It can keep on crazilly blooming if you expose it to the full sun light. Just don't forget to water it sufficiently. Here's the picture of my single layer gardenia. Enjoy it...!!

Blanket Flower-transfered from my old blog: www.norsparadise.blogspot.com

original entrance date: 1/30/07


Haaa....at last i manage to find out the name of the flower that my husband brought back from US.This one is better known as gaillardia(nice name and it suite her...:)) I use to mention flower as her as i feel that 'it' is too harsh.The scientific name is gaillardia aristata. The name is drive from a french botanist name , Gaillard de Marentoneau. This plant is easy to grow in any variety of soil, provided that it is free draining

Euphorbia

Flame violet

common name:Flame violet
Botanical name:Episcia cupreata
Family:Gesneriaceae
Other name: Episcia
Origin: Columbia and venezuela


The vibrant flame red color of the flower.




a superb plant for hanging basket. make sure that water is enough as keeping it hanging make the water drain faster

Reference:
1. Flame violet at melur.com

crossandra

White Butterfly bush ( buddleia)

common name:White butterfly bush
Botanical name:Buddleia Asiatica Lour
Family:Buddlejaceae
Other name: Buddleja, buddleia,white butterfly bush, Butterfly bush, Dog tail, winter flowering lilac
Origin: Native

This plant is he Most attractive plant in butterfly bush family.White butterfly bush is a native to eastern asia.The plan is a perennial that can easily propagated by cutting. the most special characteristic of buddleia (sometimes call buddleja) or commonly known in western as dogtail is the heavenly fragrant white flower.

Reference:
1. Buddleia at melur.com

Lantern Flower

Begonia

Sunflowers

I've planted sunflower in my garden a few years back. The plant that know botanically as Helianthus anuus is actually a very attractive plant. Sun flower get its name due to the habit that always face the sun (i've try to twist the flower once, not to face the sun, but the flowers will try very hard to turn back to the sun)

Butterfly Pea

Locally known as kacang telang the butterly pea's flower has a very fragrant purple color and normally used by local as food coloring. It is a climber and fast grower.

cordel or climbing jasmine

One kind of jasmine or better known as melur in Malaysia. This one is the climbing type.mild fragrant turn strong especially at night or after the rain.