Gardenia

Gardenia, the Queen of Fragrance!

Little did I know that gardenia comes in a variety of species and the ones that I bought and shown here are Gardenia Augusta....sweet yet powerful fragrant flower.

This is how it looked like on the first day of bloom. Thick white petals and looks like a rose at first glance.



At full bloom...resembles a white rose except for the stigma inside.

 Leaves are glossy and evergreen.

The amazing development as it matures, on third day of bloom, it turns yellow! Not just any yellow..thick bright and bold yellow with a waxy texture feeling.

Fragrance becomes more intense as it matures on. At this stage, red ants are all over the bloom, probably sucking on its sweet nectar.

When I brought this plant home from the nursery, it has plenty of buds awaiting to bloom. After a few days, some of the buds did bloom whereas many others just fall to the ground without blooming. My heart 'fell' too. Oh dear..what happened, I was wondering. Definitely its the pests, as gardenia are prone to redmites, spidermites and white flies. And I only knew about this after purchasing the plant. This is the mistake I always make. Should have researched about the plant before buying them. But then again, if my heart are set on it I just gotta have it, no matter what they say. Are you like me?

When I spoke to the owner of the nursery about this problem, she recommended me "Albarol" to spray on all my plants. According to her, this spray works for condo-garden as it is an oily based pesticides which works best on white flies. Seems that white flies loves condo garden!!!! She received many feedbacks from her customers who are mostly living in condos.

I also observed that the sun is not on my side these days. Very little sun everyday. This is the limitations of having a garden in a condo. You never know when and for how long the sun will shine on your side. But I was informed that gardenia can survive under shade.

Golden Dewdrops

Have you ever laid eyes on this beauty?

It's the Golden Dewdrops! Also known as "Duranta Repens", this is the 'Sweet Memories' species.

I was drawn to it when I first got a glimpse of it at I-Vision Nursery today. Purple is my favorite color and to see it on this tiny clustered flower, is captivating! What's more, it smells of vanilla!

It is a species of the verbena family, Verbenaceae, so that explains the sweet fragrance.
Check out the foliage and its spiny ovate leaves.

The way the flower arranges itself is awesome, blooming like a chain on weeping droopy branches. You can see here those tiny flower buds waiting to bloom.

Just love the pale lavender borders on the edges of each wavy petal.

This plant is actually an ornamental shrub and it can grow up to 5ft tall or taller!
Wow! Can you imagine this purple flowers cascading down when all the flowers on the chain blooms!
Good thing I have the 2-tier flower stand ready at home to put this flower pot on and to savor every moment of its cascade when that happens ;)

Well, one thing for sure I'm not gonna let it grow that tall. Can't spare the space :)
Will be pruning it often to maintain a compact bush and encourage more flowers.

I'm so glad to have encountered this gorgeous flower. All these years my experience of Verbena comes from L'occitane, the French expert on body and skincare :)

Do contact Ms Angie of I-Vision Tropicana Nursery at 019-3866568 for any queries of this lovely plant.

Have a good day and thanks for dropping by!

Enchanting Roses...light pink rose!

Decided to go to Sg Buloh this morning. It has been a while since my last visit there. Kay (my friend) and I headed to Lot 61, Paling Horticulture, Sg Buloh. We are great fans of flowers! It's always nice to have someone who is passionate about flowers to go with. Of course, we both thought of just "cuci mata" and to see what's new.

Then, suddenly...my eyes caught upon this beautiful rose. Truly enchanting with its pure light pink color and faint sweet subdued fragrance..hhhmmm. I just need to close my eyes and breathe in delight. Intoxicatingly pure and warm scent :)

It's just too bad that no one at the nursery knows the name of this rose :(

Such a beautiful piece....

If you know which species this rose belongs to, do enlighten me!

I never thought I would end-up bringing this masterpiece home since my garden is still infested with 'leftover' pests. But it is too irresistible and temptingly adorable. And it costs only RM10! Who, in their right frame of mind, could resist this?

As a precaution, I didn't put this plant in the garden right away. I placed it on the shelve of my bathroom and sprayed with "Baba Tenen D25" natural insect repellent all over its stems and soil. After half an hour, I put it by the window of my utility room. The weather was gloomy with heavy rain, but the air was cool. Not to mention the cold breeze that comes with it. Great start for this rose.

Even if this rose would not survive for long, I decide to take a lighter approach to it. I will not stress myself out unnecessarily, like I did in the past. I know I have enjoyed the beauty of this rose and appreciate the pleasure it gives me :)

After all flowers are created to bring out our inner sense of happiness and not otherwise ;)

The houris will be smiling in her sleep tonight...for sure :))

Lavender, lovely lavender...oh how fragrant you are!

Lavender is blooming in my garden!!! 

And bursting with fragrance coming from both the flowers and leaves!

I noticed that the flowers are very tiny and pale lilac in color, unlike the ones I always see. It was a good thing that I checked with Autumn Belle about it. Seems that this is not the usual lavender found in cooler countries. And it can't stand direct sun too. 

Lavender is definitely not our native plant. If anyone know anything about this species, please do inform me.

There are 5 buds altogether but only 3 have bloomed. This morning the weather was good for photography. Although the color of the lavender seems pale, it turned out well against my white walls.

Bud 1

Bud 2

Bud 3

3 buds against the basil plant

View from top..too pale to see

Oh..how I wish I have a better camera.

Updates as at 12 May 2012
Somehow the houris and Autumn Belle got into talking again about this flower and they both doubt that this flower is lavender at all. Strange enough, it smells so much of lavender but it doesn't look like it and doesn't behave like it too. And this plant doesn't grow upright either. Instead it is sprawling over the pot. Autumn Belle has the same plant but it is not flowering yet. Can't wait to compare with hers. Has anyone came across this flower?

Updates as at 20 May 2012
The Houris made an attempt to put the lavender under direct sun today, just to get the plant familiar with the local hot and humid weather. Will be monitoring its progress daily. Managed to get in touch with Autumn Belle today. Her lavender didn't survive. Feel sorry for her.