What a bright, cheery day it is!!

What day is it today? If it is a bright sunny day, then it will be just the perfect day for the Portulaca grandiflora to greet us with its bright, cheery colourful blooms. Portulaca grandiflora or commonly known as Rose Moss, Mexican Roses, 11 o'clock flower, etc (locally known as Ros Jepun) is a shrub bearing a lively mixture of colourful flowers either in single or double petals. It is a sun-loving tough plant, suitable for tough places and the flowers will only bloom under sunlight and due to this nature, they are popularly selected to be planted as a ground cover.



The Portulaca grandiflora comes from the family Portulacaceae where comprises of more than 40 species with different flower colours, leaves shapes & sizes, etc. Some of the known species are edible, to be either use as a culinary herb or for its medicinal properties but NOT the ornamental flowering species as the shown in the above pictures.

Portulaca can either be germinated using seeds (usually sell in packets) or propagated by using stem cuttings. The seeds & the stem cuttings can be directly sown onto a well-drained, sandy medium. If they are grown in planters, it is advisable to place the planters in a sunny position for the portulaca to grow successfully & continuously producing flowers. The sprawling stems should be frequently neatly trimmed/cut to about 10 cm to encourage new buds. Water them frequently during dry spells and fertilize them once in a while so as to produce healthy plants & shoots.

Amazing Whites

Recently, there have been a quite a number of plants in our potted garden that blooming white flowers. Some of the blooms produced sweet fragrance and some are just plain odourless with each individual type of bloom creating a presence of its own. The Jasmine Orange or scientifically known as Murraya Puniculata (locally known as the Kemunting Cina) as shown in the above picture produces sweet smelling fragrance with the scent getting stronger as the darkness of the night approaches. The Peace Lily or scientifically known as Spathiphyllum (below picture) produces blooms similar to that of the Flamingo Flower (Anthurium). Why is it called a Peace Lily?? From my opinion, the name could derived from the bloom that it produced, a piece of large white petal sitting at the end of a straight stem thus resembling a white flag for peace...just my 2 cents worth. The plant comes in a variety of hybrid species, easy to care, love rich medium (fertilize at least once every 2 weeks) and it is also one of the best indoor plants.


These are the other recent white blooms in our potted garden (below pictures). There have been quite a few of flower buds appearing nowadays, triggered by the recent hot spell during the day and wet nights..well we are absolutely not complaining, actually putting a really big smile on our faces..patience really pays off!

Sun-loving species of White Lilies with broad, dark green, saucer-shaped leaves

Sun-loving Mexican Sword plant, categorised as an aquatic plant

Sui-Mei, Easter tree or Wrightia Antidysenterica (locally known as Jasmin Cina, odourless shrub)

Wild orchid, found in between the pitcher plants....took estimated 2 years to mature & produce flowers

Tropical Bleeding Heart Vine, also known as Bag Flower or Glory Tree

One of our bright, cheerful collection of sun-loving Bougainvillea in white blooms

Is it Yesterday, Today or Tomorrow?

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow...yes, that's the common name given to the above sweet-smelling flowering plant or its scientific name Brunfelsia Pauciflora. Myself was quite surprised when told that the plant is popularly known as Yesterday,Today & Tomorrow. Make me wonder...isn't there any other suitable name for it?


After looking for the reason for the so-called name, the simplest explanation given is that the first stage of the flower when it blooms will be in violet (purple), then it will turn to lavender blue around 2 or 3 days later and eventually to white a few days later before it withers. Thats explains to the amazing 3 different colours of blooms on each stem. It's a good logical explanation on the various stages of the flower colouration but still make me wonder....who actually gave the idea of the so-called name...hhhmmmmmm


Although it is nice to look at, special care should be taken because every part of the plant is actually known to be poisonous if consume. This plant requires some shade with a few hours of sunshine each day to grow healthy so it's best to put between other sun-loving bigger and taller plants. Propagation is by stem-cutting onto easily drained moist medium.

Wow!! What a mist....

When we woke up this morning, we were greeted with a much cooler atmosphere surrounding us. As we investigate the source of the coolness this morning, our wondrous minds were answered with the sign of the first daylight for the day. The above photograph was taken approximately at 6.17 am this morning. We were so excited as it was such a beautiful phenomenal scene that bewitched us beyond our expectation...we are grateful for having this opportunity to live in the areas surrounded by hills and trees to experience it. Even the the birds are chirping happily greeting the beautiful sight of this misty morning.



Since the end of last week, the days had been rather warm but windy and the nights had been wet with heavy downpour almost lasted till the wee hours of the morning. Although, I'm always busy every weekday morning but the enchantment of this special morning will absolutely make me more grateful & thankful to ALLAH the Al-Mighty, for giving us this opportunity to experience the greatness that was shown. Hope to have more cooler mornings & days too in this part of the region. The above photographs were taken at approximately at 6.50am this morning. The mist swiftly dissipated into thin air as the day getting warmer.