All Ready For The New Hobby......

Oh no, don't be fooled by the title..I'm not into a new hobby...it's still amateur gardening but with different category of plants.

Last Saturday morning, our main mission (myself & spouse) was to duplicate my daughter's school locker key which we had been trying to do so at a few shops without any avail for the past weeks. That day, we decided to try our luck at one of the popular business area here somewhere in Menglait, Gadong. While driving slowly from one building block to another, one particular shop with its familiar displays caught my attention. Tuck in between the ever popular 'Health & Spa' outlets that the area are locally well-known for, is a shop selling almost all the gardening needs for a 'green finger'...the Fertiland Company. I have been looking for some special potting medium here for some special plants without avail until I discovered this shop...its really a blessing!



Above are the items that I bought from the shop and I'm all ready for the new type of plants ie..the African Violets & other genesriads. One of these days, I will be on another mission, venturing around the town looking for the specific type of plants...which is not easy since most of these specific plants are not 'yet' that popular here. Insya'allah, my mission will be accomplished!

The Hoya is blooming again...

Our Hoya plant is busy producing blooms again..the third time around within four months since the first blooms in January this year. There must be something right that we have done that make it really happy to award us with blooms after blooms...again & again.




I have since propagated some of the cuttings to other coconut husk hanging pot and to other small pots. This time around, I just plant them directly onto the medium rather than soaking the twinning stem into water. There are a few other species of Hoya cuttings that was given by my sister as well as from a member of the GCS (The heart-shaped, variegated-leaf Hoya Kerrii) that I planted onto smaller pots. Only time will see these 'babies' maturing into adults and producing beautiful, unique blooms too. Discovered this website of other collection of beautiful Hoyas which really worth admiring for.

Mother-In-Law Tongue ??

When someone mentioned that the common name of this plant is the 'Mother-In-Law Tongue' locally known in Malay as 'Lidah Mak Mentua'(what's else, the direct translation), it really made me lost for words. These questions 'Why such a name for a beautiful plant?', 'Why Tongue?', 'Why of all persons, mother-in-law was chosen?' was playing over & over thru my mind...Aarrghh, why torturing myself for such questions, the plant is really beautiful and unique and have a presence of its own. Eversince I came to this country, I have successfully nurtured 2 pots of this plant and even propagated some and given them to friends.



From the views of some locals and friends that I have encountered, all gave a unique belief of the plant...if one's to place a pot of the Sansevieria Trifasciata , either one of the type ie. green foliage or the variegated foliage at the side of the entrance of their house, it can actually wad-off evil spirits from entering the house. It's just a belief and it's up to each individual to decide. As for me, I just love the twisted, cross-banding leaves of the plant which makes a beautiful, unique houseplant either indoors or outdoors.



Sansevieria Trifasciata as it is known botanically is one of the favourite houseplant locally because it can tolerate from irregular watering and low light level. The plant is also often used as an air filter because of its tendency to absorb certain poisonous substances.

The leaves of the plant grows vertically, twisted and cross-banding and can reach up to the height of 3 feet (approx. 1 metre). The plant also produces small frangrance white blooms which is very rare, rested on a long stem. Propagation is by means of stem cutting or to be precise, leaf cutting and by dividing the creeping rhizome in a well-drained medium.

Zamioculcas Zamiifolia

The ZZ plant, Aroid Palm, Money Plant, Eternity Plant..that's a few of the many common names given to Zamioculcas Zamiifolia. This unusual aroid is known to be originated from Eastern Africa, the countries of Zanzibar & Tanzania to be precise.


Due to its toleration of low light, low water and a certain degree of neglect, this hardy plant will absolutely make a fine houseplant. Its beautiful foliage of glossy, shiny leaves is absolutely a plus..light green leaves when young turning to dark green when matured. There is a mythical belief among the locals especially those of Chinese origins that if the plant starts to produce flowers, it actually will bring good luck to the owner...well, I really admire it for its beautiful, shiny foliage.




In the wild, natural propagation can be done from the seeds of the plant but commercially, the plant can either be propagated by leaf cutting (which really take a long period of time to root) or from the separation of the bulblets that can be found at the roots. It loves shady location, with filtered sunlight to produce nice shiny dark green leaves. From my personal point of view, the ZZ plant will really make a fine indoor houseplant for those who are too busy with their daily lives and yet still need some 'greenery' in their homes.

My First Plumeria Blooms

This is my one and only Plumeria that I bought a few months ago, just a small stem-cutting planted in a black polybag which costs me $3 in local currency. Recently, it presents us with slightly small, frangrance yellow blooms. I have since transferred the 3-branched plant to a 12 inch diameter terracotta pot.



The Plumeria or locally known as Frangipani (also known as Pokok Kemboja in Malay) is actually often locally associated with cemeteries..why is it so? One logic explanation to it, these trees (commonly the white flowers type) can easily be found planted in cemeteries but globally, the Plumeria blooms are often associated with Hawaii & the other southern islands. I was in a way interested in planting a Plumeria after a visit to the Greencultures Singapore website forum and really felt the enchantment of the beautiful colourful blooms that the members posted. There are many types of Plumeria available with each type producing blooms of different shades of colours. Plumeria can easily be propagated by stem cuttings or seeds (which is much slower to germinate & grow) and loves full sunny location with well-drained medium with fertilising once in a while. It is an easy plant to grow and if given an unlimited space, it can fully grow into a huge tree.