The Sun, the Heat & the Blooms...

After a period of cool, heavy rainfall for almost a month which indirectly affected many residents' homes & geological structure of certain areas in this country..the humid hot weather are here again.

To welcome the bright sunshine almost every morning in my potted garden, is a basin of the sun-loving Water Hyacinth (locally known as Keladi Bunting in Malay) with its beautiful non-lasting light lavender blooms. Thou its blooms are non-lasting ie. it lasted only for a day but with rich medium (water & fertiliser) and direct sunlight, it is a fast grower & a regular bloomer.

My Precious Lotus.

Just an update on the lotus seeds that we germinated about 3 months ago.


From these seeds (picture above).......to these healthy plants (pictures below)





The size of the leaves have grown from a tiny 1cm in diameter to the present 12cm in diameter. Hopefully, with more nutrients added (special fertiliser for aquatic plants), the leaves will grow bigger in size with strong thick stems and eventually produces blooms. Presently, we are satisfied & happy with the current progress of the lotus plants that we have always longing to own. Thanks again to the kind & generous Encik that gave us the seeds months ago.

Finally, I got the seeds!!

Yesterday afternoon, while driving back home from the grocery store...we passed by the house with a row of lotuses again and....there it is, the owner of the house, himself pruning the plants. Without hesitation, my spouse took the initiative to stop the car and greet the elderly man. With a short conversation exchanged between them and myself looking through the car's window screen..the elderly man cut two dried seed pods and passed it to my hubby. Oh yes...at last, my wish came true. Finally, I managed to get hold of the lotus seeds that I have been aiming all this while. This morning, a few seeds was sown into the 'all-ready' earthen pot and the waiting time for the germination begins...


Above photo shows the two lotus seeds pods with some seeds already sown. Will sow the rest of the seeds to a few other pots. To the elderly neighbour, 'Terima Kasih Encik' and to my spouse..a really BIG thank you SAYANG!

Aquatic plants collection

Among the pots of potted plants that we nurture, there's only two species of aquatic plants in our collection. Both plants were given by friends a few years back and both species survive till today. The common water hycinth locally known as keladi bunting (scientifically known as Eichhornia Crassipes) with its beautiful light lavender blooms have always been our favourite. It can be an invasive species if let grown unattended/uncontrolled especially in man-made ponds, water catchment areas like reservoirs. It is one of the most hardy aquatic plants it can form dense colonies that block sunlight to the water, clog water intake and crowd out other native species. The common water hycinth reproduces primarily by runners or stolons.




Another species of aquatic plant that we are nurturing is the Mexican Sword (scientifically known as Echinodorus Palaefolius). Its slightly heart-shaped leaves can grow larger than the size of an adult's palm with enough nutrients in the medium which is always kept moist or wet. It is an easy plant to nurture and within weeks, it will start to produce long stems with small flower buds, thus producing white 3-petal blooms which will only last for a day. Propagation is by tiny shoots that will emerge a few days after the flowers wither.




Another aquatic plant that have always been on my 'wish' list is the lotus...have been admiring the beautiful pink flowers of the plant everytime when we passes this house, just about a kilometre away from our home. If I ever see the owner or the gardener of this particular house, I will not hesitate to ask for the seeds...hopefully it will be soon enough, just can't wait for the day...please, oh please.