It always fills me with envy when I see in other people’s blogs how they can plant this and that, be it flowers or vegetables, and they all flourish so well. Unfortunately, I am not one of those with green fingers and most of what I plant would not even emerge while others would grow a bit and eventually die. That is why if you drop by my house, you would not get to be able to enjoy looking at a lot of plants in my garden, not at all.
Yes, we do have a few flowering ones that my missus planted, surviving though I would not say they are all thriving as well as they should. There are these lilies…
…and these white flowers that will appear once in a while from a pot of leaves that we have…
…as well as these light purplish ones that would bloom out of the pot of dark purple leaves shaped like butterflies…
Β …and these balsam blooms…
My missus tells me they are called cheng kak hua (fingernail flower) in Hokkien and you can use the petals as a natural remedy if you have fungal growth in your (toe)nails. I don’t know if it really works as I have never tried it out myself.
Other than those, we do plant stuff for use in our cooking like spring onions, serai (lemon grass), kunyit (tumeric), lengkuas (galangal), Thai basil and pandan (screwpine) and mint leaves…
…and of course, there is that pain the neck, my curry leaf plant, that would go out of control all the time and I would have to go through the chore of trimming it time and time again.
My jasmine is doing well, growing very big now and as it is right beside the car porch, it would provide a bit of shade for one ofΒ my carsΒ from the afternoon sun…and yes, it does flower quite often…
– little white flowers that are so very fragrant, making the air in the whole surrounding area so very nice and refreshing.
In the meantime, my rambutan tree at the back is also doing fine and will bear fruit regularly…like right now, for instance…
…but the fruits are still small and green. I don’t think they will be ready for the plucking very soon. My missus’ mulberry plants are doing all right and they may bear fruit…
…sometimes too.
I don’t do much gardening myself. Every three or four weeks, I would get someone to come over and cut the grass – I like it neatly-trimmed, nice and short and I love the smell of freshly-cut grass. In between those visits though, some plants would appear here and there by themselves like through some cracks in the cement in a corner for instance…or in one of the pots. I guess those are unwanted weeds but some of them do produce very nice flowers like this one, for instance…
…or this one…
…and this would probably fly off when there is wind…
…and the seeds would germinate and grow some place else. Despite their being weeds and unwanted, the flowers are indeed quite pretty and pleasant to the eye – these Nature’s gifts from God…and reflecting on this makes me think of people in general. Some may not appear all that appealling but one may discover the beauty within if one takes the time to look a little more closely…unlike those who may smile, and smile, and be a villain, great-looking on the outside but rotten to the core.
Perhaps I should get some people to come over and do some landscaping works to beautify my garden but then again, if I do not pay some people to come and maintain the place (and as it is, it is quite difficult to get someone to come and cut the grass even…ever since my old. very good and reliable one fell ill), I don’t think it will look all that nice for long…so I guess I would just leave it as it is right now.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
We have one mulberry tree here too, i think those red ones tend to be quite sour and black ones are sweeter. I heard you can cook dessert with the leaves though… should find out someday π
The red ones are unripe and sour – will turn black when it ripens and then it will be sweet, very sweet. So far I only know that I could dry the leaves to make tea…but ours, not that many leaves. π¦
I have never had a garden, and it is a good thing, I don’t have a green thumb, either. Your flowers are gorgeous! π
Half of them grow wild – they’re unwanted weeds. The rest would be those my missus planted and somehow, miraculously survived. I don’t have green fingers, can’t plant much of anything.
lovely, lovely shots of the flowers and plants! i don’t have green fingers either … if i plant something, i think it’d wilt in 24 hours π
Sounds exactly like me. π
You said you do not have green fingers but there are so many plants growing in your garden π
I live in a condo, so no gardening for me.. To be honest I’m not interested in gardening.. Maybe later, when I have too much time and not working, just maybe..
Yes, living in condos and apartments will deprive people of the pleasure of having a nice garden…but look on the bright side, I actually wanted to move into one, no need to worry about doing this and that in our grossly-neglected garden, but my missus simply refused. Tsk! Tsk!
My mum has a mulberry tree once. Brought by bird and it bore fruits. I dont think it is still there.
I agreed with you that some weeds do have lovely flowers.
Yes, we had cherry tomatoes…twice. Dunno where the seeds came from, must be the birds. Enjoyed those very much but so far, no more. π¦
Not too bad, there are pretty flowers and herbs in your garden. My garden is suffering from neglect and since I have back pain problems, I can’t spend too much time gardening. My chilli plant is flowering like mad but the flowers fall off without bearing any fruits π¦ I must make it a point to start clearing up the weeds before Chinese New Year.
My missus has back pain too…and yet she wants to plant stuff and then, neglect them – the grass and weeds, flourishing…not what she plants. π¦ Told her not to bother but she insists.
I wish I had green fingers too! We’ve attempted to grow food on our balcony with very little success.
Seems so easy when other people do it. π¦
Wow, you have got lots of hidden gems in your garden. Me too, no green fingers but hub has. He can’t pass a day without gardening. I have two mulberry trees but sad to say my balsam plants wither off recently, too old. Yes, balsam plant is a natural remedy for fungal growth and mind you, my neighbour used it as dye for her grey hair.
Oh? It works? Maybe I should try too!!! Balsams will wither away after a while, need replanting. They thrive pretty well even though we’re not into gardening and are not good at it – just know how to water…and even that, not regularly. Hehehehehe!!!!
need to call u Ah Hua oredi…
You have more at your “new” house.
I go Sibu, u bring your flowers out lend me see, boleh?
Can always drop by my place, no problem. I will even invite you over for a special dinner…like when Claire & the rest came long ago.
“I don’t have green fingers, I only have this flower, that flower, these plants, and maybe those fruits”.. Tsk tsk, showing off in a subtle way? π
The only thing I have ever planted successfully are those bean sprouts from green bean, for science experiment tasks in primary school..
We did not do that, not that I can remember…but I do recall one time when we had to culture some fungus on bread…but none appeared until I added a little bit of my urine and lo and behold!!! It turned all mouldy the very next morning. π π π
But honestly, half of the flowers are weeds…just a few planted by my missus, the rambutan and the jasmine were planted by my father…and all of them, more or less, have managed to survive literally on their own. No fertilizer, occasional watering…mostly dependent on the sun and the rain. Like I said, they’re Nature’s gifts from God…and nothing like what I see in people’s blogs, all so very nice.
Ohhhh the flowers are lovely and the berries cute too
They are, aren’t they? Some are very very small though – macro photography. π
That’s a plump mulberry. Must be sweet and juicy.
Who says photographs never lie? Hehehehehe!!!!
not always grow leh… my desert rose gonna desert me soon.
My cheng kak hua and rain lilies kena makan by those pesky caterpillars. Pls ask your missus how to get rid of those pest. Tried neem oil, garlic water, cili water all tarak work
Ummm…no pests in our compound leh? Just ants…so use Ridsect lah. π π We have lots of birds, all kinds – maybe they eat them all. Got garden snails too sometimes. I would leave them alone usually but my missus would get rid of them – soak in salt water to kill all of them. Your desert rose? The one that blooms at midnight on a dark windy night with a very eerie fragrance? Ours also half dead…but still surviving. Not quite dead yet but not doing well either.
Yes, your garden is big enough to fit in more flowers… I don’t have a nice big garden like yours… otherwise I would be planting greens.. vegetables.. so organic! But my neighbour is one who loves planting.. she uses my back lane space for planting… mulberries is one of them… she gave me permission to eat them as I please.. hahaha…
I hear the rule of law is anything planted outside one’s compound is public property. Your neighbour’s so nice, not like mine. One will climb up and reach over the fence to steal my rambutans (which I do not eat and will pluck and give to the nicer neighbours, family and friends)…and another one will climb over to pick the fruits that have fallen into my garden. I would pick their fruits and throw them back into their compounds when I see them – I also don’t want, thank you very much.
I don’t have green fingers too. I tried planting corn, mongo, and other plants but they all die. I don’t know why. That’s why I stopped planting.
Your post is not about huh. A change of “scenery” I guess. π
No worries. You’re not alone. I don’t bother either.
For someone who doesn’t have green fingers, you do have a lot of healthy nice looking plants there!
I do water them…sometimes, and that’s about all. Hehehehehe!!!! Sometimes, photographs do lie – may look a lot nicer in pictures. π
You have very nice mulberries!
I would certainly love to drop by and pick some for jam. HAHAHA
How well do they grow? I’ve been interested in growing some of them but I don’t have the space.
Do you need a large space and how many berries on average does an average sized shrub produce? A handful every few months? More? Thanks mate.
Unfortunately, not very well. We have two dragon pots (the salted egg jars, they’re called) of them…but our plants are all grossly neglected. It is a miracle there are any fruits – maybe 4-5 each time. Good enough to make a drink or two. π¦