Count Your Blessings!

With love and passion, everyone can have a nice garden...Elaine Yim

Count Your Blessings!
Count The Garden By The Flowers, Never By The Leaves That Fall.
Count Your Life With Smiles And Not The Tears That Roll.
..... Author unknown.

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Sunday, November 21, 2010

Arfah's Garden


Arfah is a young Malaysian lady who maintains a home garden in the city of Kuala Lumpur where she lives.  She first wrote to me with a query about the Mickey Mouse Plant. She has also sent me some pictures of her lovely garden. I am really touched by her sincerity and with her kind permission, I am delighted to share her pride and joy with you today.




At the entrance to her home, there are bird's nest ferns (Asplenium nidus) and hanging from the pillar on the left are Staghorn ferns (Platycerium coronarium). Both species are epiphytic and they are native to the jungles of our tropical rainforests. I am very fascinated by the staghorn ferns which have 2 type of leaves. One type of leaves are erect, broad and always clasping on the structure that it clings to, e.g. a tree trunk or pillar. The other type of leaves resemble the antlers of a stag and hangs down.


This is the view from the front.

"Arfah's Home Garden”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on November 21st, 2010.



Like me, she also has also created a meandering path walkway using rounded stepping stones. Heliconia (H. rostrata and H. 'Golden Torch') plants adorn one side of the wall and blue daze (Evolvulus glomeratus) groundcovers on the other. The heliconias have matured and are flowering well now.


This is the view from back to front.

She has red Alpinia pupurata. It took here more that a year of planting before she saw the first alpinia flower. Now it is growing vigorously and flowers continuously. I love the white planter box with the purple lavender-like flowers. I think they are called Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' or Lavender Spur Flowers.



I also like the bird house and the family of ducks below it. I saw an unpainted wooden bird house on sale at the local nursery. It was offered at the 'bargain' prize of RM 55.00 (USD 17.65). I really wanted to buy it but later change my mind. Now, I am constantly thinking about it again!


She calls this her 'longkang garden', meaning the garden by the drain. She started this garden outside her house compound about 5 months ago and now she has Chlorophytum bichetii, cactus, alamanda, gardenia, blue daze, jasmine and blue plumbago.



Here's Arfah, puttering about in her garden.

Besides ornamental plants, she also has herb and spice plants like pandan, curry leaf tree, lemongrass, tumeric and chillis.



This is the view of the garden from her kitchen door.

Arfah is planning to build a fence against the wall to grow creepers there. Since the space is quite small, she is thinking of getting a reasonable sized bench and paint it blue like those we see in English homes. She'd also like to have a white iron garden chair and a really small garden table placed here. I guess this shall be her personal space where she can sit down, relax and enjoy the view of her home garden.

What do you think ?

As you can see, Arfah is a keen gardener but she doesn't have a blog. She wants to create an English styled garden and she welcomes any feedback and suggestions for her garden. Your kind comments will certainly be a great inspiration and encouragement for her.


This is my entry for Today's Flowers # 120, a meme which opens every Sunday, 2pm GMT. My grateful thanks to Today's Flowers team members; Luiz Santili Jr, Denise in Virginia, Laerte Pupo and Sandy Carlson. To participate and view other gorgeous flowers around the world, click here.

Updated on 29th Oct 2011
Arfah has her own garden blog now. It is called "A Little Paradise of Mine". To visit her blog, click here.

39 comments:

  1. Arfah has a lovely garden filled with wonderful plants and I lover her planters, the bird house and the little ducks, plus I see faux bois table and chairs. At least that's what I think they are, cement furniture made to resemble tree trunks, limbs, bark etc. I think she's doing really well with her garden it all looks lush, and she is a sweet, happy looking young woman. May her gardens continue to flourish and bring her much joy.

    FlowerLady

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  2. Lovely! Wish Arfah all the very best from me. I want to create an English garden too and all I have now is a balcony in Dubai.:)Do let us know when she starts her blog.

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  3. What do I think? I think this is a wonderful garden Autumn Belle! Lush and packed with healthy exotic plants. Thank you for the beautiful tour. ;>)

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  4. Please tell Arfah her garden is beautiful they way it is. Her planters are lovely and the heliconias along the side fence are spectacular.

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  5. Arfah garden is really lovely. Thank you for sharing it with us. Would you like some home-saved seed? My cousin is going back to Sabah next week so she can help post is via POS Malaysia. Email me if you like me to send some (diana.demiyah@gmail.com).

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  6. Arfah's garden is very pretty.

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  7. Thanks for sharing the simple beauty of Arfah's garden with us..its lovely and thats all hard work and determination to create a beautiful garden and a sanctuary to this sweet lady!

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  8. The garden is lovely! I love that staghorn fern. Yes, someplace to sit and enjoy would be a great idea. That's a pretty side yard!

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  9. She has a beautiful garden! So lush and green!

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  10. Wow, beautiful garden. Love all the flowers. Great shots.

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  11. What a lovely garden! But why longkang when it is heaven? lol.

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  12. You mean she invited you to her garden so you can write it in your blog? That is wonderful because she has lots of plants, and i like it because you are getting famous because of writing. And i am very glad for you because your post looks so much from the 'authority' already. hehe (that is a compliment not anything else). And, i envy you because i am sure she provided some snack and coffee, hahaha! That is a Malay culture which we also have. Arfah can certainly make a blog and i am sure you will surely help her too, as you are still helping me!

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  13. By the way, i really love that 'lavender' looking plants at the background. If that is seeding maybe you can ask Arfah to collect some seeds, when i go to Malaysia i hope i can have some. thank you. I also wonder what they are called. If you learn its name please tell me so it will be easier to look for seeds. thanks.

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  14. Hi AB and Andrea, I was squinting my eye trying to decipher what the nice purple flowers are and when I reach the comment area, I realized Andrea is probably doing the same. They are not basil, are they? Thanks for sharing Arfah's beautiful garden.

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  15. Very nice garden, even in just small space. Excellent work.

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  16. How nice to people to write about her lovely garden! Love those staghorn ferns and bird's nests at her entrance! And the table and stools in her "drain garden" are quite charming.

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  17. What a wonderful garden! How I wish I could grow more exotic plants but here in wet, cold and windy Wales, UK, we struggle with such plants even in a greenhouse/polytunnel.

    Thank you for sharing this lovely garden with us.

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  18. Lovely,
    as is the thought of a "garden of thoughts and dreams"
    ...all best,
    Alice

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  19. Beautiful garden. It´s so nice to meet garden people in other countries. Here it´s an eternety until next summer. :)

    Wich you a nice week.

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  20. Please tell Arfah I think she has a beautiful garden. It is kind of you to show it to us.

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  21. Good Morning, everyone! My grateful thanks to your comments and encouraging words for Arfah.

    Heres a little bit more about Arfah and me:

    I have never met Arfah yet. I was pleasantly surprised to received Arfah's first email. As she has never commented in my posts, I was extremely happy to know that there are silent readers like her who regularly visits my blog and find it useful. When she first email me her garden pictures, I was very touched by her sincerity and trust. By writing this post about her garden, I hope to welcome her to our community of friendly bloggers who will certainly give her lots of feedback. Cheers to you all!

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  22. Oh yeah, to Andrea and One's question, I have done some homework and check out the plant. I saw a similar looking plant in a garden magazine where they label is as Mona Lavender. I have updated the post accordingly. I have emailed Arfah, now I am awaiting her reply.

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  23. I have enjoyed each and every one of these photographs. It is a very beautiful garden and I can see the love and care Arfah puts into her care of it. Thank you so much for sharing.

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  24. I enjoyed looking at her garden, She has a neat looking garden in front with the staghorn fern and very unique & creative feature with the birdhouse & duck figurines.

    I guess the longkang garden is truly a challenge in maintaining them - they do tend to get invasive and constantly need pruning & cleaning.
    This garden is very much like a tropical rainforest garden.

    To start something new like an English Garden may take totally a different theme & feature with the garden plants like roses,ivy & fountains.

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  25. Thanks for sharing Arfah's garden with us Autumn. It's lovely and so lush. Her plans for it sound fabulous.

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  26. What a beautiful garden, I just love the yellow birdhouse, if I were a bird that's a home I'd choose :)

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  27. so lush and green, no doubt that garden is well taken cared of!

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  28. Arfah has green fingers. I had them but now, they turn brown from laziness.

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  29. Thanks for sharing this garden. She is very talented at creating a peaceful and serene setting. I like the path on the side of the house. It just beckons me!
    A cootie can be a couple things, Either an imagined germ on a child of a game we play here.

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  30. Hi Autumn Belle,
    Thank you for your comment on my post on Wordless Wednesday. You asked about the lambs, i bought them from Thow Lee, Jln Kuala Kangsar. If you come to ipoh, just dropby and see what they have. Maybe you can also find your bird house there :)

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  31. This is SUCH a wonderful post, Autumn Belle. I LOVE Arfah's garden. So many plants looking lush and happy! She's also got some nice containers. My favourite would be the one with the purple spikes. Thanks for the tour!!

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  32. She has a very lovely garden!

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  33. I love Arfah's charming garden, Autumn Belle. The plants are lush and there are so many varieties of blooms. The arrangement of plants and the lanscaping with rocks ~ in my opinion, are truly creative. I didn't expect such a young, pretty lady would have such green thumbs!

    It would be lovely to enjoy a cup of coffee in this garden at the same time admiring the beauty of it.

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  34. Arfah tem um jardim muito charmoso, e ela sabe aproveitar bem os espaços! Tem flores coloridas e bem cuidadas. O jardim já é bonito, depois que ela colocar a mesa com cadeiras ficará mais aconchegante ainda!

    Parabéns a Arfah pelo seu jardim!

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  35. On behalf of Arfah, I'd like to thank everyone for their kind and encouraging comments. We are not sure about the name of her purple flower plant.

    To Arfah, this is the translation for Miriam Luiza's comments (from Brazilian Portugese to English):

    Arfah's garden is very charming, and she knows how to make the spaces! It has colorful flowers and well kept. The garden is beautiful already, after she set the table with chairs will be even more cozy!

    Congratulations to Arfah in your garden!

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  36. I love your birdhouse so much! May I know where you bought it and how much does it cost?

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  37. Dear everyone who has wrote so many beautiful, encouraging and heartwarming comments on Autumn's Belle entry about my garden: Now the garden belongs to my mum, ever since I moved out to my own home. Just started another garden, a back yard garden since that's all I have. I'm still helping out my mum to maintain the side garden from time to time, but not as committed as I used to be. Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments. I'm currently working on my back yard garden and a tiny corner garden in front of the house. Autumn Belle, the birdhouse...i bought it at a shop in Tmn. Melawati 'Souvenir Shop'...selling all sorts of English home decor accessories. Unfortunately, recently I went to the shop to get similar bird house but it was not available anymore. I'm still looking for a nice bird house for my own garden. If I found a nice one, will definitely let you know. Till then, happy gardening to all! p/s - i'm sorry i couldn't really visit everyone's blog, still struggling to balance up work, gardening, home chores and blogging.

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