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.

Knowing me, Knowing you..... Aha.....!

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Malaysian Flora USDA Zone 11
Welcome to our exotic world of everlasting summers and tropical rainforests!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Beauty in Miniatures

This post is dedicated to Ms Charlotte of The Galloping Gardener for being the 1st commenter of my previous post Wordless Wednesday - Hydrangea.

Chilades pandava (Cycad Blue Butterfly or Plains Cupid)*

Today my post is about the miniatures that I see around my garden. Although very very tiny, they are actually very beautiful.

I often see a lot of small little butterflies going after pretty little flowers in my garden. I also see them hovering around wild flowers at the park and roadside. They look very plain and unattractive and I hardly pay any notice. After taking macro shots of these little things, to my surprise, I found that they are really very beautiful and colourful too. Look at this purple butterfly. It is less than 2 cm in diameter and I caught it hovering aournd my portulaca flowers, flying to and fro from flower to flower. Isn't it gorgeous?



Small butterflies like small flowers like this yellow moss rose I photographed in the morning. The water on the petal looks like a dew drop.


This is my bicolour moss rose with yellow petals and red centre. It was grown from a stem cutting given by the nursery owner.


This my white Cuphea hyssopifolia. The flowers are very tiny but numerous. These flowers are so tiny, I think you have to strain your eyes to look at it. It blooms for a long long time. After it is finished with the blooming, the whole plant looks scraggy, so I need to prun it to removed the dead or brown stems and leaves.


I planted the white and purple cuphea mixed together in the same pot to get the bi-colour effect. I also planted some near my red plam tree.


Longlegged fly (Dolichopodidae) *

I caught this colourful bug resting under the shadow of my pomelo leaf. A fly, maybe? Hope someone can tell me its name.



Ah yes, this is the purple waffle plant. I didn't plant it in my garden. It just came to stay with me. At first, I thought the purple flowers were pretty and cute. Now, it has invaded my garden! Everywhere I see this plant, taking every available space. They grow in the flower pots and fight for space and nutrients with my other beloved plants. They grow from the bottom of my pots, in between the grass on my lawn, at wall crevices, corners and even in the drain! They can grown in the hottest place, in the shade and even in dark areas. I can't seem to get rid of the wild ones. Everytime, I pull out one, two grow back. Just like, whenever I pull out a grey hair, 2 grey hairs grow back! I am loosing hair over this alien invasion.



This is the Mimosa pudica aka touch-me-not. In local malay language, we call it the semalu, meaning shy. They seem to love sticking around with the grasses. I think the ball shaped flowers are pretty. When I was little, I love to touch and watch the leaves close one by one. I thought it was quite magical. However, I didn't like their torns, especially when I am playing bare footed during school's PE (physical education) period. No, no. I didn't grow this on my lawn. I photographed in outside my house.


I also photographed this wildflower (or weed?) because I like the pretty peach flower and leaves that are shaped like the mimosa's.


Passiflora foetida, bush passion fruit or running pop*

I found this wild passion flower plant growing near an open space by the road side. Perhaps it is our Asian wild passion flower. It was growing well, its tendrils twisting and twirling up a telephone pole, behaving just like our wild morning glory weeds. The hairy fruits are very small and looked like green berries. The small flowers (2cm in diameter) look very similar to the passion flower and has a slight fragrance too. I took a stem cutting and trying to grow in at home. But I worry that it will behave like the purple waffle plant or the morning glory. Everyday I am debating whether to pull it out or let it grow.


This Andrographis paniculata plant is a native plant (herb) found throughout South East Asia. Its common name is 'king of bitters'. The malay name is hempedu bumi (Earth's gall) or pokok cerita (story tree). The picture above shows the flower which is very tiny.


This herb is being used in traditional medicine and for detoxification. The chinese use the leaves to treat shingles. In chinese shingles is called "having snake". So, the plant's common name is 'snake medicine' in chinese. Some people just eat the leaves raw which is very bitter. Those who cannot stand the bitterness, will eat it in capsule form where the leaves are dried and grounded to powder. These capsules are available in Chinese medicine shops. There are many articles written about it's medicinal properties but I am no expert on this matter. Therefore, please do not practise self medication based on what I have written!

This is my entry for Blooming Friday, 1st Week of November. The theme today is 'Blooms out of Season". My grateful thanks to Katarina at Roses and Stuff for hosting Blooming Friday. To see what others have posted or to participate, click
here.

This is also my entry for Fertilizer Friday. My grateful thanks to Tootsie at Tootsie Time for hosting Fertilizer Friday. To see what others have posted or to participate, visit here.
* the names has been updated, thanks to blogger Sunita, Jacqueline and James

31 comments:

  1. What a lot of miniatures, Autumn Belle? I think that butterfly is a Peablue or Gram Blue. There are quite a few of them which look quite similar and are generally called the Blue butterflies. Very pretty!
    And here's something to make you feel good about your Hemigraphis (purple waffle plant). Their leaves are medicinal and are supposed to be very effective at healing cuts and wounds. Just crush the leaves and apply, or so I've been told by one who is quite knowledgeable about this.
    Now aren't you glad you didnt pull them out and throw them away? ;)

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  2. The wild passion flower looks great - an unusual flower. The mimosa reminds me of my childhood. That was exactly what I did - touched the leaves! Fantastic insect photos.

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  3. I think the passion flowers name is Bush Passion Fruit or Running Pop (Passiflora Foetida)

    I had those bitter herb. Its known as Nangge in Tamil. It cleanses the blood, another easier way to take it is to tear few young leaves & put them in water
    & drink it.

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  4. Passion flowers have such pretty textured blooms. I do not know what the mimosa leafed looking plant is but it has a beautiful bloom. Never heard of the purple waffle but it is pretty. Too bad it takes over everything. Sort of like the purple thyme that takes over my beds and the woods too.
    Have a great weekend!

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  5. Beautiful flowers - wonderful shots. Thanks for sharing. B : )
    http://bleemcguire.blogspot.com

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  6. Hello Autumn Belle, these are very beautiful pictures, I love the butterfly, you did a so good work photographing it.
    Hydrangeas from the last post are magnificent, so wonderful!!
    Muchos cariños
    María Cecilia

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  7. Capturing that bug is amazing. Your floral displays are very elegant. I'm also finding that morning photography is much better than afternoon shots. I guess it's the lighting.

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  8. I enjoyed all your pictures! Happy FF!!!

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  9. your post (and garden) is loaded with beautiful minis!!! I love the first little photo of the tiny butterfly...what a gorgeous color!
    I thank you for linking in and sharing all the beautiful flowers and plants in your garden...I just thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

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  10. Nice shot of the butterfly in the first picture. Very pretty little dainty blooms and plants you have! And looks like your Hemigraphis has a very invasive nature. Enjoy your wonderful garden and have a great weekend Autumnbelle!

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  11. butterflies and bugs are great subjects for photography indeed. happy weekend.

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  12. Less is sometimes more...the tiniest flower can contain so much beauty - as you have shown today!
    Enjoy your weekend!

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  13. Congratulations AB on your century at blotanical- Blog sourcing the most visits-100 during the last week.
    Its always a pleasure to read your posts.

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  14. My dear friends, thank you very very much for the nice comments. I just love to hear from you.

    Actually, I am still unable to sleep at 3am now, waiting anxiously for the latest news about my son's operation at the hospital. He fractured 2 of his right hand bones while playing football.

    Your words makes my today better.

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  15. Greetings Autumn Bell! It has been a long time since I visited, because I had serious computer problems. I just spent an enjoyable afternoon catching up with your wonderful blog. Your photos are stunning, as ever! I love Friday's little butterfly and the hydrangea from your last post. Your daughter is so beautiful... I send happy birthday wishes to her. I am praying that your son makes a good recovery. Keep up the good work. Pamela

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  16. I hope you son recovers soon. Give him lots of love!
    Take care
    Rosey

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  17. oooh, I hope you're son has a quick recovery! One of my students just told me that he's broken 7 fingers and 9 toes playing sports throughout his life. I'm sure his mother is a nervous wreck! I hope your son's hand heals quickly!

    I do like you photos. The purple waffe is so pretty but I guess not in the amounts you're seeing! I can't even imagine finding a passion flower on the road side. That's got to be one of the prettiest flowers around.

    The moss rose is really nice!

    Take care Autumn... I'm actually nursing my own sick child - H1N1. :(

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  18. Autumn Belle, I hope your son feels OK now and will get well soon!

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  19. Hi, my dear friends. Thank you so much for the warm messages. You all are like my support group. After seeing your smiling faces in my comments box, I feel so much better already. My son is out of surgery and seems ok. First day, he is screaming and groaning with pain that even painkillers cannot take away. Poor guy. I guess he will be off football and computer games for quite sometime. I'm doing the mid-night shift today, so I'll be going back to hospital to take care of him in a few hours time. Hubby there now.

    Oh dear, my antivirus just expired! No protection now until I get the IT guy here to save me.

    Well, it never rains but it pours.

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  20. Wendy, I hope you child is recovering and getting better now. I heard from the news and H1N1 situation is quite bad in the US. I guess all mothers here understand the the pain we go through.

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  21. Lovely pics of your garden and the butterfly shot is great!

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  22. Something we do for invasive plants here is to keep a paintbrush and a pint jar of vinegar available. I use stronger than household vinegar, 9% acidity at least. Paint a couple of leaves, being careful to NOT get the vinegar on cherished plants. The vinegar is lethal to broadleaf plants.

    Very nice post.

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  23. Hope all's well with your son and he'll recover soonest and completely, Autumn Belle. You and hubby, take care too. God bless you all.
    Isn't gardening wonderful...we get to admire nature's many wonders firsthand, seeing beauty in almost everything, from the tiniest to....!
    Lovely photos as usual, I'm especially fascinated with the wild passion flower (first time for me) - such a beautiful miniature and you've captured its fantastic details and colours superbly!
    Your butterfly's ID is Chilades pandava (Cycad Blue Butterfly or Plains Cupid), a daily visitor to our garden too! And, your insect is a species of Longlegged flies (Dolichopodidae), unsure of its exact ID though...enjoy this photo gallery at BugGuide: http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=longlegged+fly&search=Search

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  24. Very nice shots of some beautiful flowers, Belle. I especially like the wild passion flower plant. It is so beautiful. And without you telling me, I wouldn't expect that the flower is only 2cm in diameter. Very cool :D

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  25. Hi Autumn Belle. I hope everything is doing well with your son. Young bodies recover fast and he will be kicking again in a short while.

    Thanks for the mini photos, next time you can post the macros, those will be great also for your minis. BTW, i am still waiting for your ID for my 7 needles, which i posted in my blog last week. thanks again.

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  26. You have some really great photos! I love taking photos of my garden, too!

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  27. Dear friends, once again I thank you all for dropping by with your warm wishes and lovely comments that made my day beautiful.

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  28. very nice, i was alarmed when my mexican heather (cuphea hyssopifolia) started drying out after blooming, but it looks like you had that happen too!
    love your pictures!

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  29. Arati, yes, the cuphea does dry out after blooming. I find that trimming and fertilizing does bring about more shoots and flowers. Don't worry, soon it will be bushy and dotted with flowers again.

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  30. Hi. It is different in our Lord's garden. Your wild passion flower, and all other flowers are beautiful. Be grateful for all the colors of flowers and beautiful butterfly. /Margareta

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  31. Margareta, welcome to My Nice Garden. Thank you very much for your wise words which I appreciate very much.

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