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
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Friday, October 15, 2010

GBBD Oct 2010


Today is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day for October 2010, the time of the month where we get to show off what's blooming in our gardens. So, what are you waiting for? Let's head over to May Dreams Garden and join in the fun with Carol!


It has been raining almost everyday here for the past week or so. My Tunera ulmifolia yellow alder was completely drenched. Just look at those thin, delicate petals.

However, our weather has suddenly turned very hot today.



My pomegranate is ready to be harvested. This time I'll leave it on the tree because I want to see its bottom split open. Dad used to tell me that when a pomegranate fruit splits open it signifiies happiness and a smiling face.


My yellow hibiscus flower has a 'dirty look' because of rain splash.


I was overjoyed to see this tiny chili flower because I have been hoping to get some chilis from these plants which I had grown from some seeds I saved from the chilis I used in my cooking. But so far, no luck yet. Is there such a thing as male chili flowers?



Chili flowers always droop downwards, so I push up this beauty just to get a shot. I think the stamens in the centre look like purple diamonds. I wonder if jewellery designers get some of their inspiration from the chili flower?


Muraya paniculata flowers emit a very strong and nice perfume.

“GBBD Oct 2010”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on October 15th, 2010.




Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
.....Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), the only British Prime Minister with a Nobel Prize in Literature.

Sometimes I am amazed at what a weak vine can do. Just look at this Clitoria ternatea (butterfly pea) plant. Without support it can't even stand on its own but within a few months, it had managed to scale to the peak of my Lipstick Palm!


Hypolimnas bolina jacintha

Even butterflies like my butterfly pea plant.
I wonder if anyone knows the name of this butterfly?

The butterfly has been identified as Hypolimnas bolina jacintha aka Blue Moon Butterfly, Common Eggfly.


Caterpillar crawling, ouch! ouch! ouch! ..... This extremely hairy and prickly little fella can move very fast. It is taking a brisk walk going round and round my flower pot. It is also giving me some goose pimples. A few of them have finished up my lavender and blue Angelonia plants.

Angels? Definitely they are not!

 Hopefully, the cuttings I saved from the bare cut branches will sprout some shoots.


At the moment, this is still classified as a UFO (unidentified flowering object) in my garden. I just love its frosty pale green leaves. Hopefully it will flower again in December so that I can pretend that it is snowing here.



This Hibiscus Rosa-sinensis double petaled variety is full of surprises. The unopened buds are yellowish in colour but the blooms are a pale pink.


My Sansevieria trifasciata has started to bloom. I consider this a foliage plant so it makes me very happy when it starts to flower. The flowers have fragrance and last for a few days.

It has many common names which include Mother-in-law's Tongue, Snake Plant and Sharp Tongue. It's Chinese name is hǔwěilán (虎尾兰), meaning tiger's tail orchid. In Malay, it is called, "Pokok Lidah Jin" meaning gennie's tongue.

Because the leaves look like sharp blades, we do not place it inside the home. My late dad had always advised me to keep it outside the house or put it near the gate to ward of evil. He said the leaves resemble a sword that the masters use for ghost-busting and driving away evil spirits and charms. You can say that I have this plant as a fengshui protection. My dad gave it to me.

Recently a neighbour asked me for some leaves which he would make medicinal herbal drinks or soups. Frankly speaking, I have never tried consuming it yet, neither have I ever heard that the leaves can be eaten, so I told him to be careful but he was adamant that it was the correct plant as the leaves have a yellow edge.



This is the result of my second attempt at growing the highlands wild sunflower from seeds given by a friend. My Miniature Sunflowers post link is here. I have followed the advice of my commenters and placed the pot under full sun from germination to blooming stage. I think the solar energy helped a lot even during this period of rainy weather and cloudy days. Here's my sunflower's new vital statistics:

Height = 2 ft (60cm)
Sunflower head diameter = 9 cm, centre = 3 cm
Stems = 0.5 cm thick.

This is an improvement from my first attempt. Now the flowers look more like sunflowers.


This is my Cat Whiskers plant with purple flowers. The white flower variety is easier to grow and more hardy. I am now trying to propagate some of these from stem cuttings.


To participate and/or view what other gardeners have for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - October 2010, please visit Carol at May Dreams Garden, the link is here. Thank you very much to Carol for hosting GBBD!

I am also participating in Fertilizer Friday. To enjoy the season of Thanksgiving, do visit Tootsie here.

For Blooming Friday, this week's theme is "Wild & Beautiful". Hopefully my flowers can fit in. To view more wild and beautiful blooms today, please visit Katarina at Roses & Stuff here


I would like to welcome my new follower, Leovi from Spain of Abstract Photos blog to My Nice Garden. Leovi, thank you very much for being my 202nd follower!

TQVM to Andrea for being my first commenter! Hope that your laptop will be up and running smoothly soon! Goodnight and sweet dreams!

54 comments:

  1. Good midnight Autumn Belle, i am not yet sleeping because i have problems with my laptop, and someone said it is teaching me patience, so till now i am not yet sleeping. And then i saw your post in FB, so i am commenting already without waiting for the photos to appear, haha! Nobody's here yet, so you will dedicate all of these to me and you will put my link again. haha. I will comment again tomorrow for the photos. Good morning already past midnight.

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  2. Whoa! What a Feast....Coz...Those are some Gorgeous BLOOMs. I must say your garden must be looking soooo colourful n delightful this October. We have Balsams blooming in the garden right now n we r in the process of getting the beds ready for winter plantations :0)

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  3. Oh my what a visual delight. I can't get over the size of your pea vine. I love the flowers of that vine.

    Thank you for sharing pictures of your lovely garden bloomers.

    Thank you too for your kind comment on my blog.

    FlowerLady

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  4. How wonderful with all those flowers, that would be impossible for us to grow outside inte garden!

    I have never heard of male and female flowers on a chili-plant! I do not underständ why you do not get chili-fruits of it???

    Take care,
    Charlotta

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  5. Hi Autumn. WoW! you have such lovely blooms now despite the rain. If you get tired of the rain send it our way because it is so dry here.
    I just love the double blooms on your hibiscus, just beautiful and I so like the yellow blooms of your alder.They are so cherry to look at with the rain drops. A beautiful picture.

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  6. I love your Cat Whiskers plant! It's stunning. I've only ever seen a Sanseviera flower once and that was in a greenhouse. The flowers are small but up close they are quite pretty. Beautiful photos today!

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  7. Hi AutumnBelle I'm amazed at that vigourous vine of yours along with that lovely chocolate coloured butterfly. You have so many beauties in bloom this month.

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  8. Your blooms are all very pretty. The pomegranate is lovely. I'm curious to see how the pomegranate splits and its smiling face. Be sure to show us! How come it has been raining in your area?? Over here it has been extremely, blazing hot and dry for a week! No rain at all! The name of the butterfly looks like "Autumn Belle" to me! He! He! I've got no idea at all!

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  9. You are describing the same weather over here in Penang.

    You have a magical garden that produces many beautiful flowers.

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  10. HI Autumn Belle, that is one great set of pictures you have there. The vine is amazing. So many flowers I am unfamiliar with. The names of the Sansevieria made me smile. Good luck with your sunflowers.

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  11. Lots of fabulous blooms today. I have the Clitoria ternatea in my garden too, but it's really a great nuisance. As you say, it's a vine with attitude ... it takes over in my garden very quickly and I spend a lot of time pulling it out.

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  12. I am glad your 2nd trial with the sunflower is going really well. Like Kitchen flavour I too am curious how the pomegranate will split and smiling face. I agree with you that jeweller must has been inspired with chili flower. cheers.

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  13. How wonderful are your garden plants. They look good even with all the rain and all.
    Its been about a week without rain in my place and the dry hot season had started to show.

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  14. Wow Autumn Belle, you have so much colours in your garden, and the blooms are all amazing! Talking about cili padi, i myself have no luck in growing it. Neither seeds i saved from the cillies or seeds i bought from the nursery, just no luck! Just like how easy i see a Jasmine can grow so big and strong beside the road side. But my Jasmine at home always got eaten up by the caterpillars., botak laa... haha. It's Friday, happy weekends to you!

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  15. Autumn Belle, Lovely Blooms!!! KitchenFlavours is right about the name of the butterfly. It is printed on the wings. You sure you live in this part of the world? I have NOT seen a drop of rain for the entire week!!!

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  16. Autumn Belle, Your photos and blooms are outstanding! So lovely! I love the butterfly hanging upside down . . . I cannot tell you which it is. I think the photo after the caterpillar is gorgeous. . . the light and background . . . dreamy! ;>)

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  17. I haven't seen a purple cat whiskers before. Very elegant. Can you spare me some cuttings, hehe, as if i'm just at the other fence. Your photos are getting more beautiful.

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  18. Very cantik..I love that pomegranate but I really tak suka all those creepy crawlies. One day we should swap visiting garden ...but mine not so cantik like yours. Happy weeeknd :)

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  19. wow, you have so much going on right now! Does that caterpillar turn into that butterfly?

    I LOVE the UFO. I love the pink on the frosty blue-green.

    Interesting pomegranate - will you eat the seeds or is it ornamental?

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  20. Autumn Belle, you have so many gorgeous blooms in your garden, I don't know which I like the best. Your entire post is a treat and a feast for the eyes!

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  21. Very beautiful blooms. What gorgeous photographs. Rain always makes for interesting images. We too have been having rain. October is good to your garden.

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  22. A beautiful range of flowers and gorgeous photos of them! I am fascinated by the sikey looking white caterpillar! I have never seen one this colour before!

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  23. Wonderful pictures. Never seen a caterpillar like that before. It is so good to see lots of colourful plants especially as we have left summer far behind over here.

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  24. Beautiful pictures!
    have a nice weekend!
    /Stina

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  25. I am so blown away, so many beautiful and exotic (if you are from Sweden at least) flowers you are showing. Thank you for that.

    Have a nice day, Kerstin

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  26. aloha,

    what a very nice tour of your garden this morning, i enjoyed the beautiful flowers,

    thanks for sharing that with us autumn belle

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  27. There are several of us gardeners that would gladly take some of that rain off of your hands. Love, love the yellow hibiscus! Cat Whiskers are easy peasy to root cuttings...

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  28. Hi Autumn Belle,

    Really nice post. I like your pomegranate picture...really fresh and healthy! Watering my mouth.

    Just inform you that i already list 10 things in Gardening A game...and will invite 10 blogger to join this game soon.

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  29. Greetings and Happy Bloom Day :)
    Such fab photos. I'm in love with those cat wiskers. And, that hibiscus - Wow!

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  30. Oh, those lovely tropical flowers!

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  31. There's no rain for a week now and the weather is dry and sweltering hot for us human to endure esp at nite but a good blooming day in our gardens. You have quite a variety for GBBD, great photos too!

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  32. Amazingly beautiful photos I do love all the colours in your photos. You have +34C, here we just now we have +4C......

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  33. Thankyou for a lovely show, you fill my heart with joy and warmth. Here being so cold it's an extra happiness to visit you and your lovely garden. Pomegranate must be really tasty when eaten so fresh as you can.
    Have a great week and enjoy the Sun :)

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  34. oh girl...I can't decide which photo is my favorite...as they are all so wonderful! I am loving the palm and the vine...they are a for sure huge focal point!!! wow...thanks for linking in this week...it is a very lovely flaunt!

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  35. Thanks for showing us your beautiful garden blooms.

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  36. Those Cat's Whiskers are stunning!

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  37. Beautiful!
    you have a very nice and full of life garden

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  38. grandiosos trabajos, una maravilla, felicidades

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  39. Dear Autumn Belle, How I loved walking through your garden with you today. I believe raindrops make flowers even more pretty. I don't think I saw the bloom of Mother-in-law's Tongue before... so sweet. Have a wonderful weekend. Pam x

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  40. Hi Autumn Belle, what a beautiful post! And your blooms are gorgeous! I like the arrangement with the ducks and the stones in the first photo. I've never seen a caterpillar like that! Your Cat Whiskers and the shot of the butterfly--superb!

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  41. wow beautiful pictures! you captured those insects so nicely.

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  42. How wonderful to see all these vibrant blooms--not to mention raindrops! It's been so dry here in the Midwest U.S., and the garden is on its last legs as days are getting cooler.

    That pomegranate looks delicious! I think I'd have a hard time not picking it before the bottom splits:)

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  43. Stunning flowers and an extremely beautiful butterfly!

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  44. Hello Autumn Belle,

    That angel caterpillar is mighty cute but too bad it ate your flowers. I am in awe of your gardening skills. I can't even imagine growing a pomegranate. I hope it is tasty and delicious. SO many good things about this post. I really loved the photos and even your watermark is gorgeous!

    Thanks for sharing your tips about recycling on my blog.

    Hugs,
    Rosey

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  45. You've such a beautiful backyard and love all the captures here. the shot of the cat whiskers is absolutely mesmerising.

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  46. So wonderful with all these photos of your flowers. They are really beautyful. I hope you have a great week/Gela

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  47. Hi Autumn Belle, the chili flowers really look like they are filled with jewels. And I love the double-petaled pink hibiscus. Beautiful flowers as always at your place. Barbara

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  48. Beautiful! The only thing I have blooming is mums. I do have a pomegranate but it is young and won't produce for a few years. I am looking forward to its treats though. :) As for the chili pepper they need to cross pollinate so if you go out with a cotton swab you can help it along. I love peppers and I even have a tattoo of one with the bloom on my left leg. You might have seen it on my blog before. :)

    I also wanted to add that I also bestowed a Lovely Blog Award to you over on mine. Have a great day!

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  49. WOW~WOW~WOW Autumn Belle! What a great post! I just adore that little chili flower! I grew an dwarf pomegranate for a few years (indoor) but it never fruited...lucky you!
    Hope you are doing super...have missed visiting here. Thanks for popping by my place and reminding me! :)
    Hugs,
    Lynn

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  50. I bet your garden should be very beautiful place!
    That caterpillar look scary! hairy enough to scare me! ;-)
    You planted Pomegranate? wow!

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  51. i love ur pomegranate...looked so juicy and seductive :))

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  52. My dear friends, thank you very much for your lovely comments.

    Wendy, there are caterpillars, chrysalis and butterflies in my garden but I am still unable to trace the cycle from start to finish. My pomegranate is the fruiting type. The fruits will be eaten after I offer them to the Gods for prayers first.

    Kitchen Flavours and Malay Kadazan Girl, the next post will see my pomegranate smile!

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  53. You have some lovely blooms there! I love that pink hibiscus and the pepper blooms.

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