My DIY Home Garden in Malaysia - GBBD May 2013

1.

Strange things are happening to my hibiscus lately.

2.

My yellow hibiscus has change in appearance! It was a beautiful single flower hibiscus with wavy edges and 5 large petals (Pic 1) when I first bought it but now it seems that it has suddenly grown a second set of petals surrounding the pistils! An extra upper tier of flower petals to be more exact. Pic 1 and 2 are of the same plant but taken at an interval of one month.

Is this a hybridisation experiment gone wrong?

“My DIY Garden in Malaysia - GBBD May 2013”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on May 16th 2013.

3.

A similar thing happened to this pinkish purple hibiscus too.
At one glance it looks like a double flower variety with about 10 petals arranged in 2 layers.

4.

See the difference?
After the first round of flowering, this is how the flowers look like after reblooming.
It is clearly a double flower variety but the petals shape has changed!
Pic 3 and 4 are of the same plant but taken at one month interval.

5.

My pink single flower hibiscus with a red eye centre.

6.

Another large striking pink hibiscus!

7.

Our humble National Flower, the red hibiscus.
Butterflies and sunbirds still prefer this simple hibiscus as compared to the rest.

8.

Turk's Cap - Malvaviscus arboreus with flowers pointing up.

9.

This mini Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is my favourite.
Love how the flowers point up and they are small and cute.

10.

Red petunias.

11.

12.

Bamboo ground orchid (Arundina graminifolia) with Medinilla atronoides.

13.

Caladium bicolor

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Euphorbia bracteata
Synonym: Pedilanthus bracteatus
Common names: Little Bird Plant, Slipper Plant, Candlelilla

The above is the fruit that appeared after the flowers have withered off.

15.

The Common Palmfly butterfly perched on my pandan plant (Pandanus amaryllifolius)
Scientific name: Elymnias hypermnestra agina

Notice the distinct white dot on its hind wing?

16.

Green Heart Sunflowers.
The flower heads are about 6 inches diameter and plant 4ft tall.

17.

Bougainvillea.

18.

This Lime Butterfly which was reared in My Nice Garden was born on the morning of 11 May 2013. That morning I was to be interviewed "Live" on a national TV show for a Mother's Day special for moms who loves gardening. What a coincidence!

It appeared on the set of "Bella NTV7 Thursday Unwind" that morning. Members of the broadcasting team named it "Bella" and Bella was released the same day on the grounds of the TV station.

19.

Solenostemon scutellariodes (Syn: Coleus blumei) aka Painted Netlte

20.

Desert Rose

Which one is your favourite?

This is my entry for
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (GBBD) - May 2013 hosted my Carol of May Dreams Garden, the link is here.
Fertilizer Friday hosted by Glenda at Tootsie Time here.

Ye Olde Smokehouse Fraser's Hill - Old England in Tropical Malaysia (Part 5)

1.

A trip to Fraser's Hill is never complete without a visit to Ye Olde Smokehouse. Even if you do not intend to stay overnight, just a few hours there is good enough to experience the quaint old English charm where one can take a walk down memory lane to the yonder days of our old colonial times.

2.

Ye Olde Smokehouse Fraser's Hill is designed with mock-English Tudor architecture that resembles a colonial manor (English country house) with Old English windows and brick walls covered with creeping figs. There is an open area nearby with vintage chairs and tables for guest to enjoy some good afternoon tea amidst  rustic surroundings.

The Smokehouse has been around since 1937 and it had even served as a Red Cross centre for the British Army during the pre-Independence days. It has since been renovated into a hotel with dining facilities.

Now let's take a look at the garden surrounding the Smokehouse.

“Ye Olde Smokehouse Fraser's Hill - Old England in Tropical Malaysia (Part 5)”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on May 3rd, 2013.

3.

The air here is cool and fresh. The atmosphere is serene with no noise from oncoming traffic. One can even hear the chirping of birds on the branches of bushes and trees nearby, the sound of a leaves rustling in the wind or dropping on the ground.

4.

Close-up of the big Tibouchina bush next to the open air dining area.

5.

The side yard beside the main road.

6.

It was March when I visited.

The yellow daffodils they have ordered from overseas
and planted in the garden were just beginning to bloom.
It was like Spring has just arrived!

7.

An old conifeous tree with epiphytic orchids, ferns, moss and lichens attached to its trunk.

8.

These are red anthuriums in front of the conifer tree.

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A bushy tailed squirrel darted from a nearby tree onto the roof.

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A big azalea bush.

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The lovely pink azalea blooms.

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This side reminds me so much of my childhood days when I stayed with Mom, Dad, Grandparents, sister and brother in a detached house with a stone bench to sit and play and self made swing under the rambutan tree. The ground below was our playground, and trees above provided the shade. We didn't have a big and beautiful swing like this one but I have seen it in other houses and this is the swing that I love to sit on and have always wanted to have in my garden.

13.

A bottle brush tree can attract many lovely birds. They just adore the blossoms.

14.

Dining English style amidst ancient rainforest jungle scenery in the distant.

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My favourite swing with yellow daylilies below, a vast lawn and many flowering shrubs in front. My mind wander off to those days where children often played in the outdoors. The games that we played were hide-and-seek, stones and marbles, catching spiders and fishes and also make believe 'family' where we cooked with flowers, leaves, stems, pebbles and sand. Flowers were strung into garlands, bracelets and leis while big broad leaves were made into hats. When playing war games, we hid under big bushes or somewhere behind the house, and our ammunition were 'grenades' made from sand. Older brothers and sisters looked after their siblings and friends help too whenever the little ones got into trouble or mischief. When it was time to be home for lunch or dinner, this was 'notified' by a loud scream or shout from dear mom or our beloved grandma. Yeah, those were the days.....

16.

Scenes from the courtyard.

Pillars made of bricks, stone walkways and brick planters.

17.

This hanging plant looks like the Oxalis spiralis subsp. vulcanicola 'Zinfandel'
with bright yellow flowers and burgundy red leaves.
Reference: Dave's Garden website here.

18.

A hanging basket of blooming white petunias.
A curved and winding stone walkway leads to the back yard.
Do I see a chimney in the background?

19.

Yes, you are indeed seeing flowers growing on the rooftop here!

20.

These look like Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic' with large dark purple to purplish black leaves. I was told that the leaves are only of this colour in the highlands, and in the lowlands, the leaves colour changes back to green.

21.

Petunias, oxalis and vincas in this row of hanging baskets. 

22.

Creeping figs growing densely side-by-side with ferns and grasses.

23.

Vibrantly blooming New Guinea Impatiens.

24.

At this point, I have walked round the garden

and indeed there are blooming flowers and lush green plants everywhere.

25.

Ye Olde Smokehouse

Jalan Jeriau,

 49000 Bukit Fraser, 

Pahang Darul Makmur, MALAYSIA.

Tel : 609-362 2226 Fax : 609-362 2035

Website: www.thesmokehouse.my

This is my entry for Fertilizer Friday hosted by Glenda at Tootsie Time, link here.
This is my entry for Our World Tuesday Week 88, link here.
This is also my entry for Outdoor Wednesday #225 (here) and Weekend Flowers #97 (here)