Bringing Up Babies and a 11111 Affair

This is the jewel of My Nice Garden and my beloved Cattleya. It was given to me by my late dad, an orchid hobbyist. It is an offspring from the only orchid left in his collection. The mother plant is with my brother in Ipoh. My orchid flowered for the first time in 2007, then again in 2008 and 2009. Last year it became dormant after I cut off some of its leaves which were infected by some black spot disease. There were no blooms in 2010.

My first ever post when I became a blogger is about this orchid. It is the plant that started the inspiration for My Nice Garden, the blog as well as my own home garden.

I observe that it is currently busy producing babies and offshoots. I am thinking of repotting the baby plants but I'm not sure when is the best time to do so.

I have been observing my potted pineapple plant lately. It is now about 2 years old. I was wondering when it will start to bloom. A few days ago, I have fed it with a dilute solution of bloom inducing fertilizer but nothing happened. So I put the leftover peels of one ripe apple at the base of the leaves, hoping that the ethylene gas released will stimulate it to bloom. Well, maybe it is a coincidence, but the next day, I notice this teeny weeny baby popping out from the plant. This is my second successful attempt using the ripe apple peel method.

This pineapple plant was grown from a store bought pineapple that I had used for prayers. The crown had multiple suckles. After I planted the crown, a total of 7 plants grew up in the same pot. Earlier on, the seller had told me that this type of pineapple is called 'Seven Sisters' pineapples. Actually I was very greedy because I was hoping to get 7 pineapples all at the same time!

I am very very happy whenever I see my pineapple plant bloom. It is very meaningful and auspicious to have it bloom and bear fruit during the Lunar New Year. In Chinese, pineapple is called 'ong lai' meaning 'the arrival of good fortune'.

This is my post about how to grow pineapples from store bought ones.

“Bringing Up Babies and a 1111 Affair”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on January 11th, 2011.

Last week, Mr Postman delivered 2 parcels on the same day. They are seeds from my blogger buddies in Malaysia. My little helpers are very excited to see my new year presents and they are jumping with joy. Thank you very much to Malar and One!

Yay, yay, yay! Now, I have enough seeds to last the whole year through.  Looks like there will be more edibles in my garden this year.

I shall sow some seeds during the first 15 days of Lunar New Year, to simulate the arrival of spring that signifies new life and new growth.

When I prepared the soil for this batch of seedlings, I didn't put any plant label on the pot. Now I cannot remember what it is and I have learnt my lesson that it doesn't pay to be a 'smart alec'. I think it looks like gomphrena.

This marigold from Wendy in USA is begining to bear flowers after more than 2 months of growing.  Yay! "Fa Kai Fu Gui' = when flower blooms, prosperity comes!
Thank you very much, Wendy.

This is my Angelonia biflora rose pink. It is actually very easy to propagate more plants with stem cuttings. The cuttings are placed on the same pot to make the plant more compact and bushy. New shoots had developed from some of the cuttings. Flowers are produced quite fast too.

My hydrangea has started to bloom again. The previous flower head dried up prematurely due to overexposure to sunlight while I was holidaying away from home.

Today is 11.1.11

Autumn Belle  wishes everyone A Year of Abundance and Great Productivity!

A Present, A Hidden Message and A Wish

Last Christmas, I was extremely delighted to receive these home saved seeds from Diana of Kebun Malay Kadazan Girls. Oh wow! Seeds from Southern Australia. My old desktop buddies; Little Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibi Moon and Luna-P are very excited to see my presents.

I have germinated some red onion seeds. They are about a week old but they look so thin and fragile. I am very worried that they will collapse from my constant gaze. This is the first time I am growing onions from seeds. I only know how to grow them from store purchased bulbs. Hopefully I get to taste it soon.

“A Present, A Hidden Message and A Wish”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on January 6th, 2011.

This beautiful lady Gerbera Daisy was winking seductively at me when I passed by the supermarket section. It didn't take long before it sat on my trolley and followed me all the way home. I should have known better.

That was December last year. I put her on my window sill and I thought that the 3 daisies will enjoy the company of the 3 mushrooms stools. However, in 3 days time the daisies left me for good, leaving behind only the 3 stooges of mushrooms, as hard as concrete. Thinking positively, I conclude that Ms Daisy has this hidden message for me, somethings are not meant to be, so I gotta move on with life.

Now that the days are getting longer after the Winter Solstice and we are already 1 week into the new year, I am preparing to welcome the Lunar New Year which falls on February 3rd.  The most beloved of flowers during this season are the Plum Blossoms (Prunus mume aka Japanese apricot aka Chinese plums) and Peonies. Plum Blossoms are the flowers of winter and peonies are flowers of spring. I have never seen the real ones.

Are you growing the Prunus mume and is it blooming now? Please let me know as I'd like to view a picture of real Plum Blossoms. This is my new year wish. Oh, how I wish I can see plum blossoms in the snow!

Update:
I am delighted to get a view of the Prunus mume which is blooming now in at the following sites:

1. Chai in Japan - white flowers on Jan 5th, 2011
2. Colin Blogs in Santa Rosa, USA - white flowers on Jan 4th, 2011
3. From Lynns Garden in Arkansas, USA - pink flowers in bloom on Jan 19th, 2011

This is so special. Thank you so much !

Since I don't have real peonies, I shall make do with this Moss Rose (Portulaca grandiflora) blooming in my garden.  It is very tiny, perhaps 2-3cm diameter.

Until then, Cheers!
Autumn Belle

I'm joining the first Fertilizer Friday for 2011 at Tootsie Time here.