Plumbago

Plumbago adds colour to my garden!

I found the baby plant at the Sungai Buloh nurseries and fell in love the blue flowers instantly. It had cost me 3 ringgit then. I have been growing this blue beauty for 2 years and still do not know its name until today. Bingo!

Scientific name: Plumbago auriculata

Synonym: Plumbago capensis

Common name: Cape Leadwort, Blue Plumbago, Cape Plumbago, Sky Flower
Chinese name: 蓝雪花 (lan zue hua - blue snowflakes)
Malay name: Ceraka Biru

Family: Plumbaginaceae

Origin: Cape Province of South Africa

Category: Evergreen perennial shrub

Photo taken at: My home garden

The genus Plumbago is derived from the Latin words, "plumbum" meaning lead and "agere" meaning "to resemble".  The flowers resemble the lead-blue flowers of a plant known as "molybaina" that could cure lead poisoning. The species name auriculata means "ear-shaped" after the leaf bases.

There are about 10-20 species in the plumbago family. Some species, cultivars and varieties include Plumbago zeylanica (Derhaka Putih/Ceraka Putih/Ceraka Bukit) and Plumbago ariculata 'Escapade White' with white flowers, Plumbago indica (Ceraka Kampung/Derhaka Mertua) with red flowers. Some species have pink or purple flowers.

Are the flowers blue? or is it pale purple? 

Anyway, it is a nice change from the usual pink, red, orange flowers that I have in my garden. It is good to be able to mix colours in nature's lanscape. Gardening can be so interesting and colourful! Just like painting a picture. But this picture changes everyday and every moment. Different flowers bloom and wither and different visitors like the birds, bees, frogs and insects come and go everyday.

As for the flowers, there are hairs at the base of the flowers and buds that tend to stick to clothes and hands. This woody plant is very easy to grow but needs constant triming to get rid of dead ends after the flowers have withered. It loves plenty of sun and watering too. Not much to worry about pests though.

How to grow:

1. Use as a bush, border plant, ground cover or stand-alone specimen plant
2. It can be grown on the ground or in a container
3. Grow under the full sun in moist but well draining soil.
4. Water regularly.
5. Fertilize once a fortnight.
6. Propagation is by cuttings and also by seeds
7. Prune to maintain shape

Bunga Kantan, The Torch Ginger Flower

Bunga Kantan, Bunga Siantan, Torch Ginger Flower

(Etlingera Elatior)

My bunga kantan plant is grown from a rhizome. It was dug out from the garden of a friend in Ipoh. Like me, she also loves gardening. The mother plant was given to her by a kind makcik neighbour who lives a few doors away. Through gardening, we became friends and made more friends.

This plant loves a lot of water, full sun and well drained soil. I waited a long long time for it to bloom, I think a year or so.

Looks like a pink lotus.

No wonder they are also called torch flower.

This plant can grow fast and may reach 15 - 20 feet tall. I had a hard time cutting and disposing off the dried stems. I need to sharpen my chopper knife first before the cutting job and my usual pruning scissors won't do.

Great for cooking some yummy asam laksa, or seafood tom yam tonight. Yes! This is a flower I can eat and for health too. The flower, stems and leaves smells nice. In fact, the whole plant smells good. Makes a picturesque view too.

Curry Leaf Tree

This is my curry leaf tree. I bought the sapling at the nursery near my house for 6 dollars. I planted it in a flower pot because I am not sure whether it will survive long. It is quite lean and looks small. Quite a number of times, it has been infected with pests that looked like tiny black flies. So I sprayed my homemade concoction of chilli potion on it. A friend had taught me this. While preparing the fish for cooking, do not immediately discard the inards. Instead, use it to make a solution and water it on the plants. It will make a good fertilizer. How true.

If this tree is grown from the ground, it can reach to a few meters tall. The leaves of the curry leaf tree (also called sweet neem leaves) are very fragrant and can be used in many asian dishes e.g. curry laksa, kam heong lala & crabs (or spicy clams, and crabs), etc. Yummy! Yummy!

However, dried curry leaves is not as fragrant as fresh curry leaves, hence the dishes will also taste different, i.e. without the 'kick' or 'oomph'!

My curry leaf tree has started to bear flowers. Its tiny white flowers are also very fragrant.

Scientific name: Murraya koenigii

Family: Rutaceae

Common name: Karivepallai, Kadipalla

Malay name: Daun Kari (malay)

Origin: Sri Lanka

My curry leaf tree has started to bear fruits and what a great surprise! I feel so rewarded. Look at the tiny green berries. It will turn to pale yellow, then to reddish brown and finally deep purple. The colour change process somewhat resembles the chilies that grandma used to plant in her pots. I was very tempted to try eating these ripe berries. However, I was told that the seeds are poisonous, so I didn't take the chance.

Propagation is by cuttings, seeds or suckers that grow from the grown. We can also buy the saplings from nurseries.