Singapore Plants Lover

ABC Wednesday-E for eustoma

2012-02-15T00:03:00.001+08:00

Eustoma, their flowers look like rose especially those double petals type, but they are not. I never seen the plant before, in Singapore, we only have them in flower shops, as cut flowers. They are one of the kinds of long lasting fresh cut flowers, often used in flowers arrangement.

Eustoma comes in a great variety of colors, purple, pink, white and mixed colors with simple or double petals. Here are some of my pictures of the beautiful Eustoma flowers:

ABC Wednesday-B for blue pea

2012-01-25T10:40:00.019+08:00

Clitoria ternatea is the botanical name. (Family : Fabaceae) I have written about this beautiful blue flowers before. The Blue Pea Flower, also popularly known as Bunga Telang (in Malay), also called Butterfly Pea, is a common ingredient used as natural food dye for making nonya kuehs. Read my previous post here: Nonya Cooking Ingredient - Bunga Telang

In today post, I will share with you some of my collection photos and more information of this edible plant.

Clitoria ternatea, such an imaginative name, but yet most of us only remember it as blue pea or butterfly pea. It is a perennial herbaceous plant. The pea-shaped flower is a bit hairy on the back. Though attractive, but I hardly see insects attracted to this flower, lacking of nectar I suppose.

Its leaves are elliptic and obtuse, with three leaflets growing from the slender stem. It grows as a vine or creeper, doing well in moist neutral soil. There are also white, pink, light purple and double petal variants of Butterfly Pea, but the the common one is the blue single-petaled flower variety.

This is the butterfly Pea that has double-petaled flowers in vivid deep blue color. They are about 4 cm long by 3 cm wide. This striking blue flowers demonstrated it's beauty on the roadside fence when I took the photo.

They are commonly and easily grown from seeds, they are so easy to bloom beautiful flowers everyday under full sun conditions and needs only a little attention. It is commonly found on open fields and wastelands.

As I know the blue flowers variety is used to extract its dye to colour the Nonya Kuehs, the white variety is known to treat goitre.

The fruits are 5 – 7 cm long, flat pods with 6 to 10 seeds in each pod. They are edible when tender.

I am linking up this post with ABC Wednesday

ABC Wednesday-A for African violet

2012-01-18T21:59:00.182+08:00

African Violet is one of my favorite plants, I am linking up this post with ABC Wednesday to share with you my collection of African Violet and growing tips.
African Violet is one of the easygoing houseplant in Singapore. They don't need direct sunlight and just nice to survive in our weather. Grow them near the window where the place is bright and have sufficient air circulation with the indirect sunlight or indoor light. Here is my newly blooms of pink color flowers.

African Violet grow well in our temperature, especially during the month from Oct to Feb, when it is cooler at night while day time is not that hot. Below is another pot of blooms. I love this purple blue flowers. It is flowering once every two months.

Some of my growing tips would like to share here:

Keep soil moist to dry, and allow soil around roots to dry out before watering again. Avoid getting water on the leaves as this can cause spotting damage. Don't over water it too, always maintain good air circulation around your plants. It can prevent the growth of fungi as Botrytis and Powdery Mildew. Keep them in door to avoid heavy rain especially in raining season.
Always use a slightly shallow pot to prevent over watering. For the same reason, you should never allow an African Violet to remain in a pot that is too large for it. A lot of people like to change a bigger pot for the newly bought plant, they always think bigger space is good for the plants to grow, but it is not always right. If you use a pot too big or too deep, the African Violet's roots will not reach the bottom. As a result, the soil remains overly moist. African Violets perform best and are less susceptible to disease when their roots fit snugly into a pot.
Most of the people like to spray water on the leaves, it is a very wrong way of watering this plant. Excessive moisture on the leaves can cause the plants infected by Powdery mildew (a light gray, powdery substance on the stems and petioles), promote the growth of fungi such as Crown Rot or Pythium etc. This shortens the life of blooms and even the growth of the plants.
Just in case your plants get infected by diseases, one of my simple way is cutting off all the stems and leaves, allow two weeks time for new and healthy shoot to grow.

Well, I would like to hear from you of your growing tips. Here are some of my collections of African violet:

Ribena Plant-Roselle

2012-01-10T21:01:00.000+08:00

Roselle, belongs to the family of Hibiscus. Its scientific name is Hibiscus sabdariffa. Many people call this plant "Ribena", but actually Ribena is a name of a blackcurrant drink.

Roselle Plants

Roselle, tt is an annual or perennial herb or woody-based subshrub, growing to 2–2.5 m (7–8 ft) tall. The leaves are deeply three- to five-lobed, 8–15 cm long, arranged alternately on the stems.
The flowers are 8–10 cm in diameter, white to pale yellow with a dark red spot at the base of each petal, and have a stout fleshy calyx at the base, 1–2 cm wide, enlarging to 3–3.5 cm , fleshy and bright red as the fruit matures. It takes about six months to mature.

ABC Wednesday-zephyranthes

2012-01-10T00:03:00.002+08:00

Zephyranthes is a genus of 71 species in the Amaryllis family. There are numerous hybrids and cultivars. Common names for species in this genus include fairy lily, rainflower, zephyr lily, magic lily, Atamasco lily, and rain lily.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Coral vine

2012-01-07T00:08:00.003+08:00

Antigonon leptopus, commonly called "Cadena de Amor" (Chain of Love) in Latin America and The Philippines and "Mexican Creeper", ''Coral Vine", "Honolulu Creeper " and "San Miguelito Vine" elsewhere, also have a name "Tears of the bride". It is a pink flowered vine in the buckwheat family, originally native to Mexico but is now found everywhere in the Tropics.

I often found this beautiful vines growing communally on a roadside fence, or outside of some private gardens. This vine was very common in the Singapore kampungs (villages) of yesteryear. This pretty and attractive climber is always attractive to bees when they are in full blooms with many pink flowers. I always wish I could had a garden fence to grow this dreamy sweet pink flowers. I tried to grow it on my corridor but it became a dead plant soon, as this Coral Vine needs a lot of full sun.

Until now, I still don't understand why it got the name "Tears of the bride", people often say they are the symbols of broken hearts, just because of the heart shaped leaves? Or because of that sweet pink colour has reminded the sweet memories of the bride?

ABC Wednesday- yellow flowers

2012-01-03T07:44:00.001+08:00

Not sure what is the name of this plants, bright cheerful flowers look like mini sunflowers or daisy, but the plant is growing like shrub, about 2 meter tall.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Dillenia Alata

2011-12-31T21:42:00.000+08:00

Scientific name: Dillenia alata [Family: Dilleniaceae]

Common name: Red Beech

Location: Singapore

Same family as Simpoh Air, read more here

Happy New Year to every one!

My linking to:

Today's Flowers

Macro Flowers Saturday

Flowers On Saturday

ABC Wednesday- plants that begin with the letter X

2011-12-28T07:44:00.000+08:00

What are the plants that begin with the letter X?

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Magnolia champaca

2011-12-27T14:45:00.002+08:00

Magnolia champaca is a large evergreen topical tree, native to the South Asia, Southeast Asia and some parts of China. The tree is primarily cultivated for its timber, it and also used in urban landscaping, It is popular as a garden or house plant in Singapore. It grows to the size of a large shrub or small tree.

It is best known for its strongly fragrant yellow or white flowers. The flowers are used to make the world's most expensive perfume 'Joy'. The extremely aromatic blooms appear nearly all year round here in Singapore.

Many of you may know tts beautiful yellow flowers are fragrant, but have you ever seen the fruits? It has odd-looking, almost gall-like fruits. Its pinkish red aril-covered seeds are highly attractive to birds.

Our World Tuesday

Water hyacinth

2011-12-26T09:56:00.002+08:00

Water hyacinth are a free-floating perennial flowering aquatic plant native to tropical and sub-tropical South America. The ovate leaves are broad, thick, glossy, they are about 10–20 cm across, and float above the water surface. They have long, spongy and bulbous stalks. The feathery, freely hanging roots are purple-black. An erect stalk supports a single spike of 8-15 conspicuously attractive flowers, mostly lavender to pink in color and center blue and yellow with six petals, the flowers looks like iris.
Water hyacinth are fast-growing in fresh water, has special adaptations to allow it to grow and spread rapidly, they can withstand extremes of nutrient supply, pH level, temperature, and even grow in toxic water. The seeds are dispersed by birds and can remain viable for 15-20 years. But the main method of reproduction is vegetatively, through stolons. A single plant under ideal conditions can produce 3,000 others in 50 days, and cover an area of 600 sq meters in a year. As such they can become troublesome weeds in waterways.
In old time of Singapore, it was cultivated as pig food. Now you still can find them in some of the fresh water lake in our garden or park.

My linking to Blue Monday and Macro Monday

Simpoh Air

2011-12-24T17:41:00.005+08:00

If you ever stayed in Singapore before, you would surely be familiar with them. This is Simpoh Air,
Scientific name: Dillenia suffruticosa [Family: Dilleniaceae]. This distinctive shrubby tree grows vigorously on eroded soil, wasteland, forest edges and swampy areas. They are one of the common tropical flowering plants in Singapore. They are large shrubby tree can grow up to 6m tall, the large glossy green leaves, cheery big yellow flowers and pink star-shaped "fruits" make them very unique from others.

In old Singapore village time, the large leaves of the Simpoh Air were used to wrap food such as tempeh (fermented soyabean cakes), or formed into shallow cones to contain traditional "fast food" such as rojak.
The flowers are 8-10cm in width with five large thin petals, several flowers on a long stalk. They open at 3 am and last only a day. The petals drop off by 4pm and the sepals fold back on the young fruit in the evening. They are pollinated by bees which collect its pollen or by small beetles and flies that scramble over it.

(The photo above shows the empty husk).

Almost every flower sets fruit. The flower stalk rotates slowly from pointing down when the flower blooms to pointing up when it starts to fruit. The unopened fruits are surrounded by thick red sepals. To distinguish them from flower buds, the fruits face upwards while flower buds face down. (You can see both of the flower buds and young fruit in the photo on the left.)

The fruits take exactly five weeks to set and opens at 3am, it splits open into pinkish star-shaped segments that contain 7-8 seeds enveloped by a fleshy red-coloured arils. The thin layer of red flesh surrounding the seeds is very attractive to birds which help to disperse the seeds across the landscape. The empty husk falls off at about 8am the following day.

These two Singapore stamps, the Simpoh Air (Dillenia suffruticosa) and the Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum) with the value of 1st Local (26¢) and 2nd Local(32¢) respectively are part of the 2007 Flora & Fauna Definitive stamp series.
Linking up to Flowers On Satureday, Macro Flowers Saturday and Pink Saturday.
Merry Christmas!

White water lily

2011-12-22T11:07:00.002+08:00

White Lotus, also known as the European White Waterlily, or Nenuphar, is an aquatic flowering plant of the family Nymphaeaceae.
...continued from my previous post, water lily. Here I want to share with you again this pretty white flowers.

Linking up to Nature Note

Wishing you all of you have a wonderful holiday!

ABC Wednesday-W for water lily

2011-12-21T07:30:00.001+08:00

Nymphaea white lotus

(Photo taken in Singapore botanical garden)

The phrase "water lily" is used to describe aquatic plants of the following families, which have lily pads:

Nymphaeaceae
Nelumbonaceae (Nelumbo), also called "lotus"

(The pink lotus photos taken at the small lotus pond in Bishan park )

The beautiful purple lotus, in the rain, at Lorong Halus Wetland

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Petai jawa

2011-12-20T12:53:00.000+08:00

I remember that my grandma used the young pods Petai jawa to cook Asam soup when I was a kid, I missed the taste so much now. The pods are thin, flat, green and nearly transparent when young, ripening to brown, rattling with many small, flat seeds.

I found a lot of these large bush growing in our parks, on our sea shore... I am not sure if they are the one can be eaten as a vegetable.

Puff-ball shaped flowers made up of pale green petals and lots of creamy white stamens, it looks like a giant mimosa.

...feathery compound leaves are very beautiful

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Sea hibicus

2011-12-19T21:56:00.001+08:00

Its botanical name is "Hibiscus tiliaceus", a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae, that is native to the Old World tropics. It is a common coastal plant in Eastern and Northern Australia, Oceania and Southeast Asia. The common names include Sea Hibiscus, Beach Hibiscus, Coastal Hibiscus etc.

This is a very common tree, often seen on many of our wild shores or planted in our seaside parks in Singapore. The tree can grow up to 15m height, the big leaves is about 10-15cm in heart-shaped, dark green and shiny above, white and finely furry beneath. The leaves have tiny slits on the main veins on the underside of the leaf. Secretions from these slits often attracts ants. I believe it attracts many other insects too, often seen the leaves are 'broken heart".

The flower is just like common hibiscus flower, yellow with maroon eye fading to dull pink after falling. It looms in the morning after the sunrise and close in the afternoon. The petals usually fall off the same evening or the next morning. Usually, every flower sets fruit. Fruit ripens to a tiny dry capsules (2-3cm) surrounded by the calyx. It splits open to reveal the seeds which float and can withstand extended periods of immersion in sea water.

Lantana flowers

2011-12-17T16:38:00.000+08:00

According info from wikipedia:

"Lantana is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in the Australian-Pacific region. The genus includes both herbaceous plants and shrubs growing to 0.5–2 m (1.6–6.6 ft) tall. Their common names are shrub verbenas or lantanas. The generic name originated in Late Latin, where it refers to the unrelated Viburnum lantana."

"Lantana's aromatic flower clusters (called umbels) are a mix of red, orange, yellow, or blue and white florets. Other colors exist as new varieties are being selected. The flowers typically change color as they mature, resulting in inflorescences that are two- or three-colored. A common name for Lantana camara is "Ham 'n Eggs" due to the adjacent pink and yellow inflorescences. "

There are many colors of Lantana you can find in the nursery, such as white, yellow, purple, pink and orange and even red. Some varieties are spreading such as the yellow and some are small bushes like the purple and white and then some are very large like the orange and pink can grow up to 6’ high.

Lantana loves full sun and bloom whole year round, is seldom bothered by pests or disease, likes most soil types and is happy in humid or dry heat. It require less water and fertilizer compare to other flowering palnts. For those of you looking for a flowering plant that easy to take care, this Lantana plant is a best choice. Especially for those who have a garden, this cheerful flowering plants will be covered all day long with butterflies, bees, and even hummingbirds.

Hope you like my post and picture, sharing with Pink Saturday.

Jasmine flower bud

2011-12-14T21:24:00.002+08:00

I was looking at this small jasmine flower bud in the morning,

Have a beautiful white Wednesday

ABC Wednesday-V for venus flytrap

2011-12-13T07:54:00.006+08:00

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Mirabilis jalapa pink

2011-12-03T15:01:00.000+08:00

I called this morning glory like flowers "The four o'clock flower" when I was young, because it usually bloom around afternoon 4 o'clock with a strong, sweet-smelling fragrance, the flowers last only 1-2 days, The single-seeded fruits are spherical, wrinkled and black upon maturity which children like to play with them.

The botanic name is Mirabilis jalapa . Mirabilis in Latin means wonderful and Jalapa is a town in Mexico. The flowers are available in many colors, a curious aspect of this plant is that flowers of different colors can be found simultaneously on the same plant. Different color variation can be found in the same flower.

Abroma augusta

2011-12-01T12:49:00.000+08:00

Botanical Name : Abroma augusta
English Name : Devill's cotton, Indian hemp

I found this tree in Singapore Botanical Garden, I have not seen it in other places. The tree is about 2 meters height. The leaves are repand, narrow and entire, have an oblong shap. Both leaves and stems are covered with soft, bristly hairs that are extremely irritating to the touch. The flowers are about 5 cm in diameter in dark maroon color, the flowers have 5 petals, are formed in terminal panicles. The seeds are contained in a cotton-like envelope.

According the given information, this unusual plant is one kind of herbal plant. In Ayurveda the juice of fresh leaves is very useful in female diseases of uterus and menstruation. It regulates the menstrual flow and acts as an uterine tonic.

ABC Wednesday- T for Tecoma

2011-11-30T00:01:00.000+08:00

Tecoma capensis, commonly known as Cape Honeysuckle, is a scrambling shrub which is native to Africa. It grows to about 2 to 3 metres in height and a similar width. Flowers colour ranges vary from red, orange, deep orange, yellow to salmon, grouped in terminal clusters that are 4–6 in (10–15 cm) long.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Fungi: fan shape

2011-11-24T00:01:00.000+08:00

I am not an expert on fungi, but like to seek them out and hoping to see the one not common and better I have not seen before.

ABC Wednesday-S for sea putat

2011-11-22T00:04:00.006+08:00

Sea Putat is also called Barringtonia Asiatica, Fish Poison Tree or Sea Poison Tree. It is a species of Barringtonia native to mangrove habitats on the tropical coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. In Singapore, they are most found in the coastal forest, shores, sandy to rocky coasts, but now are widely planted in our coastal parks. They are very beautiful landscape plants indeed.

The tree can grow up to 20 meters. They are suitable for planting under a variety of soil conditions. Its massive dense crown provides shade and is ideal for public parks and large compounds. They have large waxy leaves in oval shape, size from 15 to 40 cm long, 10 to 20 cm wide. Young leaves may be pinkish olive with pink veins. older leaves wither yellow or pale orange.

I like the stunning pinkish pom-pom flowers

The flowers can as large as to 15 cm across, conspicuous and attractive on account of the numerous white and pink stamens. White petals are up to 7 cm long.

Fruit large (8-10cm) in very unique shape, from dark green changed to brown when ripe, fibrous and contains one seed. The fruit floats and the softer outer layers rot in the water, so the fruit is stranded on a faraway shore as a fibrous basket surrounding the seed.

Acacia confusa

2011-11-21T22:14:00.000+08:00

According to wikipedia: "Acacia confusa is a perennial tree native to South-East Asia.
Some common names for it are Acacia Petit Feuille, Taiwan acacia, Formosa Acacia, Small Philippine Acacia, Formosa Acacia (Taiwan Acacia) and Formosan Koa. It grows to a height of 15m. The tree has become very common in many tropical Pacific areas, including Hawaii, where the species is considered invasive"

Mature trees flowering in early Summer. Flowers individually very small, grouped many together in spherical yellow heads about 0.5 cm across. The tiny yellow flowers attract bees and other insect to collect some pollen. Fruit a flattened pod, to 4 - 9 x 1 cm, dark brown when dry, containing four to eight seeds.

Today's flowers: cactus

2011-11-20T15:49:00.004+08:00

Arrowhead white flowers

2011-11-17T10:47:00.002+08:00

Arrowhead water plants are one of the easy growing plants for your watergarden look lush and tropical. They grow very fast, the large green foliage and beautiful white flowers will light up your pond color.
White flowers photo taken for White Wednesday

ABC Wednesday-R Rangoon Creeper

2011-11-15T00:07:00.000+08:00

Linking to ABC Wednesday, my take is R for Rangoon Creeper, also called "Chinese honeysuckle". I love this beautiful creeper with plenty of lovely flowers, blooming all years round.

Yellow fungi

2011-11-14T00:06:00.000+08:00

Photos taken at MacRitchie Reservoir Nature Trail

Today's flowers: bat lily

2011-11-13T00:01:00.003+08:00

This very unique flower quietly blooms in the forest. The name is Tacca integrifolia, also called bat lily, or known as Purple or White Bat Flower, They look like a big curious bat with their petals and sepals curved to the outside.
It is one of the most original plants in the jungles of South-East Asia, In Singapore it can be spotted in our Central Nature Reserves, as well as in Bukit Batok Nature Park, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

According to some articles, a relative of the bat lily that can also be found in Singapore is the seashore bat lily (Tacca leontopetaloides). This species grows in coastal forests. But I have not seen them yet.

(The two pictures show the flowers in half bloom).
Since this plant is adapted to growing in the shady understorey of forests, so I don't think it is easy to grow at home, it is hard to provide them such a dark damp area in our home garden, it will a great challenge for whoever want to grow it as flowering plants.
Picture shown on the left above from wikipedia is Tacca chantrieri, it is another species of bat lily, with black flower, I am not sure if it can be found in Singapore, one of the rarest plants with this colour.

I still remembered the feeling first time I saw the blooming bat lily, the most bizarre, alien looking flowers I have ever seen, especially with its hairy appendices. It is just so wonderful, unique and elegant.

The close up of the flower as shown on my header

Photohunt: two cactus flowers

2011-11-12T07:59:00.004+08:00

Pink cactus

2011-11-11T15:51:00.000+08:00

Lovely white fungi

2011-11-10T06:58:00.000+08:00

The beautiful fungi were found in the Dairy Farm Nature Park,

The tiny white fungi hide beneath a fallen tree trunk, photo taken in the Dairy Farm Nature Park too.

This is a very funny shape...I forgot where I captured this photo.

Gardenia

2011-11-09T06:46:00.000+08:00

I have one pot of gardenia, but the flowers are different from this one, this gardenia plant is very tall, the flowers petals are much thinner, photo was taken in Singapore Botanic garden.
My linking to
White Wednesday

Wild fruit

2011-11-08T22:25:00.001+08:00

It looks like cucumber...Is it wild cucumber? I have been searching for its name quite some time, finally got it: Coccinia grandis. another name is ivy gourd, also known as baby watermelon, little gourd or gentleman's toes, it is a tropical vine. Fruits are edible.

Photos taken in Punngol end, along the walking path of the park connector network, there are a few vines there growing very well.

Yellow roses

2011-11-07T07:42:00.010+08:00

...Yellow rose, one of my favorite flowers, was blooming so beautiful in my garden, now the plant was dead, so sad. It is not easy to grow a nice rose plant in Singapore, isn't it?

Today's flowers: wildflower

2011-11-06T14:12:00.003+08:00

...just curious, what's this flower's name, I found them in Macritchie nature reserve

Chili red roses

2011-11-05T14:02:00.010+08:00

Leaves in heart shape

2011-11-04T07:02:00.002+08:00

Sea hibiscus

Beautiful funky fungi

2011-11-03T07:04:00.007+08:00

Nature note

Unknown white flowers

2011-11-02T00:01:00.000+08:00

White Wednesday

ABC Wednesday-P for Purple

2011-11-01T00:09:00.003+08:00

ABC Wednesday this week theme is letter "P",
I posted P for Petunia on ABC Wednesday Round 7 , this round, my letter "P" is still Petunia, my favorite flowers, and of course, I add some Purple flowers here, like Pansy &
yeah, purple is my favorite color.

More pansy flowers here

but what is these purple flowers?

and My purple
hibicus

The purple wild flowers from Just Capture, this purple wild flower is Melastoma, one of a kind of common wild flowers here in Singapore, I have posted my photo here, but all not as clear as beautiful as the left one.

Adenium flowers from my garden

2011-10-31T00:01:00.010+08:00

My world Tuesday

African violet

2011-10-30T00:01:00.002+08:00

More weekend flowers are here

Today's flowers: Fuchsia

2011-10-29T07:01:00.001+08:00

These red lantern like flowers are fuchsia, is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. Like this pink fuchsia here.
The first Fuchsias were discovered in the Dominican Republic and Haiti by a French monk and botanist called Charles Plumier. He gave them the name Fuchsia in honour of the German botanist Leonhart Fuchs.

Fuchsias are available in a vast array of colors and shape, they are very popular garden shrubs in America and Europe, When I was traveling in Europe, I have seen the beautiful flowers everywhere, flourish throughout Europe. I was thinking how good if it could grow here in Singapore.

simple yet exquisite elegance

Flowers of cherry apple tree

2011-10-28T19:33:00.002+08:00

flowers from my potted cherry apple tree

Macro Friday

Fungi at the Dairy Farm Nature Reserve

2011-10-27T20:21:00.000+08:00

Hard fungi grow on a dead tree trunk, at the Dairy Farm Nature Reserve park

Different from the first few found, this one with the yellow edge, also grow on a dead tree trunk

This two white fungi on the left look very fresh, they are also hardy type, grow on a fallen tree trunk.

Photos taken at the Dairy Farm Nature Reserve

Little whiite flowers in bonsai

2011-10-26T07:35:00.002+08:00

Carmona Microphylla, most known in its common name Fukien tea, it is a great material for bonsai. With naturally small leaves and even more beautiful small white flowers the tree is loved by bonsai lovers all around the world.

Linking to White Wednesday and More macro flowers here

Orange amaryllis

2011-10-25T21:11:00.002+08:00

The flower from the same pot of my pink amaryllis, It is a surprise for me. I think there was a different species planted together in the same pot.
My linking to ABC Wednesday: O for Orange amaryllis.

Fungi: beautiful flowers

2011-10-22T00:01:00.001+08:00

Beautiful flowers like fungi on the tree trunk

Fungi at MacRitchie Reservoir Nature Trail

2011-10-20T22:09:00.000+08:00

They are found on forest undergrowth, and some are on
dead tree trunks, like shown in the photo below:

The hardy black fungus, looks like "Ling Zhi"

The tiny fungi, like those sea shell, with bright brown color shown below, on a live tree trunk.

Another big mushroom found on undergrowth, it is white and looks like editable. :)

All photos taken during a walk along the MacRitchie Reservoir Nature Trail in Singapore.

Nature note Thursday

ABC Wednesday-N for noni fruit

2011-10-18T00:03:00.002+08:00

This is one of the common plants in Singapore, often seen especially in areas where kampongs (villages) used to be, and in the garden of many people's house. The tree have shiny leaves and will flower throughout the year, the flowers are tiny in white, it will
produce a multiple fruit that appears as an individual (like a pineapple). The fruit itself is ovoid and turns from green to a translucent white when fully ripe, with kind of odd smell. I was told the fruit can be cooked with curry, the seeds are edible when roasted. As written in a lot of article, the fruit contains many different nutrients and phytochemicals, were claimed that noni is the most important of the herbs used in medicine, however I am not the expert and only know the name of "noni juice." But I am curious why
Old Chinese people call this tree as "Dumb tree" in Hokkien, I am not sure where the name came from, any story behind it?

Linking to ABC Wednesday

ABC Wednesday-M for Melastoma

2011-10-11T18:39:00.006+08:00

Melastoma malabathricum is the Scientific name, also called Senduduk, Straits Rhododendron is common name, Chinese name: 野牡丹

This is one kind of common plant in Singapore, growing wild in the nature reserves, on wasteland, roadside and other open wild places, including coastal areas. It has two varieties purple and white flower, Purple flowers plant is the most common variety.

You can see from the picture left and below, the flowers are purplish-pink, some are dark purple, about 5-7cm, showy, 3-7 flowers growing at the end of a branch, opens only for one day, open at about 7 plus in the morning and close in the afternoon around 5pm, the petals falling off a few days later.

...Its flowers attract butterflies, and its leaves host caterpillars.

...a close up photo of the white flower, picture was taken in Macritchie reservoir park. The white flower is even more useful, it has been used by many traditional medicine practitioners as a cure in spiritually challenge environment.

...stems reddish and covered with bristly scales. The petals emerge from a cup-shaped calyx which remains after the flowers drop off. I was told that the leaves would stop any bleeding and accelerate the healing process. Of course there are many more others medical use of this wild plant.

The fruits are berry-like in very dark red color, almost black....The seeds stain the place where it is.

It provides abundant food to birds, and other small mammals like squirrels and monkeys. I believe it is sweet.

Nerium indicum

2011-10-06T22:18:00.001+08:00

Nerium indicum (夹竹桃), is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, toxic in all its parts. Nerium oleander has historically been considered a poisonous plant based on a number of its compounds that may exhibit toxicity, especially to animals, when consumed in high amounts.

The flowers include snowy white color, light pink and bright hot pink, it looks like bigger version of cherry blossom. Although it is a poisonous plant containing various active toxins but has been used externally for ailments. Plus Oleander is a large fast growing evergreen shrub, it is now a very popular choice for semi tropical landscapes.

Banana Family- Ensete superbum

2011-10-03T00:14:00.000+08:00

Ensete superbum is a species of banana family (Muscaceae) from India. Common Name: Wild Plantain, Rock Banana.
The fruits are about 3 inches long with dark brown seeds, which are hard like rock and thus the plant got its name. As the seeds are hard the fruits become non-edible.

* Photos taken in Singapore Botanic Garden
.

Today's flowers: shuimei

2011-10-02T16:06:00.000+08:00

Pandan

2011-10-01T10:39:00.000+08:00

I found many huge and tall Pandan plants near venus drive, the path that leads to the Treetop Walk. Those pandan plants gave a lovely fragrance to the area! I am not sure if this is the pandan plants we use for cooking or the seashore pandan.

ABC Wednesday-K for Kalanchoe Pinnata

2011-09-27T00:03:00.000+08:00

Kalanchoe Pinnata Succulent, Origin Madagascar Species

New plants are started from the baby succulents that form on the leaves.
This plant is simply easy to grow, a small new shoot can survive in very bad condition, even lack of soil, lack of water, lack of sunlight...

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Photohunt: yellow hoya

2011-09-24T11:06:00.002+08:00

Photohunt

Lovely green moss

2011-09-22T00:16:00.000+08:00

This or That

ABC Wednesday-J for jackfruit

2011-09-17T00:03:00.000+08:00

ABC Wednesday this week is for letter J, I would like to share with you one of my favorite fruit Jackfruit.

Jackfruit is also called "Nangka" in Malay, native to parts of Southern and Southeast Asia, one of the favourite fruits of Singaporeans, this tree is often seen in gardens or park, even some of the HDB housing estate. Some found growing in the wild like at our nature reserves or those locations of villages in the history, like punggol.

The tree can grow up to 20 meters, dark glossy shiny green leaves in oval shape with only a blunt tip. Flowers are small (2-3cm) with male and female flowers in clusters. The fruits are barrel- or pear-shaped, in golden yellow colour when ripe, big and long, at least 25 cm in diameter but can be up to 1 meter long, covered with small sharp conical warts.
(Green unripe jack fruit as shown in the photo>>>>)
One of the interesting fact of this fruit tree, if you notice in my picture, the fruits can grow in the very low part of the tree, some even touch the ground.

The fruits have a very strong smell when ripe. The flavor is sweet, a bit like pineapple, but with a strong, fruity aroma and taste, but some people just simply reject them. It is such a fruit that either you love it much or you hate it.

All part of the fruit can be eaten, the pulp can be eaten unripe (young) when cooked, or ripe uncooked. The seeds may be boiled or baked, taste like chestnut. This is one of my favorites fruit except the work of peeling the skin. I hate to do that. All parts of the plant exude a white sticky latex, it makes me so difficult to take out the succulent, yellow colored pulp, the knife or hands soon get gummed up.

Wild fig tree

2011-09-15T10:23:00.001+08:00

It is not difficult to find a fig tree in Singapore. The fig tree is the most important tree in the rain forest. Providing fruits all year round, figs are essential to the survival of many animals in the tropical rain forest.

Figs bear fruit like structures called the syconium on their stems and branches. Inside them contain the male and female flowers of the plant.

Although commonly referred to as a fruit, the fig as eaten is actually the infructescence of the tree, known as a false fruit or multiple fruit, in which the flowers and seeds are borne. The flower is not visible, it blooms inside the fruit. A very specialized wasp, the fig wasp, enter the fruit through the small opening end.and pollinate the flower, where after the fruit grows seeds. The flowers also attract ants The ants go in searching of the sweetness offered, packing up pollen on their feet. This is brought to the next fruit. ...

...the close up photo

I have seen this beautiful red on the tree in Seng Kang park last year, wondering if it belongs to fig family...

Appreciate your information, and more nature note from Rambling Woods.

and I am link the last two close up photos to

Macro Friday

Weekend soon, cheers!

ABC Wednesday-I for ixora

2011-09-13T00:07:00.000+08:00

Macro Monday: young fern

2011-09-12T00:04:00.015+08:00

My favorite young fern, as shown on my header of my blog.

This is my contribution to Macro Monday.

Today's flowers: african violet

2011-09-11T17:19:00.000+08:00

Macro: seeds

2011-09-09T22:20:00.000+08:00

seeds of Wrightia Religiosa

Nature note: wild mushrooms

2011-09-08T12:30:00.005+08:00

The two lovely mushrooms that have appeared in grass lawn downstairs of my house last week.

One side of the big mushroom was a bit dry up already, wondering why they came out of nowhere in such a open field without any shade...Maybe because of the a few days rainfall?

Is it any different from what we bought in super market? :) Do you recognize these juicy lovely white mushroom, just cook them for dinner. :).

...and this two photos are captured somewhere near my office, same kind of open field...

I thought mushrooms are growing on the dead wood in those forest, jungle area? A surprise for me from the nature. More nature note here at Rambling Woods.

White cactus flowers

2011-09-07T22:55:00.000+08:00

This is my contribution to White Wednesday.

ABC Wednesday-H for hibicus

2011-09-06T21:39:00.000+08:00

Letter "H" for hibicus, a close up photos for hibicus flowers:

It blooms well in hot summer days:

H for hybrid, the purple hybrid hibicus flowers

H for beautiful Hoya flowers, and hydrangea flowers I posted here and here

If you like flowers, say Hi to them, wishing you have a wonderful week!

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Blue pansy flowers

2011-09-05T22:29:00.001+08:00

Pansy originally came from the French word pensie, which means, 'thought' or 'remembrance'. It was so named because the flower resembles a human face, I remember my grandmother called it "clown", but I like the pretty colors and unique shape of the flowers. My other pansy flowers are here.
Blue Monday

Today's flowers: cosmos

2011-09-04T20:08:00.002+08:00

Cosmos is native to scrub and meadow areas in Mexico where most of the species occur, Florida and the southern United States, I have not seen the live plants in Singapore yet, so I was so excited to capture their beauty when I was traveling...

Purple flowers

2011-09-01T11:09:00.000+08:00

…Purple flowers in the garden. Do you know the name?

Young fern

2011-08-30T22:06:00.009+08:00

Sweet Shot Tuesday

Macro: red gloxinia

2011-08-26T00:04:00.004+08:00

Visit Flowers on Saturday & Macro Flowers’s Satureday

Macro: pink lotus

2011-08-22T22:25:00.007+08:00

This is my contribution to Macro Monday.

Faded charm

2011-08-16T21:38:00.000+08:00

Orange daisy flowers

2011-08-12T19:56:00.007+08:00

The last blooming daisy

2011-08-08T17:08:00.002+08:00

Just a single yellow flower leftover before the winner coming...

Macro: white rose

2011-08-06T10:14:00.003+08:00

I feel romantic too, with my full bloom white rose photograph, visit MaiaT at her wild flowers garden and more other Macro flowers Saturday

I did one for black and white version, it is not easy for me to capture well the beauty of the white roses, most of the time, the exposure is too much, I am still learning...

I am linking to The Weekend In Black and White, more photos
here.

Unknown Beauty

2011-08-05T12:30:00.001+08:00

I have no idea what this purple flowering vine is...appreciate your info...They captured my eyes when when I was walking along the street, in Germany...I think there are few people will stop by to appreciate their beauty, yeah, but I saw it...
The close up shot below:

Mangrove trees in Singapore

2011-08-04T21:49:00.001+08:00

Mangrove not only At Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, I found them at Sengkang park.

Outdoor Wednesday

Rain drop on the leaves

2011-08-03T15:27:00.007+08:00

Sharing with Watery Wednesday.

Faded charm

2011-08-02T22:50:00.000+08:00

We all will lose our charms in the end, but at least we had it before.

Black eyed daisies

2011-08-01T13:36:00.001+08:00

SOOC, a simple, natural picture! What is your favorite color? Mine is blue or purple, but I like yellow too, it is very cheerful, bright and sunny, like these black eyed daisies.

Potted pepper

2011-04-01T15:38:00.001+08:00

My small potted pepper plants, small but with quite a number of fruits on it. I was growing them from seeds, which I bought the yellow peppers from super market, I kept the seeds and actually I was not planning to grow them, just throw them somewhere in one of my potted plant.

Growing peppers in containers in Singapore HDB house? I was thinking that is a joke, but I did it.It took about 2 months to harvest, :) That is fun to see them growing from seeds we leftover after cooking, especially if you grow them together with kids...

It is not that difficult to grow peppers in container, It is important to keep them in a sunny place. They need full sun. Move pots around if necessary to keep them in as much sun as possible.

They love fertilizer too. You can buy those ready package from florists or garden nursery, but do remember to check out the content on the package outside, choose those nutrients that are beneficial for peppers include calcium, sulfur, and magnesium. Do NOT choose those fertilizer have too much nitrogen, otherwise you will end up with beautiful plants but no fruit.

Here are some of my tips of growing this beautiful vegetable:
1. Plant them in a pot that is at least 8 inches deep and 12 inches in diameter, too small container have no room for the roots to grow.
2. I added egg shell to the soil.
3. Use well-drained soil, keep the plants uniformly moist (but not water-logged) during the peak growing season.
4. Regularly check for sticky "dew" on the underside of leaves caused by aphids. They can be easily eliminated by spraying the underside of leaves with a mild soapy solution. I never use any other chemical sprays.

Well, if my tips do work for you, let me know. I like to hear from you and if you do enjoy gardening, I would like to share more tips with all the plants lovers.
Cheers! Try your own container garden today.

Happy Valentine’s Day

2011-02-14T13:51:00.000+08:00

Wishing all of you have a wonderful Valentine’s day!

If you like Marco shot, visit Lisa’s blog here: Macro Monday.

ABC Wednesday-Z For Zinnia

2011-01-19T00:01:00.000+08:00

ABC Wednesday prompts with the letter 'Z' this week. Thanks!

Red VS Yellow

2010-12-27T00:14:00.001+08:00

For more creative theme of RED, visit Mary's Ruby Tuesday,and more yellow here: Mellow Yellow Monday

Red gloxinia

2010-12-21T00:01:00.002+08:00

My entry for Ruby Tuesday

Yellow berry

2010-12-20T00:03:00.000+08:00

I am busy lately...not much time to write more about plants, but I would like to share with you this lovely berry which I photographed them when I was traveling in Europe.
...My entry for Mellow Yellow Monday

Today's flowers: torenia

2010-12-19T00:03:00.001+08:00

Torenia, also known as wishbone flower, is a small, bushy annual flower grows well in hot, humid weather. There are in the snapdragon family have pink, white and lilac-blue flowers...

When I was young, we planted a lot torenia in different colors, and we always called it "Clown Flowers" in Chinese, now I don't understand why people name such a kind of beautiful flowers as " Clown Flowers"...

Pink lotus

2010-12-18T10:40:00.000+08:00

Pink Saturday again, I share some photos of pink lotus with all dear Pink Saturday fans.

A daylight shot of a lotus pond taken at the Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West (opposite of library), I happened to see some (not so many though) pink blooming lotus flowers….

…the two lotus flowers near the edge of the pond

The lotus bud is beautifully!

The close up shot for the blooming lotus, my participating for Marco flowers Saturday.

Macro: african violet flowers

2010-12-17T22:47:00.002+08:00

White Jasmine

2010-12-16T00:05:00.001+08:00

There are more than 200 types of jasmine flowers, they are tropical, originating in some of the warmest places on earth. This is one type of Jasmine which is different from the common type of Jasmine flowers for making Jasmine flowers tea. I posted the picture here:Take time to smell jasmine flowers

Linking to White Wednesday

ABC Wednesday-V for venus flytrap

2010-12-15T00:02:00.000+08:00

Flesh eating? Sound scary ? It is true, that is Venus Flytrap, The venus flytrap is probably the world's most famous carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects and arachnids. The leaves of Venus' Flytrap open wide most of the time, Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves, there are some short, stiff hairs on their inner surfaces. When anything like insect or spider crawling along the leaves, touches these hairs, the two lobes of the leaves snap shut trapping whatever is inside. The trap will shut in less than a second.

The venus flytrap is really interesting, fun to have but is really tough to keep alive for more than a few weeks, at least to me. My friend told me she grow them for years and have a lot of fun and pleasure. Of course she doesn’t stay in Singapore, here, The venus flytrap only can live in the green house.

I remember the longer time I have this Venus fly traps growing is about 3 weeks. I place the pot with the venus flytrap in a saucer with water, and I need to keep checking everyday to prevent mosquito breeding, there are 2 days I was busy in work, I had no time to water it, the soil dried out completely, and they all gone.

Growing venus flytrap is really a big challenge to me! It is easier to capture their beauty in the picture to share with all of you here. LOL.

ABC Wednesday, my letter V is “Venus Flytrap”. Thank you for visiting here.

Red flowers in autumn

2010-12-14T00:01:00.001+08:00

Red flowers in autumn ..and this is my contribution to the meme Ruby Tuesday hosted by Mary.

Roses

2010-12-13T00:02:00.001+08:00

My entry for Mosaic Monday

Today’s flowers: cordia sebestena flowering branches

2010-12-12T16:39:00.000+08:00

Pink lantana

2010-12-11T14:24:00.000+08:00

Pink Saturday

Dried flowers arrangement

2010-12-10T21:58:00.001+08:00

Color Carnival