Garden Chronicles of James David: 4/1/19

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Airplant Update

I had first fallen in love with this xerographica

but years ago these cost like RM300 which is quite a big deal for me.

It is known as the largest species of airplant

and thus the rarity and novelty of this kind.

I still can't really figure these out as I do tend to kill them time to time.

Mostly out of neglect when I find the whole crown rotting away & falling into pieces.

Other times,
squirrels or tree shrew nibble at them causing havoc

to the whole crown structure where the rosette is bitten and damaged.

Another factor is my over zealous attitude

of over feeding and watering which proved fatal

as they to are highly detrimental to this kind.

These are sun lovers and prefer partial shade from heavy rain downpour.

So far - they have been doing just fine.

Hopefully they add colour

- another lavish silver in between my cascading greens.

Based on my experience:

I had found that wood vinegar is very deadly to airplants.
Somehow the whole thing dies in horrible crown rot.

I found that through following up with other gardeners and their success stories:
A half teaspoon of MSG with 2 liters of water sprayed within 2 weeks helps them to have a heavy growth.
Regardless, I do caution everyone to handle airplant with care in feeding as too much can kill them.
Less is always safer and better.

To safeguard my collection:
I do tend to wash /flush the airplants with heavy watering to clear off any residue
The most important thing is to have them in clear open space as in any case, if they are heavily grouped too close together - the chances of rotting is very high.

Another thing about airplants,
The roots are practically useless as they are only meant to behave as hooks and not as nutrient feeder.
The velvet silvery surface on the leaf structure - they suppose to be absorbing the water, moisture and nutrients..

Yeah.. I know (that's why they are airplants)
And debunking the myth of airplants that they don't need anything except air and few misting..
You will only know how wrong the information when the whole plant dies - and its too late to safe it.

Bromeliad Update

I must say these bromeliads are quite hardy considering what they are facing on daily basis.

The scorching heat with the heavy downpour in the same day

and they can just stand put and face the weather is truly considered remarkable.

I had place so many types of plants on the top rung and many had failed my expectation.
Most never made it but this one to my surprise had made in flying colours.

I had brought them down to remove the dried foliage and rearranging them to their optimum display.
The medium is basically cotton fiber from old pillows and Styrofoam to hold them in position.

I realised that placing too heavy medium had a lethal effect of pot falling unto other precious plants below - this arrangements, somehow makes it easy for me to unhook and re-arrange them time to time with great ease (light weight pots)

Just amazed how they look when brought down.

One thing I must say, these are quite huge and may take a lot of space but they do so well in the vertical garden dynamics. Somehow, they just fit for the cut.

Another matter though - some are not meant to be touched as they have sharp edges and spikes.

As I would say - Lovely to see from afar
(not good to touch in close approximately)

Another addition:

I had placed a red Earthstar to give a visual statement and truly it gave a nice feature in this collection.

FINISHED WORK:

I had also placed some aerial orchids
in between the bromeliads,
as they are sun lovers and perhaps
do well in this new arrangement.

Hopefully they bloom this time around.
Dendrobium Orchids

The greens and the neogelias
took the center stage this time.

I had noticed that the greens seemed to handle the sun blast really well.

I had placed all the sensitive ones towards the end side where it is the least hottest
as when I noticed a lot of severe burns were on these fragile leaves.

I had pruned delicately and rearranged them.
Hopefully they thrive.

Orchid Blooms

These bloomed within the short span of time.
The weather had been extreme in these few weeks made the temperature difference
stressing these to bloom.

Regardless,
I still had not enough time to fully enjoy their blooms
and their exclusive fragrance that often made my day.

Some orchid species though never seemed to bloomed
ever since I had introduce them in my garden.

Some had totally rotten and died due to unforeseen shock that had occurred.
Its either crown rot, root rot or vermin attack.

Often its compulsive buying that I end up regretting
as I never actually witness them in second blooming.

Except for these orchids - I'm just going to maintain them for their visual display.

Feeding had played a major role in this floral display.
But again, coming into the right regime proved challenging
due the unpredictable rainy season that often wash off the foliar feeding
in that few hours after application.

Sometimes,
zealously I had overdose it and I'm guilty of overfeeding
causing some burns on the roots and leaf structure.
The ones that survived, bears many blooms.

Of the many orchids,
these constantly bloom with a longer spike.

My pride and joy of constant bloomer.

This is my overall display of orchids
which I had placed them in plastic coke bottles
stuffed with Styrofoam and some common organic material
(coconut chips, charcoal and broken pottery)

I had realized that these roots don't seemed to like root bound inside the container.

Forcing them in re-potting had cause some of them to their early death.
Leaving them be seemed to be the best solution of these.

This is the first time bloomer - Aerides species.

Has a very nice fragrance too.
Lasted about few weeks regardless the weather and truly enjoyed them in my garden.

This is another new bloom - Doritis orchid the white variety.

Rarely blooms but does know how to make a statement.

Well, these are the orchids that makes the show in my garden.
Do let me know what you think?

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Little Beauty in My Garden

Sometimes, the small little things matter.

The small thank you.. The small please... or may I help you?
The little smile, the little wave good bye..
Yes even a overly used good morning wishes send by Watsapp..
Those little things matter..

The little collection like this beauty..

Over the years ..
Makes all the difference..
Different shapes and colours..adding beauty to this world.
Indeed.. its small but it matters..

It matters a lot to me:
When someone is so blessed and they share their heartfelt thank you.

It matters when,
kindness is shown without expecting any reward yet a heartfelt gratitude shown.

It matters when,
plants given and taken
exchange spanning from one gardener to another
crossing all border and aligning all major differences...