Ferns Updated

This turned out fine.
Earlier it was starting to get badly damaged - I was using the fishpond water and somehow it almost died..
That explained why half of my orchid collection together with other plants didn't survive.
I was not able to identify the cause of it and thought it was the strong fertiliser that killed them.

It was the unlearning
Just sticking to basic plain water and this thing had generated back to it's new leaves.

I got this fishtail fern growing in between the palm-oil tree leaf trunk..
It took awhile for this grow and to find a nice spot for it as it was leggy and wild.

The maiden hair fern is happy here..
Its slow but much of a survivor here compared to any other place in my garden

I found that putting this begonia with this fern makes a good combo.
They seemed to be good friend taking care of each other.

Ferns with Begonias

One ot the things about ferns is that they can become really a pest, which is in a good way - it means its very much agile and able to take any abuse and considered quite a hardy plant..
But it depends how you look at it.

Fluffy ruffle ferns are somehow has a gentle side and somehow forgivable when she lets her hair down. I had earlier reset the whole collection and hanged them by the gate side and planted together with Martin Mystery Bagonias.

It took awhile for them to regen but somehow they managed to stick together.
I almost lost a set of this begonia (it had shed all her leaves) I hope it regenerated... but I guess you might not had noticed it..

These are shaded plants but can handle a bright side area.
Too shaded - the begonia leaves will be in silver, brighter and the leaves are in burgundy.

Many of my friends had mistaken them for 2 different species - this begonia is able to change colours.. 

These only thrive with organic fertiliser - anything else can be too strong for them.
I would recommend if you desire to do a mix & match - this would be a very nice ideal combo.

Or if you have any ideas with mix & match with Fluffy Ruffle Ferns or Martin Mystery Begonia.
I would really like to hear from you.

Begonia Updates

I started loving begonias when they seemed to do so well in my garden. The best part of these begonias are the variegated colours on the leaves. Somehow another addition of colours takes place that they can change colours when kept in shade (greener tones) and stronger red tones when place in bright sunlight.

Unlike Cane Begonias - these are Rhizome Begonias - they don't stay planted on the soil, rather crawl on the surface top with the thick stem-like branch. Their roots are too fine - hairy looking stuff appear to be as thin as a coconut husk stands.

The danger is that these rhizome do tend to rot when they are exposed to too much watering. And so they thrive on a rocky, pebbled based surface rather than a soil surface. Its just not worth it to plant this one on a deep based pots as they are surface crawlers.
So when propagating - instead of cutting it and pushing in deep into the soil medium. Place them horizontally planting the rhizome half into the medium and half exposed at the top together with the leaves upwards.

I had a good success with Black Velvet Begonia of which many of my gardener's friends had struggling with it. Now with new additions to add colour to my rhizome collections. I have now 4 different types which I bought each less than RM10.00 a piece.

This one was all in shade for few weeks (or close to a month or so) I bought this from Tesco supermarket about less than RM10.00 - Regardless - I had changed the soil mix just in case if it suddenly dies on me sitting on a cocopeat.

Notice the colour difference in the new leaf.
This happened when I placed in the brighter shaded area.

I got this red centred one (or it appeared to be that way) but when it is in shade - It looked exactly like the first one I bought in Tesco. I got another these for RM8.00 from Sg.Buloh. Currently the standard price is RM10.00 - bargain for less.

Don't buy anything more than RM10.00 - its a rip off.
I saw one sold in another nursery near Batu Caves - selling for RM15.00 and he is not into bargaining the price.
Well - you can see the 3 different colours in row (in pictures below)

This is Martin Mystery Begonia.
I doubt they are selling it like hot cakes in Sg.Buloh.
(not that I had noticed any there)

I suspect that most begonias are sold were the tuberous rose types - the ones that are very much loves cold climate. I had yet to find any lowland gardeners who had successfully kept and propagated in a long time span concerning this type of begonias. And personally - I kept off from purchasing them - they are so temporary with a short lifespan.

 Instead get these types.
There are very hardy and durable.
I suspect that these had become a passed on cutting type of begonia. No longer sold in nurseries as they are considered old fashion and become a glut in the market.

I also realised that most of the common plants are no longer sold in nurseries which reminds me that some plants do go out of fashion. Most new aspiring gardeners do not know the secret of having a begonia for life long term may end up constantly buying them off from the nursery shelves and end up getting frustrated seeing the plant succumb to dead with a month or so.
And mostly what had been purchased were from the highland types - not conditioned for the lowland - over-watering raining wet & sudden hot & dry climate.

 Martin Mystery Begonia gives out a messy vine like stem all around the hanging pot, swirling and twisting with the bronze leaves. They are not easy to consider them as clean & neat plant as they tend to get bushy and leggy in a long-term.

Regardless - they are very hardy and I recommend this for any new beginners who want to try their hands on begonias.

 

These are Oxalis.
They are not hardy as seemed and do require replanting time to time.
The tricky part is watering. Too much and it rots the bulb - killing the plant. Too less and the leaves get burn and appear to be unattractive. So the key is not too much and just a quick dab.
These are on hanging pots - and so my secret is water them just so lightly as not to let the water drip all the way down to the pot.
That is enough water on the surface to sustain the plant on a daily water routine.

I truly love to have sprays of colours, quite of the same tones to add volume my garden.
These are the results below:
Oxalis, Martin Mystery Begonia & Zebra Tradescandia.

The Messy Garden - The 5th Series

If you had followed through my constant experiments of my Messy Garden Series, you would totally understand my predicament of this constant never ending change that take place in this section of my garden going wild & messy.

Well, I guess these things happen. One of the hangers of this flower pot had snapped and the plant left dangling. Apart from the rest of the plants spraying itself forth here and there. This time I totally lost the idea that they will ever do well for the next coming 3 months.

Hope this last till Christmas as I really need to concentrate on other areas as they need attention.
Will keep posted on the updates.

And so this what happened:

I had removed the Joyweed and installed only the Spider plants together attached with it Trailing Water Melon Begonias as the front-liners.

The bottom:
Costus were once they were in pots now were nicely tucked within the brick space and they are growing taller and the flowers more richer compared to the previous installations.