The Green Connection - Part 1

Sometimes Green is just not enough.
I'm pretty sure those who goes hunting looking for variegated plants
will testify that colours truly makes all the difference in landscaping.
The challenge however it keeping them all together.
It is something like keeping all the fish in an aquarium
making sure one doesn't eat the other.
Likewise - some plants just can't handle another strong plant overshadowing them.

The secret is constantly checking and adjusting and changing them
according to their need.
Once established - they are quite stable.

In this collection:

1) Red Flame Ivy
2) Joyweed
3) Devil's Ivy.
4) Chinese Croton
and some of which I had yet to discover their species names.

Garden Update - Part 2

One of my nightmares had occured. It happened when I watered my vertical garden plants - those in the box. The weight of the water had uprooted the whole plant setting and the unsecured side and just flopped out dragging the bird nest fern, tumbling over.
(dragging my heart together with it - skipping few beat along that)

The good thing is none of the hanging plants got damaged. I had to review back and figured that I have to add more "anchors" to hold and support the root mass and keeping the plant mass erected. Somehow I managed to do it yesterday night. I guess its still an experiment & will have to wait and see if the the ferns pick up the pace in their new environment.

(below)
These are the overall collection of my plants - spanning this side of the garden.
Note that the ground trailing plants are only growing on the cemented base with some river pebbles lined against them. The seemed to be thriving in this condition, especially the Black Velvet Begonia. This one had become so much healthier & lushly compared to the hanging ones.
Red Flame Ivy seemed also to adapt well in this condition, they never really survived in hanging pots as they wither immediately when I missed watering. And they don't bounce back compared to begonias. Here, it look more of a silver sheen look because of the shaded area (they would look more red & crisp when grown under sunlight)
Flame Violet & Green Tradescantia also joins the collection - the only setback is that the violets do not bloom here compared to the hanging ones.

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My best favourite plant in this collection:

Ylang- ylang

This one always constantly bloom and the fragrance is just so calm & relaxing.

It is never a regret to have this plant growing in the garden.

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Winter Jasmine - not enough blooms to make an impact in giving out the fragrance compared to Orange Jasmine & Ylang-ylang.

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Creeping Fig.

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Blooming Flame Violets in Hanging pots.

They are always blooming.

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I wonder whether this one is a spider plant - they never gave out any new shoots - hanging suspended pups.

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I had rescued this Fire Cracker Plant.

It had grown so well and defined, the time when I got it - it look like a leaf-less twig growing alongside of a drain. I'm still waiting for this one to bloom.

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Black Velvet Begonia in hanging pot (below)

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Minority Repot

Have you seen Steven Spielberg movie (2002 sci-fi) - Minority Report starred by Tom Cruise & Collin Farrell? Its a futuristic movie about a psychic where her thoughts can be observed and their images manipulated - Tom Cruise and his crew arrest killers before they've had a chance to commit murder.
The twist begins when he is framed as a murderer but wait.. a crime which he didn't commit yet?

Ok..Ok.. where does gardening got to with this?
There was a scene where Tom goes to a gardeners house where the gardener tends all the carnivorous plants in her greenhouse- and that seemed to be interesting to note when it comes to hybrid plants, plants that guard at your gate, plants that cues and plays with your hand...

This is a short script a scene in the greenhouse:

Dr. Iris Henimen:
"It's funny how all living organisms are alike... "
[she starts crushing a mutated plant]

"when the chips are down,
when the pressure is on,
every creature on the face of the Earth
is interested in one thing and one thing only."

[as she continue to crush harder, the plant scars her palm]
"Its own survival. "

You can click here to see the portion of the movie:
Minority Report Part 7

That reminds me of this Creeping Fig (Ficus Repens).
When I purchased it - it was all so docile and tame, and you can see it showing its colour - no, not the variegated white and green - the part where it shed its innocent whites and starts crawling on the walls.
This is how it looked like earlier when I first bought it: Click Here

I'm not saying that's bad, it just what nature would do when its left alone, creating its own environment when left alone.

And the moral of the story: Its all about Survival.






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Does any of your plants wants to tell you: Leave me alone!
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Well this one does, I dare not transfer this, the last time I did that - the whole plant dried up and dead. So this happened to be surviving in the pockets of other main plants. Somehow, it does serve as a good ground cover.
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Click below for more information about this plant:
Red Flame Ivy (Hemigraphis Alternata)
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This is one of my rescued plants,

Aluminium Plant. (Pilea Cadierei) Also known as Watermelon Plant.

I consider this as one of the difficult plants to cultivate. The whole this is just one plant and you tell me how on earth am I going to propagate this more?

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Basic factor:

1) Requires light shade to full shade. (Does not tolerate direct sun without burning of the leaves)

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2) Requires a sandy well-drained soil with regular watering.

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3) Propagated by cuttings or division.

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4) Considered as a poisonous plant. (all parts of the plant)
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Red Flame Ivy - Hemigraphis Alternata

This is my love-hate relationship plant. When a little neglect and it can cause this plant to die.
Both of the pictures (top and bottom) where the past history where the plant never survived.

The first time, it died due to lack of water - that was my mistake when I was thinking the rain would do that watering job for me.

The second time it died when I got confident as I uprooted and replanted them in a planter box, they all shrivelled and died.

I realised that its a sensitive plant. Few pointers about this plant:

1) Though placed in water before planting - they can still dry up.
(The leaves will appear to be dried as paper crisp)
(so the idea of rooting in water does not apply for this plant)
Alternatively - plant them immediately after the cutting and water it, they will rejuvenate within few days.

2) Its does well in shady areas. Good for hanging plant or ground covers.

3) Plant characteristics: Metallic sheen looking leaves, it has silvery gray-green above and purple beneath with tiny white bell shaped flowers. (They stand out in the foliage background)
The foliage colour are different from those which placed in shade and those are placed in sunlight.
Shade - have more silvery green
Sun - have more purple from the leaf tips.

4) There are similar types of Hemigraphis plant: (with similar characteristics)

a) Purple Waffle Plant - Hemigraphis Exotica (the leaves is crinkled & closes in a cupped shape)

b) Dragon's Tongue / Dragon's Breathe / Dragon's Flame - Hemigraphis Repanda
(narrow long leaves - edged & toothed)
It had been used as an aquarium plant as it would not rot or pollute the tank.
I had this plant before but died due to neglect.

5) Propagation:
They grow much easier when the stem cuttings are placed together in bunches of 3 - 4 cuttings.
They also have trailing stem that grows along the ground.

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Additional Notes:

I finally managed to grow it at last, improving my technics (of course by trial & error)

Now, they look more vibrant then the first few trials. (I think I had tried this about 4 - 5 times)

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The leaves looks more brighter and spaced out instead of the dark wrinkled shape.

Hope it last longer with blooms.