Updates on my plants. The sadly departed. Green fingers? No?

I have a habit of labelling my plants. Part of the reason is whenever my little nephew comes over on the weekend, it's a lesson in pronouncing the names of the plants and letting him taste and smell the herbs. He no longer eats the herbs but his eyes always open in wonder whenever he smells the rosemary and the basil. He grew and smarten up. No longer duped into eating the herbs but I will always remember the conversations we have about the herbs.

"Ah Yi,  I can eat them?"
"Yes. Does it smell nice?"
Boy nods and chews quietly.
"Is it nice?"
"Not nice", and he promptly spits them out.

Back to my plants, I label them and at the same time, I keep a graveyard of my plant casualties. Some died of poor nutrition and neglect. Others, because of my holidays. Another factor was my gradual shift from a brightly sunlit balcony garden to a shadier one because of the two biggish murrayas that I have. The sun-loving flowering periwinkles and lantanas are gone and in their place are the basil and the rosemary. The hibiscus is still alive but is growing leaves most of the time.

Let's see. What happened?

More buds!

More buds forming. This cluster should bloom by this weekend. There's another flower bud forming on another branch. The branch that was flowering for the last two weeks is still happily blooming. The waiting game begins.

Tried & tested: Neem oil fertiliser seems to be the best

I have tried several fertilisers for my plants. You name it, those gaudy pink or blue pellets, organic chicken poo pellets. So far, this bottle of organic neem oil works the best. Dilute it with water and water the plants. Simple. New shoots will grow rapidly, flower and at the same time, they keep some of the pest away. Am happy. The basil and the murrayas love it.

What is Neem Oil?
Neem oil is a vegetable oil pressed from the fruits and seeds of the neem (Azadirachta indica), an evergreen tree which is endemic to the Indian subcontinent and has been introduced to many other areas in the tropics. It is perhaps the most important of the commercially available products of neem for organic farming and medicines.

Where can I buy neem oil?
I bought my bottle last year at the Singapore garden festival. Can't find the namecard for the company and if I am not mistaken, their shop is at Novena Square. If not, try little India or Far East Flora.

Click here

Glorious frangipani blooms

The bloom 2 weeks ago

It's still flowering. : P

Overlooking the balcony

Thanks to the recent hot weather, my frangipani has finally bloomed after almost 5 years. The balcony does not usually get strong sunlight, only 4 hrs of morning light. I dislike the hot weather but the plants like it.

Waiting for the other stalks to bloom. It should be another week or so. The flowering buds are growing.

The wait game

 

Not mine but soon, I think the blossoms will be similar to the blossoms above

I am waiting with bated breath for the 2nd round of blooms from my dormant frangipani plant. It has been almost 4 years since it last bloomed. All thanks to the recent hot weather. There are buds on the plant. Hip hip hurray! But mummy always say don't count your chickens before they hatch. So exciting.

Natural warriors: No ants!

My self-concocted 'Bak Ku Teh' mix is working very well as a natural pest pesticide. The ants are not killed but they are avoiding the potted plants with the teabags of roasted spices like a plague. Biological warfare? The ants hated it and they have moved out of their previous home and out of my balcony garden. I have tried all sorts of plant pesticides to get rid of the ants. As I consume the herbs I grow, I would rather not use chemical pesticides. For now, it's a big, big hurray that is is working!

Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶) is popular soup drank in Singapore and Malaysia. It is made from pork ribs lovingly boiled for hours with garlic, cinnamon, pepper, cloves and star anis. Some shops have also added secret ingredients in their spice mix. The end result is a very tasty soup usually eaten with rice and other side condiments like youtiao (fried dough fritters) and preserved vegetables. My favourite Bak kut teh shop is at Sultan gate (can't remember the name), the one at rangoon road (Ng Ah Sio Pork Rib Soup) comes a closed second, I like Song Fa opposite Central too. Interesting thing to note, most Bak Kut Teh are not sold on Mondays as the poor animals are not slaughtered on Sundays. If the soup is sold on a Monday, frozen meat is used. Not so nice.

Source: Song Fa Bak Kut Teh

About the Bak kut teh plant pesticide, I dry roasted the spices (pepper, star anis, cinnamon, cloves) to release the fragrance and packed them into the teabags. Next, I left them in the pots of rosemary and basil where the ants are nesting. The ants moved out after 1 or 2 days. It has been 3 weeks, they have not been back. Fingers crossed.

The teabags in the pot of basil.

The Sunbird came and left

 

 Olive backed sun bird paid a visit

Early this morn, the sun bird came and left, almost like window shopping. I was sitting on the living room's floor. Spied it checking out the the lipstick plant in the balcony. In he flew above my head through the living room and took a sharp left turn into the kitchen and out to the open air probably on his way to check out other flowering plants on the other side of the apartment block.

He was very sure where to go. Obviously not his first time flying through my home. Cool, how nature made do with living in an urban environment.

Update on my plants

This is how the balcony garden looks like now. I moved the two indoor trees to the balcony to line the wall next to the two murrayas. The giant palm was also moved to the middle of the balcony so that I can close the balcony's folding doors. Yup, before, if I want to have air-conditioning switched on in the living room, I have to move the plants out of the way. Too strenuous, which means the air-conditioning is seldom switched on. I need a bigger balcony!

My periwinkles, lantana and hibiscus are no longer blooming as the amount of sunlight they are getting is greatly reduced after I moved the bigger plants to the balcony. The little available place where there is sunlight is reserved for the rosemarys and thai basil.

R's fish pond in the balcony with his lonely gigantic fat fish. I use the water from the container to water my plants once a week. Fish's poo poo water is quite nutritious.

The lipstick plant came back to life and bloomed. Looks like when I am at lost on what to do with a plant that was on the verge of death for the past 6 months, the best solution and care is to ignore it. Volia, it bloomed. The sunbirds came and were very happy.

 

The lipstick plant with the rest of the hanging plants on the rather bare wall. The wall planting project is not going too well. Planting is just not lush.

Perfumed.

 

 

Absolutely fragrant tonight. Murrayas in bloom. They usually bloom one week after I fertilised it with neem oil. New shoots and flowers. : )

Of ants and lizards

"Are you clearing the dead ant's nest?"

"No, why should I? I am instilling fear in their troopers. Leave the dead ants there."

Horrid little buggers are nesting in the cupboard's drawer again. They nested there before but are back again. I wonder which clever ant decided to nest at the same spot again? Totally brainless or they thought the most dangerous place is the safest place? Doesn't the smell of Baygon strike fear in their little hearts?

Die, die, die. DIE!

I am also trying out a new remedy to repel ants in my home. Tea tree oil works but is just too expensive in the long run. A spicy mix of pepper and cloves along their favourite trail is the new but cheaper weapon of choice. Ants apparently do not like strong smelling herbs. Go away. Really, far away please.

Anyway, dead ants release a chemical scent that will alert their fellow friends of danger. In times of attack, they will scatter but will regroup when they sense the danger is over. They will always collect their fallen brethren. They are very loyal friends. Maybe, they will learn to never nest at that spot again.

How to have worry-free hols if you have plants

This post is long overdue. Friends have asked how I keep my plants alive when I go on holiday. My holidays usually last between 11 –14 days. It is a long time for the plants to go without water and constant care if you have not arranged for 'babysitting' from friends/neighbours.

Some will deposit their plants with like-minded gardener friends or get neighbours to water them if they are accessible along the corridor or pass them the house keys. Or the brave will cross their fingers and hope that God will water the plants when they are away. Yep, hoping that rain water will splatter onto their beloved plants when it rains. Never, ever resort to such behavior if you have a sheltered balcony, they will die and you are evil. I decided against getting friends/relatives to come by to water them as it is too much a hassle.

This is what I do:

The balcony in its wired-up mess
the night before I left for hols.

They are gone?

Had been a few days since I came back from the year-end holiday. I just realised the ants are gone. Gone. Public enemy no.1 in my balcony garden and home is gone! Had not been bitten or seen an ant for the past few days in my balcony.

Did the neem oil really work or was it the tea tree oil, or the baygon? Or was it because I sent my two pots of rosemary and basil to my mum's place while I was away? The herbs were the ants' favourite haunt...

Will look harder tomorrow morning when it is brighter. Maybe they are hiding? As what my 5 year-old nephew says when you can't find certain things, yes, maybe they are hiding, waiting to spring their latest attack on my unsuspecting toes.

The revenge of the red buggers

Look! Some of the stubborn ants who refused to give up.
Voldermot and Dumbledore are interesting to these ants. Hate them!

Ants, the bane of my life at the moment. I usually read before I sleep. A week ago, I wanted to read Harry Potter and Deadly Hallows (just watched the movie). Something entertaining and brainless before bed for sweet dreams. Dump the book on the bed, took my shower.

Climbed onto the bed and flipped opened the book. Tiny red ants rained onto my hands and body!!!!!! Ok, they didn't rain but a lot of them fell out of the book onto me. How fast can a person leap out from the bed? Very, very fast.

The resourceful little ants were building a new nest in my sis's Harry Potter! OMG! I picked the book from the bed and ran at top speed to the balcony and started knocking the book frantically attempting to shake out the colony and brushing the red ants off me. Gross, tiny red ants and eggs. Arrrgghhhhhhhhh!!!! Adrenaline rushing. Snuffed out every single ant including the queen ant. I assumed she is the queen since she was the biggest.........not a peaceful night.

The battle has begun

The horrid little red ants are on the move again.

My long standing battle with those spiteful ants have begun again. This time, my weapon of choice is tea tree oil. Aha, they are running, running, scrambling, scrambling, running for their life. I can feel their panic. Wahahhahahahahah! Die! Die! Die!

My home and balcony garden is home to an unwelcome colony of spiteful red ants. I have tried baygon, ant bait, pepper, plant pesticides (both systemic and contact), neem oil and now the miraculous tea tree oil. Boy, do they dislike the oil, bet it hurts. Ouch. I don't think I can live with ants that keep biting me all the time. Their bites packed a punch.

The ants are avoiding all the spots with the oil smears. I have dotted the known ant nests and ant trails with the oil. I have also drenched the soil with diluted tea tree oil and water and rimmed the flowering pots with the oil. The ants are running, they have lost their organisation.

Insert really really evil laughter...

Yoga in the morn followed by a yummy green smoothie

Hello, sun. Love yoga in the morning. Invigorating and enriching : )

Then, I had a very creamy green smoothie for my morning fix. Bliss, while R and I wait for the nephew to arrive for two days of babysitting while his grandma is away for holiday.

Passionfruit, fuji apple, pear and
a big handful of basil and mint.

Cut into pieces, softer fruits at the
bottom and a glass of water.

Makes 2 glasses and my retro blender in the background.

Basil & Mint Harvest from the
balcony garden. Botak plant now.

Report card on my plants

Murrayas
They bloomed together again. More sweeping for me. I think they bloom every 1 month.

Lipstick plants
I think, I am maybe 2 months away to be called a plant murderer. I must remember to take a before and after pix to show my point. The sunbirds still turn up every morning but they just stare at the plants. 

Aloe Vera
Really growing sideways. Repotting soon.

Lantanas
They bloomed. Nice orange.

Lipstick plant report card: Not doing too well : (

Been 3 months since I bought the two lipstick plants from the nurseries.

What is a lipstick plant? Copied right from Wikipedia, Aeschynanthus is a genus of ca. 185 species of tropical herbs. They are found in southern and southeastern Asia, the islands of Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. They are usually trailing epiphytes with brightly colored flowers that are pollinated by sunbirds.

I didn't know what and where it is from before I bought them. I just like their fat dark green glossy leaves, the red tubular flowers and the way the leaves cascaded. They were on my 'I Want list' for sometime.

It's been a fair share of happiness whenever they bloomed, or when the sunbirds came to visit and frustrations when the green glossy leaves kept falling off.

Was it the location of the plants in my balcony? Or too much water or too little of it? Or maybe too much sun?

A gardener's constant dilemma. How much is too much water or how much is too much light? Or too much fertilizer?

According to the goggle searches and instructions from the nursery's owner, it is a low maintenance plant that needs bright light and moist but well draining soil. Yep, sounds easy... I really hope they don't die before I get the hang of looking after them.

Marching on.

3 Laws of Gardening

Moved this big pot of plant into this corner of the balcony today.
Took me 15 mins. My back is killing me.

Came across these 3 points in Elle Decoration. Rings true.

• Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding out until your back gets used to it.
  
• God made rainy days so gardeners could get housework done.
  
• One of the best ways to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out easily, it is a valuable plant.

The Herbs on a Rainy Day

It rained while the sun was blazing.
Check out the fat raindrops.

Can you see the raindrops?

The two Rosemarys in a flower box under the Frangipani's shade.

Thai Basil for my smoothies and omelette.

The Mint where the ants are living now. I can't seems to get rid of them.
They moved from one pot of herbs to another.

The Aloe Vera given by a relative when they were moving out of their house.

The other pot of Rosemary.

New shoots from the Murraya.

Basil from the Garden and Breakfast

Basil from my Thai Basil pot

Instead of the usual fried egg with basil and tomatoes. I had
chee chong fun with basil and mushroom floss (Myco Farm).

Rocket, apple and passionfruit smoothie too!