Archive by Author | arlene

My Kamuning Is Blooming Again

I love these scents that some of my plants bring – the Amazon lily, my Cinamumu and my Kamuning.

I was greeted by this intoxicating and heady scent when I opened the gate this morning.
See this cluster? The flowers only last for a day and every time I visit the garden, I can’t help but smell it.
Just can’t get enough and more buds are growing.
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What’s In My Garden These Days

Took shot of some veggies thriving in my garden.

Just threw the seeds at the back garden a few months ago and look, they are bearing fruits now.
Squash! Botanically, squash is a fruit but it is used as vegetable.
In a couple of months, this will be ready for harvest. Ginataang langka, anyone?
Seed pods of my Adenium plant.
After 25 years, my two Kalamansi trees are still bearing fruits.
I counted them, 10 in all in one trunk. They are still small.

Twilight Shots

Patiently waiting for my Gardenia to spread its wings. Planted it at the back garden, a small twig from one of our neighbors about two years ago. And finally it showed its face.

Excited to see it in full bloom. I’ve missed the intoxicating scent of this flower. My first Gardenia died on me a few years ago.

Then it finally unfurled. My sweet-scented Gardenia.

Calamansi, Anyone?

We just call it calamansi or kalamansi.

Harvested almost a kilo of it an hour ago. Some have already ripened. We use them to marinate meat or to cook sinigang, a Filipino dish that needs a sour taste. One could also use them as juice.

There are plenty more but I need to bring out the ladder to pick them. They are called Philippine lime🫠

Saturday Delight

Finally, we are done trimming the carabao grass. Josef started yesterday and I finished it early this morning. All I need now is to prune the plants and weed outside.

I took shot of my flowering insulin plant early this morning. It was a nice surprise seeing it flowers.

Insulin is known as a cure for diabetes. I munch on the fresh leaves every now and then. It is a little sour but tolerable. I hope it could help lower my blood sugar.

Early last year, I planted some Adenium from the seed pod I got from my existing one. Ordered some varities online but they died on me. So, I also took photos of my pink flowering Adenium.

They are lovely, aren’t they?

Done

Finally we’re done trimming the carabao grass and pruning some plants in the process. Except for a few minor works to be done, then everything is okay, maybe until next month. Grass grows slowly though now that it is no longer rainy season.

Josef helped me paint our concrete garden seat. It is now a favorite of some of our dogs while watching us clean the garden. Such a shame.

Our neighbour Jom gave me a few cuttings of dragon fruit. Planted them yesterday at the back of the house where there is a permanent trellis. Hoping they thrive.

Busy Afternoons

I’ve been gardening the past three afternoons, two hours each uprooting stubborn weeds and outlining the area where some plants are planted direct to the soil.

Found some snails 🐌 clinging to the wall and in some of my plants. I guess they choose those they could eat. Found some leaves with holes in them. I couldn’t bring myself to crush them with my foot so I just threw them at the back of the house 🏘. There’s not much of them really but the small ones look so cute. Fancy me admiring those disastrous creatures in the garden.

We only need to trim the carabao grass now and it’s done. I hired one of our maintenance crews at the subdivision yesterday to uproot the weeds and trim our Santan plants🌿 outside. I told her to come back in a month.

To maintain a garden no matter how small is hard.

Another Lab Test

This morning I went back to the satellite clinic of the Medical City hospital for another FBS laboratory test. It’s been like this for the past month and a half – lab, doctor, another lab, doctor until my blood sugar goes back to normal. Thankfully, my creatine and blood pressure are back to normal. I gained 8 pounds since I started with the regimen of new medications more than a month ago. I was worried when I started losing weight. My doctor friend said that at my age, it was not normal.

I’ll be back to my internist on Tuesday once I get the laboratory result. I hope this time, I’ll be allowed to have my cataract operation. PRAYING🙏🙏🙏.

Waiting for the Medical City to open at 8am especially when you have been fasting for the last eight hours is pretty uncomfortable. One needs to go there early so they could extract blood within the time scope. I usually leave the house at 6am, arrive at SM Ortigas at 6:30am. They open the place at 7am so one has another hour of wait. I pray the rosary while waiting. This morning, I finished the Sorrowful and Joyful mysteries, it lessens the boredom of waiting.

Wow, October is finally here and it’s my birth month. Exciting. Looking forward to October 27🥰❤✌

What A Surprise

Touched by the morning mist, what a lovely discovery. It’s my sweet-scented Camia. It’s wonderful to be rewarded with a gift of nature.

Gardening…..Finally

It’s been raining the past few days but yesterday afternoon, I was able to garden. I transferred my Lourdes plants in bigger hanging pots together with my Epischa plant and those green hanging plants. Forgot their names.

Rearranged and replanted these.
Planted these outside our perimeter wall and they are thriving well.
My scented Kamuning
Crossandra
They call it white Angel but I’m not sure.

I don’t have to water the garden every day because it is rainy season now.