Blessed

About three weeks ago, I removed the branches of our guava tree because it  has dried it.  All that was left was the main trunk which I cut a little too low.  I thought it was going to die but imagine my surprise when I saw new leaves atop  the main trunk and they look so healthy.

I guess I have to wait a little while before it produces fruits again. Our two jackfruit trees are  showing off. I counted the fruits all in various stages of growth, fifteen in all. Who knows, it might  still bear fruits in the coming days. I took some shots of them.

A few more days and one is ready for harvest. When you are blessed, you truly are.

Garden Blooms

It’s been a long time since I updated my blog here. As I only have my cellphone now and my tab used as cameras, I am not taking more pictures. This morning though, I was at the garden looking at some  summer blooms and I can’t help but take these shots with my tab.

My two jackfruit trees are bearing fruits again. I counted, there were about twenty of them excluding the two  young fruits I harvested earlier to cook in coconut cream. My family loves Guinataang Langka.  That’s what we call it here.

My shrimp plants are blooming too. They are here everywhere in the garden.  Even my sweet-scented Amazon Lilies are bearing flowers.

The morning sun is trying to show its face in these lovely shrimp plants.  I wish I could just point my cellphone camera in the beauty of my small garden.

What’s New In My Garden?

“It was such a pleasure to sink one’s hands into the warm earth, to feel at one’s fingertips the possibilities of the new season.”  – Kate Morton

Such a shame! I only have about ninety posts here (this one is the 91st). I think this is the most neglected of all my five blogs here on WordPress.  Anyway, I am again sharing some new blooms and newly planted ones in my small garden. Took all these shots from my tab so some  are a bit grainy.

This plant is attractive when the young leaves have that orange hue,   the leaves  change back to all green as they mature.

I am thinking of uprooting this shrub altogether  then have some stems replanted. It is growing wild but the flowers are just lovely.

Aren’t they lovely?  They are my dwarf plumeria.  I bought a little pot three years ago and  it is nicely flowering. It is summer and  the plants love the heat.

Josef bought me two of this last Sunday on our way to Church. It’s a cross between a fern and a palm but I don’t know its exact name.  Come December, it might be big enough to use as  Christmas tree in the garden.

Grown from seed, this blackberry is nicely thriving in the sun.  I have five of this. a friend sent me some seeds  a year ago. I wanted to plant them all but I don’t have enough space in the garden so they are just behind the house where they enjoy early morning sun.

And this is another surprise, my sweet-scented Gardenia. This is an early bloom since my lone shrub usually produces  flowers during the month of May.

Our two Jackfruit trees  are bearing fruits again.  We have about nine big fruits now.  Last month, I picked two young ones and cooked them in coconut cream.  There are still so many small buds growing in  all the branches. I hope they would mature like these.

And the nice surprise?  Look!  Josef discovered them only yesterday because they were covered by our potted Bromeliad.  They are growing directly from the ground on a small branch  sharing a small space with our other plants. I have to transfer some pots so they could breathe.

The joys of gardening, it really made my morning.

Garden Blooms

It was one of those mornings when you just can’t help but hold garden scissors in your hands. Some of my plants needed trimming so I spent the early morning replanting some plants too. The morning would not be complete without taking a few shots. I always document every bloom, something to think about when summer is gone.

The front garden bathed in early morning sunlight. I love those pockets  of shadows that an early morning brings.

 

Those are our three dogs in the distance. Camera shy? they’re just done romping around, it’s their early morning exercise.

A row of my Crossandra blooms in one corner of the garden. I love these flowers because they self-propagate and I just uproot some of them to transfer to this corner.

I trimmed this Eugenia shrub two weeks ago, look at the new leaves. it’s rather colorful, orange on green.

Newly planted Vinca in two colors.

 

There are more of these jackfruits in several branches.

 

In a few days, that big one is ready for harvest.

Remember this sweet Basil which I planted a month ago? It’s flowering now….lovely!

Ornamental Pineapple plant and Caladium…

A cluster of pink angel flowers.

My remaining Cactus….used to have them in different varieties before.

All these years I thought they are simply called butterfly plants. It is only now that I’ve learned that they are Shamrocks.

 

Shamrocks…I have them in purple and green. I do love combining them together in small pots. They are best as hanging plants and just like Crossandra, they are self-propagating.

 

 

Waiting

It’s been a while since I took pictures of our garden. Last weekend, we had the roof and the perimeter fence repainted  and the two painters left extra paint so I retouched our grotto and our concrete garden set. Then I noticed this, my Amazon lily is in bloom again. Can’t wait to see the white scented blooms.

my Amazon lily

The only flowers growing here now are my crossandra, bleeding hearts,  pink angel flowers and my shrimp plants. The two jackfruit trees are laden with fruits though.

Golden candle, also known as shrimp plant

Bleeding hearts… they must be lonely 🙂

Crossandra, I have these flowers as grown covers outside my bedroom window, lovely orange blooms that greet me every morning.

Until now I am wondering at the real name of these flowers. I only know them as pink angels.

Jackfruit, anyone?

Sweet Basil

Two weeks ago, Josef and I chanced upon some fresh Basil at Pasig market, tried planting a small shoot, I was surprised it is pleasantly thriving.

You’ll probably think these are variegated oregano but they’re not. One of the painters we hired last weekend accidentally dropped a small can of paint while retouching our roof, short of cutting all the leaves with the paint smear,  I’ll just wait for it to grow again.  I have plenty of them behind the house anyway.

I’ve missed taking pics and these are my latest shots.

Nostalgic Moments (Revisiting Our Garden At Home)

A home away from home.

It’s almost  four years now since I went home to the province to  bond with some of  our relatives and visit our garden there. I miss the times that I used to bring my camera and take shots of every growing flowers there and wish I could bring them back home to Manila. I don’t have enough space though so  it would just have to be in pictures.

I am quite ashamed I haven’t updated this gardening blog for quite a while. Maybe, I’ll make a simple resolution to post something every week (easier said than done). I won’t make promises but we’ll see. Here are some favorite photos that I took the last time I was there, always with my then eight-year old niece in tow.

The first time I’ve seen this Powder Puff plant, I wanted to have it in my own little garden here in the city.

My brother had this ingenious idea   of putting light in the garden. It was attached to one of our coconut trees near our gate.

That old garden bench  has witnessed a lot of bonding with my niece – short stories that she sometimes invents, activities in school, food and books.

Jackfruit, anyone? They have a few fruit-bearing trees there including this.

A variegated Vietnam Rose.

Wild yellow flowers growing at our front gate. I don’t know its name, do you?

I miss these greens….

These Agaves are lined up along the road fronting the house.

And they still use firewood there which Mom gathers from our backyard. Some are fallen trees destroyed by typhoons. Mom has a small separate place where she cooks using firewood.

Wild but lovely….

Dwarf coconut trees planted by my late dad are interspersed with palm trees.

When I took this shot, I wondered if the flower was eaten by insects but it was naturally shaped that way.

 

Clusters

It’s nice to be back and share my garden finds. I guess it’s time to take hold of my camera again and take a few shots. Look what I’ve found.

I didn’t plant this  tomato shrub but just saw it growing side by side with our peanut grass at the front garden. It was a delight to see these green  tomatoes waiting to ripen. Something comes to mind, botanically speaking, tomatoes are fruits  but we consider them vegetables. How’s that again? I am getting confused.

Our two jackfruit trees are laden with fruits growing in almost every tip of each branch. The sad thing though, not all of them will grow big at all.  Mom says the fruits with smooth skin are the  ones that would  ripen and grow big, the rest will just dry up and fall. Every morning, I would count the fruits, can’t wait to harvest some  in a  month or two.

One thing I love about our calamansi trees (we have two) are the scents of the flowers. Calamansi or Philippine lime bear fruits all year round and they are perfect in almost any dish that need a little spicing up. They could be used to  marinate meat or as sauces for grilled or fried food.  Ripe fruits are excellent  as juices too.

Not to be left behind are my pink Bougainvillea.  I just love the pink blooms.