Thursday, April 1, 2010

Ulam raja crowning its seeds

the seeds of ulam raja.

the flower of ulam raja

Ulam Raja
flowers at various stage

To live along with plants is to view and understand its developmental growth. I seldom let veggies to go through the whole cycle, especially the greens. We pull them out young and fresh. One or two will allowed to go further for seeds.

Ulam raja is different. Their young shoots are regularly cut for  salads. One plant is allowed to grow free untouched. That plant shoots up to more than 10 feet, towering over everything in the garden except the banana and papaya. Those regularly cut, had to endure bonsai treatment and never grow beyond 5 feet. But all of them bloom at about the same time. It was Tuesday first of September 2009, that I posted an entry titled    Germinating ulam raja.
and by 11th of September 2009,  we witness the emergence of  the fourth leaves of Ulam Raja
Ulam raja had to endure the test by nature when a gust of wind was too much for Ulam Raja.to handle .
Seven months since germination, Ulam Raja were dancing with little flowers on their head  to celebrate its first burst of flowers.

Now they are dancing with
crown of seeds
on their heads.

Soon they will bow signaling their imminent departure 
after spending some 7 months with us 
in this little vegetable garden.
What an adventure to live with them.
 







 


 
~ bangchik

13 comments:

  1. The ability to grow to 10 ft. and that they last 7 months in the garden make this plant so interesting. I have enjoyed your previous posts about ulam raja. Thank you for sharing with all of us.

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  2. What a long-lived, TALL plant! Wow! I like your system of keeping only one or a few to reseed. It's a pretty flower.

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  3. your posts and pics are always so cool. great pics and post. jim

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  4. A very beautiful little flower. What a lovely addition to your vegetable garden!

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  5. I don't think I know this one. What is the taste like?

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  6. It's a gorgeous little flower. I'm hoping to save more seeds from my plants this year, something I haven't done in the past.

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  7. Noelle ~ at 10 feet, the little flowers of Ulam Raja are too high to view.

    Kimberly ~ I seldom keep track how long a plant lives. But with records in this blog, it is rather surprising that Ulam Raja is about to pass 7 months.

    Jim Groble ~ thanks Jim, it's very much due to limited number of plants and veggies in our garden that enables deeper scrutiny and more focused post and pictures. Glad you like it.

    ~bangchik
    Putrajaya, Malaysia

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  8. Curbstone Valley Farm ~ True..... What cute little flowers. But the wait is too long.

    Ann ~ Ulam Raja is very much peninsular Malaysia tropical delights as salad. The delicacy doesn't really hit Sarawak I think. The taste is almost like jambu batu or guava.

    Jo ~ It is good to save seeds. The seeds of Ulam Raja don't stay long. They drop sooner than we realize. As soon as they turn brown, they are ready to be picked and saved.

    ~bangchik
    Putrajaya, Malaysia

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  9. Stephanie ~ pretty indeed, but Ulam Raja never sought for flowers always for the young tender shoots. ~bangchik

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  10. A very moving article - I 've never seen Ulam Raja, only heard about Ismeth Ulam Raja (hahaha) ! But your article makes it so ... elegant & inspiring. Beautiful, indeed!

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  11. I have been looking for some Ulam Raja seeds to no avail. Please quide me to get some to grow for continuos own consumption. Kept some for a long time but they dont germinate. Hope youe blog is still running, thank you. Ilman

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    Replies
    1. Ilman.... i can have them posted to you, no problem. Address?

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