marigolds: a brief moment.

 marigolds, an interesting plant with lot of yellow flowers.

marigold: bud

marigold: bud opening

marigold: bud opening

marigold: bud opening

marigold: double bud opening

marigold: buds closed and opened

marigold: young flower

marigold: flowering maturing

marigold: flower maturing

marigold: maturity

marigold: dry offering seeds

marigold: the plant

marigold: another plant.

Marigolds will always be in our little garden, a chance we will never miss for it's benefit. Somehow the plants help to repel pests away. But one thing I am so sure about, while driving some pests away, snails love to come and eat shoots and leaves of marigolds.

bangchik and kakdah

pasir gudang, johor.

A slanting marigold, has its own story.

To tell story beyond germinating, fertilizing, harvesting and watering is somewhat tale in nature. But I really have to share this. Just a simple marigold and its connection with the surroundings. Marigolds here grow so tall and bushy that the weight pull the plant down, almost resting on the ground. But the shoots respond well, after the initial bending, they shoot straight towards the sky. The leaves are low, brushing against the grass. The smell of marigolds must have have travel far, that every night snails will crawl and sniff around for the lovely leaves. Whenever I walk around the plant at night, there is always that familiar breaking sound under my sandals. I know some snails fail in their mission.

Marigold, big and bushy succumb to the test of wind, 

and stay that way for a month. Shoots as always turn 

towards the sky.

marigold still flowering. snails crawl up from the fallen branches 

and munch leaves. from past experience they really love 

young marigolds, and clean the whole plant the same night. 

Old marigold as in the picture is too much for them. 

I am sure they make nightly return

for a lovely snack.

For a month in that position, the shoots are fully bent 

to point towards the sky.

bangchik

POETIC WEDNESDAY: the day for marigolds

the little sea of marigolds.

Ulam raja can be seen towering high on the left.

The Marigold
  When with a serious musing I behold
The grateful and obsequious marigold,
How duly, ev'ry morning, she displays
Her open breast, when Titan spreads his rays;
How she observes him in his daily walk,
Still bending towards him her tender stalk;
How, when he down declines, she droops and mourns,
Bedew'd, as 'twere, with tears, till he returns;
And how she veils her flow'rs when he is gone,
As if she scorned to be looked on
By an inferior eye, or did contemn
To wait upon a meaner light than him;
When this I meditate, methinks the flowers
Have spirits far more generous than ours,
And give us fair examples to despise
The servile fawnings and idolatries
Wherewith we court these earthly things below,
Which merit not the service we bestow.

But, O my God! though groveling I appear
Upon the ground (and have a rooting here
Which hales me downward) yet in my desire
To that which is above me I aspire;
And all my best affections I profess
To Him that is the sun of righteousness.
Oh, keep the morning of His incarnation,
The burning noontide of His bitter passion,
The night of His descending, and the height
Of His ascension ever in my sight,
That imitating Him in what I may,
I never follow an inferior way. 
by George Wither (1588-1667)

bangchik, Putrajaya Malaysia

Marigolds are ready to show.

marigolds

marigold bush

marigold bush close-up

the first bud

the second bud

Huh, with summer all year round , we miss the cycle of most flowering plants. We tend to grow flowering plants without the worry of weather and climate. In 4 seasons region, gardeners are quite particular when to start growing and the time should be enough for flowers to appear before winter comes and paints everything white.. Over here, I just grow them knowing that one day they will be kind enough to push out the first bud.
Marigold forms a lovely dense bush, and in a way they do create an impact to the surroundings. After seeing the light of day since March this year, now the first bud appears, then the second. I purposely put this post through before more buds come out, before the anticipation of flowers slowly recedes....

The other day, I saw a snail or two resting on the stems of marigolds. I am sure, they had a quite dinner of marigold shoots. When marigolds come to this height and age, snails cant kill them. It is at the young tender age, that they are very delicate, and a good lick by snails will put little seedlings to sure rest.

Soon there will be yellow dots all over.

bangchik

My caged tomato and its companions

our caged tomato

the tomato hanging nicely

tomato


The tomato plant never felt hindered by the presence of cage. It grows and shoots out of the cage mouth. A few fruits dangle nicely on tough stalks. The bed is full of plants and each is brushing and elbowing the other for another inch of breathing space. Marigolds being the majority, really grab the advantage and show their prominence. Their green foliage is becoming even greener.
Their differences are becoming very obvious; tomato are producing nice little fruits in the top half portion of the plant whereas  radishes are showing their big bulbs half hidden at the bottom of the plants.  
Marigolds will continue growing until they get tired and get too old that yellow flowers will come out
probably as a standard item preparing the death bed of the mother plants.  
Peanuts are growing steadily and these plants are most secretive,
hiding all the nuts or fruits underground...  
Zinnia is as lovely as ever, putting up the most exotic dance with its fashionable purple
colour each time little breeze comes.
The four ulam rajas are the most civilised specie,
bringing the foliage together like a cone as the sun slides down,
covering the secret of growth away from midnight pests and ghosts

But our caged tomato is like the king, 

towering over the rest, 

showing off their fruits.

bangchik

The last of our marigolds

 

  

the last marigold.

Marigolds seem to be growing forever. Little yellow dots appear tirelessly adding colour and character to our vegetable garden. Marigolds used to be regularly featured in this blog, but now they are about to go. That branch is the last to stand.... they are nearing the end.

~bangchik

Putrajaya

They fall and continue growing.

marigolds.

 

marigolds

 

 ulam raja

 

ulam raja

Earlier post mentioned about strong winds bringing down  marigolds  and  ulam raja.. But they continue to survive in their own ways. Ulam raja doesn't seem to produce roots at the grounded stem, whereas marigolds produce roots at the bent part of the stem. I cut off two branches of marigolds and place them somewhere else to check if propagation can be done that way. After three days of withdrawal, the two cuttings of marigold seem to hang on....  I will do a post  later to highlight their progress.

~bangchik
Putrajaya, Malaysia

Wordless Wednesday: big yellow

bangchik

Wordless Wednesday: yellow and pink

bangchik

the fate of marigolds after pruning

marigolds now quite bushy.

 

 

zinnias at the other end

 

Marigold buds against flowering zinnias

 

Soon yellow of marigolds

will blend

with pink of zinnia.

My little experiment on pruning marigolds waits for some interesting result. An earlier post on pruning is here ; Pruning marigolds at Walkway Bed  .  There are signs of marigolds ready to sprout the lovely yellow little blooms.  

~bangchik

Putrajaya Malaysia