periwinkle, young and old

 Periwinkle / kemunting cina

young  flowers

young and old flowers

Age is a question of mind over matter.  If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.  

~Leroy "Satchel" Paige

________bangchik and kakdah________

seri kembangan

Wordless Wednesday - one and two

one

two

MAKNA - National Cancer Council Malaysia - Majlis Kanser Nasional

periwinkle, the softest of pink.

Periwinkles grow at different places in our garden, Some are grown in the ground and some in pots. This particular periwinkle is special because it's colour is the softest of pink...

periwinkle

bangchik and kakdah

BUTTERFLY AND FLOWERS in the garden

Papilio demoleus malayanus ((Lime Butterfly) is the name for butterfly in the first set of pictures. There is a lime tree nearby, for the moment without flowers. The butterfly is happy with periwinkle nectar, shifting from one flower to the next.

Papilio demoleus malayanus ((Lime Butterfly)

on periwinkle flowers

Papilio demoleus malayanus ((Lime Butterfly)

Papilio demoleus malayanus ((Lime Butterfly)

Papilio demoleus malayanus ((Lime Butterfly)

Papilio demoleus malayanus ((Lime Butterfly)

Papilio demoleus malayanus ((Lime Butterfly)

Papilio demoleus malayanus ((Lime Butterfly)

Papilio demoleus malayanus ((Lime Butterfly)

Striped Albatross (Appias libythea olferna)

on ulam raja flower

Striped Albatross (Appias libythea olferna)

Striped Albatross (Appias libythea olferna)

Lesser Dart (Potanthus omaha omaha)

on zinnia single layer flower

Lesser Dart (Potanthus omaha omaha)

Lesser Dart (Potanthus omaha omaha)

There was also a yellow butterfly that day,

 but it moved so fast and kept changing directions

 that it was almost impossible to snap.

bangchik and kakdah

johor

Saluting them, bidding farewell

Should farewell be all about sadness, hugs and tears? Not necessarily. I went around the garden before sun broke loose it's monsoon anger...... with Nikon D90, to assess how they feel about us leaving. The plants I mean.

~The world of orchids ~

That is Kakdah's world, orchids and orchids. 

They come in all sort of colours, shapes and sizes. 

When they bloom, Kakdah is happiest. I wonder if it should work vice versa.

Pic 1 ~ yellow orchid

Pic 2 ~ yellow orchid

Pic 3 ~ yellow orchid

Pic 4 ~  light purple orchid

Pic 5 ~ another orchid

 

Pic 6 ~ orchid still  in buds, protruding out

Pic 7 ~ colourful orchid, Kakdah's delight.

~ Cardinal Vine ~

An ordinary flowering vine from childhood days, less seen now, but given some prominence in our garden. They are flowering again and again ~ clear bright red little flowers with white filaments in the middle.  When they climb high into the sky, looking so brave and happy, they probably are singing along with Freddie Mercury (Queen) on that heroic number, we are the champions.

Pic 8 ~ cardinal vine flower among pokok daun kesum

 

Pic 9 ~ Cardinal vine, filling up the air.

~ Lantana, the brightest ~

No other flowers can beat lantana on being showy and bright. No scent, just being fashionable . I remember how the late Negeri Sembilan's Tuanku Jaafar went on describing the Malays... "colorful, most flamboyant". Lantana describes that well.

Pic 10 ~ Lantana, bright orange and yellow

Pic 11 ~ Lantana, teaming up.

  

~ Periwinkle; being simple ~

Another simple flowering plants, periwinkle has that soothing healthy looking leaves with non stop flowers . Being so ordinary, not many like to keep periwinkle, that most end up as wild flowers in villages and outskirt of towns. But as I keep reminding Kakdah..., "it is alright to live with the ordinary, because taking off all the dressings of modern life, indeed we really are very ordinary", as humble as a periwinkle.

Pic 12 ~ Periwinkle, light purple

~ Ulam Raja ~

indeed like a forest in the garden. How  many of our lunches had been accompanied with delicious salad of ulam raja. How many times the little boy from the front row of houses came and said "Mak mintak sikit ulam raja" or translated as "Mom ask for ulam raja". And how can I forget the memorable voyage of ulam raja seeds to London (click here: ULAM RAJA against all odds: a story from London).....

Pic 13 ~ Ulam Raja bush with winged beans at the back.

Keeping in tune with Mr Mohamad's wise words, Mr Shab's J factor where every thing has to JIVE in,  in a JIGSAW puzzle, Mr Jalil's worry with golf balls having minds of their own and young Mr Faudzi's grasp on reality of life, I look at the garden and keep wondering if  farewell needs to be teary hugs and kisses........

bangchik and kakdah

Tanah Merah, Kelantan

The big sister of Three Sisters.

Seven sweet corns are gripping down. Days are a little bit windy now, 

so I imagine corns are developing roots quickly to stand their ground.

These corns are growing steadily. I saw two little winged bean seedlings, emerging from the ground. In a week, the seedlings will be big enough to make appearance in this blog but then I am no more in Putrajaya to view and take pictures. Pumpkin is no where to be seen. I will not germinate new pumpkin seeds, since the little garden is in the process of winding down. Too bad I have leave for Kelantan and not able to see the eventual look of Three Sisters. It is alright, I can always try it out over in Kelantan soon.

So to make up for the unfinished Three Sisters, I put a few flowers to brighten up today's post. They have grown well after the first appearance of these Periwinkles or kemunting china. The early morning rain freshens up periwinkles, and just look at them, they are winking with bright, heavy and cheerful colour.

 periwinkle white

 periwinkle white

 

  periwinkle pink

  periwinkle purplish pink

 periwinkle pink

bangchik

The whiteness of white

chive flower, earlier

chive flower, 2 days ago

chive flower today

white rain lily

white rain lily

white periwinkle

close-up of white periwinkle


 Serene would probably be the best word to describe the inner beauty of white.
Tranquility.

bangchik

Periwinkle or kemunting china

A simple and slightly invasive flowering plants which is a normal feature in coastal areas where I came from, goes by the many common names, Madagascar Periwinkle, Rose Periwinkle, Periwinkle, Vinca, Old-Maid. and the plant goes with local names as pokok Kemunting China, pokok Rumput Jalang, pokok Kembang Sari Cina, atau pokok Ros Pantai. The scientific name is Catharanthus roseus

 We do have quite a collection of colours,
all imported from Kakdah Mom's place.

a light pink periwinkle

a white periwinkle

heavy pink periwinkle

pinkish red periwinkle
Dark green glossy leaves are adorned with flat five fused petal blooms

Chemicals in these plants have been found to contain the unique ability to keep certain kinds of cancerous cells from reproducing. For example, these chemicals have been known to have helped increase the survival rate of childhood leukaemia from a mere 10 per cent to 95 per cent!

The most important plant source ingredient in chemotherapy is alkaloids from the Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharanthus Rosevs). Two alkaloids named vinblasfine and vincrisfine are today commonly used individually or combined with other forms of therapy for cancer treatment. 

 Periwinkle flower is used as the logo of  MAKNA (Majlis Kanser Nasional or National Cancer Council )

bangchik