Oxalis Triangularis: stems, foliage and flowers

 Oxalis Triangularis, 
in a container at the porch with just a few hours of late afternoon sunlight.

oxalis triangularis, about to open.

Oxalis Triangularis, young buds

 Oxalis Triangularis, soft and watery stem

foliage with delicate colour, Oxalis Triangularis 

flowers , Oxalis Triangularis 

a bunch of flowers, Oxalis Triangularis 

a single flower, Oxalis Triangularis

close-up of the flower, Oxalis Triangularis

 Oxalis Triangularis

in a container out in the open experiencing about six hours sunlight exposure 

 leaves silhouette

 leaves silhouette

light purplish red leaves

light purplish red leaves

Oxalis Triangularis

or purple shamrock, lucky shamrock and for the locals the names range from pokok kupu-kupu to pokok rama-rama. We have them in two pots. I don't think they ever stop flowering...

bangchik

I thought Clitoria Ternatea is going to be blue

top of the trellis

the winding clitoria ternatea

clitoria ternatea, the flower bud

clitoria ternatea, the flower bud

clitoria ternatea, the white flower

clitoria ternatea, the white flower

I am expecting it to be blue, but it turns out to be white instead. There are three plants growing, and this flower comes from the most energetic plant. I really have to wait for the other two to bear flowers, if it is going to be white or blue. The hunch is the flowers will be white too. Therefore to include blue in the garden, I have to ask Rosiah my sister to spare some seeds.

bangchik

a glimpse at container gardening

 Three crude plastic container housing kale 
at varying stage of growth

 a close-up of kale in 
plastic containers

 I can offer three benefits of container gardening. 

Firstly, 

its flexibility, a chance to get away from the traditional vegetable bed on the ground. Containers can come in various sizes, small and big. Some can be hanged too, and some can be placed indoor. We can do experiment with plants easier, in fact container gardening offers opportunity to study and observe closely. Arranging them to our liking is easy. We can redo and redo, to suit the age of plants, blooming time etc. In my case, I can even try cooking oil plastic container, to gear up the recycling drive. 

Secondly, 

containers offer mobility. We can just shift them around to our needs, space available, the right amount of light exposure. As the seasons change, we can easily do re-potting or replanting to brighten up the place.

Lastly 

the control on pest problem is very beneficial. Most pests will not venture close to the house. Pests treat open space of the garden and lawn as their playground. Putting containers away from pests playing field will increase the chance of plants to survive pest-free.


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

The story of a vegetable bed.

 First lets see what was there before. It was the very site of our first papaya, which has grown so tall almost to the roof of our double storey semi detached bungalow. We had enjoyed a lot of sweet red slices of papaya over many months. At the end the plant  had died due to termite attacks.

papaya was the first plant to grow

I quickly filled up the void with sunflowers which grew into little forest. That too has gone with their bright yellow flowers.

then replaced by sunflowers

When we first transplanted the three seedlings of clitoria ternatea, sunflowers were still around, still flowering. Now the whole bed is for clitoria. 

Clitoria ternatea, the latest.

clitoria already at the top of trellis

The three seedlings are at different stages:

One, the most vigorous plant has completed its winding to the top of trellis. The shoot would probably be wondering why it has to go horizontal now.

The second clitoria has different story. It was not as energetic as the first one, trailing behind. It has completed two rounds of winding around the slanting bamboo stake before a strong gusts of wind loosened the grip and the whole tiny stem was dangling, dancing in the air with nothing to grab. I offered assistance by tying it back to the stake. Now the plant is making a new winding process. If we look closely we can see the missing loop due to wind.

The third one was a late comer, It germinated weeks after the first two. In fact I was about to give up and empty the tiny pot that I notice a tiny shoot appearing. With me now is three clitoria ternatea at 3 different stage of growth even though, there were sown at the same time and seeds coming from the same place. I am expecting a pretty blue flower anytime now.

bangchik

Lady's finger still flashing

This is about our lady's finger or okra or bendi, that has grown to a height we never had before. It doesn't seem to stop growing after reaching 7 feet. Flowers and fruits are still alright. There is no sign of pests attack. This is the okra that has been helped by winged beans to stand upright, every inch resembling a portion of the three sisters concept. 

Noon is not the best time to take photographs because the intensity of sunlight can be  very blinding and affects the darker tone. I practically go round the plant and shoot from all angles. So here are the pictures.

bangchik

Allowing vegetable bed to rest

I am not really into timing when i work through the garden. There is no specific timing like summer, autumn, winter and spring to make us very calculative on timing. So Gardening is very much like putting in new plants to replace the old. Grasshopper is still a menace in our garden. So in a few sections of the garden, beans are planted to deprive grasshoppers of their leafy veggie diet. I notice grasshoppers are not into leaves of beans. The vegetable will rest for a while, and the soil will regain its nitrogen prowess through roots of beans.

 Kale is defenseless against grasshoppers. 

Its sweet green leaves is too soft for the sharp razor-like teeth of grasshoppers. I have fluffed the soil around kale and sow 4 sweet peas seeds. The two black plastic markers are quite visible in the photo. They are meant to remind me where to expect the new seedlings.

Ulam raja are the only plants left. 

The rest are all pulled out which include ground nuts, radish, tomato and marigolds. So this is the site for the three sisters garden. The seeds are sown as planned. Within a week or so, little seedlings will appear. Ulam raja is still blooming, so i thought it should be allowed to stay a little bit longer. The moment the three sisters seedlings are showing the little shoots, ulam raja will go. I have collected a lot of ulam raja seeds. The other day, Charim, Fazidah, Fauzi and Rokiah came over for a visit with their kids. They went home with lot of ulam raja seeds...

 bangchik

An overview of the garden.

lady's finger is growing very tall right now, 

about 7 feet now made possible with the support by winged beans

winged bean is fruiting mad.

another winged bean.

 a trellis for three clitoria ternatea to climb on.

Kakdah was joking about this trellis. 

She said, it is too neat for any plant to climb on.. haha

 clitorea ternatea winding its way up.

the little flower bud is visible already.

 kale in pots doing well

Kale on vegetable bed, are feasted by grasshoppers.

I seldom grow tomato in pots. 

But the two plants in the same large pot are doing fine.

they are fruiting already.

an orange lantana.

 chive flowering again.

bangchik