What’s In My Garden?

Six months of lockdown. Whatever you may call it, we’ve reached six months of quarantine.

Home-based small businesses  have suddenly sprouted in the metro and most of them are selling food – cooked  for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you’ll have it here. Even small- scale selling of meat, poultry and vegetables have also suddenly grown. The thing is, as long as we remain in the comfort of our home and we don’t go out unnecessarily, it’s okay. So long as your neighbors in the subdivision deliver for free, it’s okay. For those you can’t buy nearby, there are always vendors who charge for delivery fees and you can just wait for your orders.

Yesterday, I ordered several kinds of dried fish and today my order of Gyoza from David’s Tea House arrived. A few days ago I also ordered several items from Lazada including a desk fan and some gifts for Nissa’s upcoming birthday.  Online transactions are the “in” thing nowadays although I only use cash to pay them all. I am afraid to use my credit card without seeing my purchase in advance. I haven’t been to the mall for more than six months now. Bank transactions are online too except when I need cash and I let Josef  withdraw some money from the ATM.

I am taking photos of my garden blooms almost every day, documenting every bud and flowers worth-capturing.  Gardening has suddenly boomed here. Never mind if some have started a few pots and they call it a garden. I just smile seeing friends suddenly interested in nurturing a few plants. Even if these are not indoor plants, they place them in one corner of their homes. Not all plants could thrive indoors, they need the sun to grow.  There  are indoor plants that help us in lessening the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There are indoor plants that are anti-oxidants.

Ah, these are my green peppers. I  am waiting for some seeds to mature so I could replant them.

Look, one is about to ripen.

 

We use them for our famous sinigang. They are also called green chilies.

I have transferred my Adenium seedlings to pots several months ago. I have grown them from pods  from my lone Adenium plant. They need the sun so I transferred them to a sunny spot near our grotto.

It’s nice to see these plants thriving well. I wonder if they will bear the same pink flowers later on.

I hope everyone is COVID-free. This pandemic doesn’t choose its victims. I wonder when it will die a natural death. Praying for our safely.

 

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Sweet Sunday

It didn’t rain yesterday and the sun is shining brightly this morning. Took advantage of it and gardened for a while. The squash I planted didn’t grow well, the leaves are yellow and have holes in them so I removed the plant this morning. I cultivated the soil, removed some weeds and arranged and replanted some of my prayer plants growing side by side with the squash before.

I have plenty of Crossandra seedlings growing at the back of the house, they are self-propagating. I transferred  some of them to the area where the squash used to be. When they bloom, the orange flowers are lovely.  The rain lilies are flowering too. I only have the pink ones, I wish I have other colors. Wonder of wonders, my lone Kamuning plant is flowering again with that lovely scent close to Gardenia and Jasmine. I am thinking of transferring  some cuttings in a pot then plant them later direct to the soil when they have sturdy roots.

Though I wear gardening gloves,  sometimes I prefer my hands bare. It feels so nice when you can cultivate the soil with bare hands and you can arrange the plants nicely.  There is something incredibly satisfying about getting your hands in the dirt and watching your garden grow as you nurture each plant.  Blisters, scrapes and cuts, not to mention the soil embedded under  your nails.  Gardening is not what it would be without getting your hands dirty. Do you agree?

Starting early and finishing the task before catching up with the 8am Sunday mass online. Happy and blessed Sunday folks.

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Hope For The Flowers

“How does one become a butterfly? They have to want to learn to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”
― Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers

Posted this photo before. Nate’s visit at the Butterfly Garden in one of their trips in Baguio. He can’t even go out of the house now but he is happy being with his Mom everyday.

 

Caught it while we were about to leave for Manila  years and years ago. Taken in our garden in Pangasinan.

 

 

One of those lucky days in the garden.

 

Look, it was inside the house.

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A Butterfly Garden

 

Nate And His Butterflies

Have you ever tried catching a butterfly with your hands?

You can’t, right? Unless you use a butterfly net to catch one.

Let Nature be their friend.

Let them free,

Before you know it,

They might land somewhere near

And you’ll be able to admire their shapes, colors, and the

designs of their wings.

There are so many plants that butterflies love.

They have very short lives.

Enjoy them while they fly.

 

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Pretty In Pink (Survivors Of The Storm)

Took a few photos this morning while the sun is up. They are the same plants but the flowers have survived the storm.

 
Our grotto which we had constructed after my treatment ten years ago. We used to have Koi fish here.

I was surprised by this lovely Adenium, the flowers are no longer split.

 

A cluster of pink Vinca. Sturdy blooms.

 

A single-petaled Zinnia.

I harvested Calamansi before the typhoon. The two trees shed off some of the ripe fruits during the storm. I need to transfer my Papaya seedling soon.

Have a lovely Wednesday all.

 

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Greens

Just updated my gardening blog. Took shots of my green plants early this morning. You can find them all here at Gardens and Empty Spaces.

 

 

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Garden Update

I just posted some photos at my gardening blog. You can find them here.  Please try to visit the site if you have time. Thanks a million.

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The Joy Of Seeing New Blooms

I planted Zinnia seeds in different shades of pink a few months ago. They did flower and are still flowering at the moment.

This morning, I was surprised to find a lone bloom in the pretty shade of yellow. What a thrill. It was a nice surprise.

And my Shanghai Beauty is showing beautiful pink blooms again. I would just trim it when the flowers have dried up.

The joys of gardening, they give that nice bit of heaven when you least expect them.

I  have harvested almost a kilo of kalamansi (Philippine lime), divided them into three small plastic bags for our neighbors. One of them gave me seeds from her pink Four O’Clock blooms. In a few months, I expect to have those pretty pink blooms which usually appear at four o’clock in the afternoon.

Don’t you just love gardening?

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When Gardening Becomes A Chore

Finally, I’m done weeding outside  but I have two blistered fingers  despite wearing gloves. Some weeds are so hard to uproot but I have to do it. My snake plants can’t grow well because of these stubborn weeds. At least half of the job is done. There is still the carabao grass to trim and the Fukien Tea plants and Pandakaki too.

My Pandakaki blooms. There are several but they are so tiny.

Carabao grass

I hate trimming the carabao grass. We have to use a manual grass cutter because there are lots of  concrete stepping stones in between. Hopefully by the weekend, Josef can help me with it. We also need to trim the Santan plants in front of our concrete fence. They are the dwarf variety but they are growing tall.

my front garden

Side yard with my two Calamansi trees

Ornamental pineapple and my bulb plant. The latter is a pink lily.

Sometimes, gardening becomes a chore that you can’t avoid.

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When Rain Lilies Bloom

Quite a surprise but it is nothing new. When the rain comes, my rain lilies are happy and they produce such lovely tiny  flowers that make the garden so nice  to look at.

rain lilies….

I have them as ground covers in one area of the garden.

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