THE 2012 HOMECOMING

Hello everyone! I was off for nearly six months! And within those months, a lot of things happened....garden in and garden out. haha! Right in the middle of the Christmas Season, our store opened a new department, selling curtains, pillows, furnitures and some home improvement goods. I was the one in-charge of the said department, thus the lack of time to update this blog. But the pivoting moment happened just a month ago when my family decided to let me bring back my plants from the "secret garden" at the back of our retail establishment....to our residential home! Oh Yeah! However, due to space constraints...I had to limit my plants to Begonias, Roses, Hibiscuses, Orchids and some plants that are quite rare in our place. All the rest were given away to my suki (repeat buyers and/or "sellers")....and to a friend. Initially...I intended to place my Begonias right inside my room....but even if the light is bright, the plants still needed some heat from the sun and good air circulation. So I managed to set-up my plants in the Mini-pond area of our residential house. Here are some photos of my "re-established" garden.....the Homecoming Garden.

This is the best angle to take a picture of the garden at the mini-pond area. I felt very nostalgic while enjoying the company of my plants this morning.

This is a corner area where most of my mini and floribunda roses are gathered. I think they love the area since some of them already started blooming a couple of days before.

This corner on the other hand, is where all my Hibiscus plants are. They also love the place since they are continuously blooming since the week I transferred them here.

This is the first set of my Begonia collection...the other set is on the other side of which I was not able to take a picture of.

A NoID bulb forcing out a flower bud...I do hope it's a great one! :D

An after stress Begonia sporting a new leaf that's about to be in full "bloom".

The senior member Begonia...I believe this one got most of its genes from Begonia Coralina.

A false Eranthemum or Pseudoeranthemum.....not sure of its species name.

A mini Rose just bloomed a while ago.

Traders call this pink angel!!! I think it's because the flower and leaves closely resemble that of the White angel's...however, it is purple in reality.

I don't know the name of this plant. It's one of my NoID plants in the garden. It has very nice flowers that resemble that of Ixora plants and has a very great foliage too! please help me identify this plant. Thanks!

A relatively new member...this White Hibiscus is very serene to look at. It has white petals with yellow edges that is very attractive.

This Hibiscus has Light Orange petals with dark orange blemishes making it look like an "airbrushed" flower.

The Junior member pagoda Hibiscus.

My Senior member Red Hibiscus is very alive and still "kicking"!!! It's flowers are very bright Red in color and the blooms are relatively larger than the rest of the gang.

I am linking this post to

Tootsie's Fertilizer Friday

Tina's Weekend Flowers

Lisa's Macro Monday

Thank you very much!


Happy Easter and a Happy Gardening too!!!

New Kingdom's Garden

My friends and family members know that caring for plants is one of the things that would very well describe me. It has always been a challenge for me to buy plants from the local nurseries and try my best to survive them, and hopefully make them bloom again in the future. However, most of the time, my plants die after a week or months if they're lucky enough. The longest living plant that I was able to care for WAS a cactus. I got it from our province and brought it to Manila; took care of it while dealing with the intricacies of college life and until the time when I had to return and help in the family business. The cactus lived around eleven years! I regretted the fact that I brought it home to our province last year; around May this year, the rains sadly ended its life. Last year, I had the chance to experience a whole new world of gardening. My mother was able to bargain from my father, a space at the side of our house where a fountain and mini pond is located. I bought a lot of initial plants from our local traders...Medenilla, Powder Puffs(Calliandra), Orchids, Don Manuel, Hydrangea and Gerberas.

The Mini pond Area

Kingdom, not satisfied with the meager garden space, decided to expand its territory and thus developed the small area adjacent to the mini pond area. This move sparked my brother's rage where he being the architect of the house, should be the one in-charge of our garden.

The Adjacent Walkway of the Mini pond Area

My brother always complained to my parents on how I "trespassed" on his garden, on the supposed Victorian concept of our house. Therefore, with my unceasing plea for the lives of my plants, my very loving mother bargained, again, from my father regarding my plants. So it was decided that I could have the space at the back of our store...and this space, is actually our old garden! Since before the construction of our house in the village, we lived behind our store, our rooms and dining table is just a few steps from our establishments backdoor. July 2011...the end of my old place, and the start of a new one! I quickly went to traders all over our area and got some nice stone blocks they call pan de unan...and some terracotta pedestals...it is not a good combination, but I was on a tight budget! haha! Bought sacks of soil and ipa and some more pots for the transport of my plants from the Victorian house to the old storage space.

You may find below photos of my new garden area with a "Before & After" effect! Don't forget to hover the mouse pointer and wait for the second photo to materialize.

This is the view from the entrance overseeing platforms infront and at the left.



This is a better view of the left platform and the shaded area corner at the back.




A view of the shaded area corner, receiving area and the place where I do experiments.

** Don't forget to hover the mouse over the photos and wait for the 2nd photo to be shown. **

From the entrance of the garden(which is actually the backdoor of our store), I had my Bromeliads and Hydrangaes on the right side since it is a shady area with bright light exposure.

Bromeliads & Hydrangeas by the entrance

Above these plants, I placed chicken wire fence with which I hanged some of my orchid species and Asplenium specimens. On the pedestals, or raised platforms, my Roses enjoyed a good feed of bright light and shade in the afternoon. Below them are my Rain Lilies and Daisy plants. Just this afternoon, I was able to add a walking path made of bricks in the said area, you may not see it in my uploaded photos. You may find larger varieties of Roses at the back of the front platform. I call this area my Rose Corner...it is where I place my....uhhmmm..Roses. hehe!

Rose Corner with new unpotted roses!

On the left platforms are my Senior Member Hibiscus, Thunbergia, a Begonia, some other Hibiscus and my Don Manuel. A Welcome plant or Zamia can be found below the Thunbegia. At the back of this platform, you will find my shaded garden corner. That is where my Begonia collections are located. Some begonias are hanged while some are placed on the three-layer pedestal. This place is also my "receiving" area...it is where I initially put my new acquisitions or new members until they are potted and positioned in the garden.

At the back of the "Receiving Area" is my nursery area. This is where I experiment on cuttings, where I sow seeds and where I keep my water tank...water is collected from the gutter of the building when it rains! Talk about water conservation. haha! So today, even if my Garden is in the old space, even if I have to walk 50 meters from the store entrance before I get to my Garden, even if I have to open padlocks just to see my Garden and even if my Garden is not Victorian....I am confident enough to call it a Garden....complete with pots, sunlight, fertilizers, shovel, broom, water hose and a gardener who personally takes care of the plants!

Plumeria Area...I love Plumerias! Can't wait for them to bloom.

Here are some other photos of my New Garden. And luckily, today, it IS Friday! Therefore, I can post blooming plants and link with Tootsie's Fertilizer Friday and Tina's Weekend Flowers! Yehey!

My Orange Pagoda Hibiscus

My newly acquired Philippine Fire Tree Seedling.

Twin blooms of my pink Rose

This is the only surviving volunteer plant of the new garden before July 2011. I saved it and planted it along with my cannas at the right corner of the raised bed.

My White bouquet plant's FIRST bloom!

My Dwarf white Bauhinia is also in bloom today! Most of my white flowers are in bloom today. Some of my white rain lilies are also in bloom at the village house. :)

I hope you enjoyed the Brief History of Kingdom's Garden. Thanks for dropping by and have a very Happy Weekend ahead! Be happy!

This post is linked to



and

It's a bird!...It's a plane!...No! It's a...Bat plant!

Given a very sunny morning last Friday in our city, I had the chance to check out my plants in the small garden. I still had to repair some wiring and supports damaged by the non-stop rains but was given an opportunity to relax in the garden during that rain-free morning. Surprisingly, my bat plant bloomed! I got her sometime in April or May this year and haven't seen her bloom. I am so lucky that my plants' new home has more sunlight exposure which considerably help them bloom normally. hehe! Below are some photos I took with my Bat plant or scientifically called Tacca Chantrieri.

Aside from the Bat plant, my White Dona Aurora or Mussaenda Philippica was also in bloom! It is said that this plant is endemic to our country, the Philippines. Our subdivision actually has several of these planted along the center island of the main street. But the pinkish bloom variety is more prominent given its color. I have read and seen other Dona Aurora varieties but so far, in our area, only the white and pink ones can be seen. Below are photos of my Dona Aurora.

One of my Begonias was also in bloom that Friday morning. But this particular Begonia(I don't know the variants/species of my begonias..hehe.) blooms profusely compared to my other varieties. I also took some photos given the opportunity.

On the other hand, a day before, I managed to cut a bloom from my favorite Rose in the garden. It has peach colored flowers. According to my mother it is peach, but I see it as a pink one. No matter what color it is, I still admire the beauty and the form of its petals. I alway cut Rose flowers for my mother when I see them bloom in the garden so I often fail to take their photos before they are placed in a soda bottle. You will find photos of my recent rose blooms below with the tip of the soda bottle too.

Happy Weekend Gardening!

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