John&Jacq~s Garden

Posted by Jacqueline on June 30th, 2009 in Our Garden

Bauhinia kockiana has always been a baffling vine for us. It is most elusive. Grows fast and vigorous with beautiful bright green and luxuriant foliage yet rarely flowers! We seldom get to enjoy their blooms in large stunning clusters, that are so often seen in most home gardens around our neighborhood or elsewhere. Just have a peep here and you’ll know why we’re so green with envy!
Continue reading this post…

Posted by Jacqueline on June 26th, 2009 in Garden Visits, Random Thoughts/Topics

Little did John and I expect to experience God’s saving grace and mercy so powerfully and so soon after enthroning the Divine Mercy Image in our home.

It all started last Thursday, June 18. Having lunched at a popular chicken rice shop along Jalan Gasing, John, Michael (a dear friend) and I ventured (not planned beforehand) into a store, G to G Enterprise, dealing with Christian religious products. And, behold, hanging on its wall was the most beautiful image of the Divine Mercy that we’ve ever encountered so far. It was love at first sight!
Continue reading this post…

Posted by Jacqueline on June 18th, 2009 in Plants database

Epidendrum species (Epi, Epidendrum Orchid, Crucifix Orchid, Reed-stem Epidendrum, Star Orchid)

How enormous and diverse the genus Epidendrum L. is! It consists of about 1,100 species of orchids that are native to tropical and subtropical Americas and the Caribbean. Now though, it is widely distributed, naturalized and cultivated in many regions worldwide.

The more popular and captivating species are the commonly named Crucifix Orchids. They produce large clusters of attractive flowers, each flower displaying a significant three-lobed lip, adnate to the column and resembling a cross, hence the common name. The blooms are so varied, absolutely stunning and uniquely gorgeous in many colors and form!
Continue reading this post…

Posted by Jacqueline on June 1st, 2009 in Our Garden

Wow! Our baby is grown-up! Just two years old, short of one month.

There’s always excitement and pride when a young plant blooms for the first time ever upon maturity.

This time, it is an orange Crucifix Orchid that was added to our garden in May 2007. Voted as our star orchid for May 2009, this lovely beauty has been blooming its head off since the beginning of April and continues till this very day with two more buds to unfurl.
Continue reading this post…

Posted by Jacqueline on May 26th, 2009 in Our Garden, Tropical Wildlife: our garden

Continuing from our previous article Rats storming our garden, February 2009.

O, what bliss! Joy and peace at last in our little garden paradise!
No sign of the abominable vermin for almost two months!
No more stinking stench!
No more cleaning their mess!
And, no more setting useless traps and the like!
Continue reading this post…

Posted by Jacqueline on May 25th, 2009 in Plants database

Philodendron bipinnatifidum (Tree Philodendron, Cut-Leaf/Split-Leaf Philodendron, Lacy Tree Philodendron, Selloum)

They were just tiny tots, less than 30 cm tall when added to our garden about four and a half years ago, but looking at them now, we’re absolutely pleased with their current status.

This duo have matured marvelously over the years, almost 1.3 m tall and as wide, with strikingly big, bold and beautiful bipinnatifid foliage.
Continue reading this post…

Posted by Jacqueline on May 18th, 2009 in Plants database

Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’ (Lavender Spur Flower, Mona Lavender)

Another love-at-first-sight flowering plant that was added to our garden in late April 2006. Within a couple of months, it grew into a very attractive compact bush with lots of dainty-looking tubular lavender-purple flowers in lovely batik design. Very showy and incredibly fascinating!

We got to enjoy its profuse flowering for about half a year until it gave up on us before that year-end. Probably, as a result of too much sunlight or overwatering or even excess trimming in our haste to propagate new plants? We really couldn’t pinpoint the cause of its demise!
Continue reading this post…

Posted by Jacqueline on May 17th, 2009 in Plants database

Nephrolepis falcata cv. furcans (Fishtail Fern, Fishtail Swordfern)

Ferns are must-have for our tropical garden, otherwise it appears incomplete! We simply adore these elegant ornamental greens!
Continue reading this post…

Posted by Jacqueline on May 8th, 2009 in Random Thoughts/Topics

Another Easter Season joy! We’re overwhelmed!

Hehe…not flowers this time but money literally raining down from heaven!
This is the first time ever that our adsense had peaked above US$60 per month, almost double the average monthly earning since last July. Even, traffic to our website has increased almost twofold.
Continue reading this post…

Posted by Jacqueline on May 7th, 2009 in Our Garden

Did you notice in the right photo that the Lady Palm had broken its pot?

Hence, we were forced to replant them but it took an awful long time for us to actually do so….which we finally did early last month. Unbelievable, we procrastined for almost a year!

Anyway, it was a blessing in disguise as young plants emerged from the underground rhizomes between the cracks. Just timely to present them to our younger son who had moved to his new home late last year and wanted some Lady Palm!
Continue reading this post…