John&Jacq~s Garden

Posted by Jacqueline on March 2nd, 2010

February had been an extremely hot season in our country, Malaysia! Eeek, too hot and humid most days, with very infrequent rainfall.
Of course, sun-loving plants in our tropical garden like the Bougainvilleas, Madagascar Periwinkles, White Mussaenda, Euphorbia milii, Ponytail Plant and Yucca, to name a few just love the heat while the Norfolk Pine, Macarthur [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on February 25th, 2010

Quisqualis indica (Rangoon Creeper Vine, Drunken Sailor, Scarlet Ragoon, Chinese Honeysuckle)
An extremely spectacular vine that just loves showing off throughout the year in our tropical heat! When in full bloom, this beauty will be dramatically covered with large trusses of tricolored flowers that are very showy and truly a traffic stopper.
Similar to another tricolor beauty, [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on December 1st, 2009

How timely that our tropical garden in November 2009 was in top form to present me with enough photography opportunities to try out my relatively new point and shoot camera, Canon PowerShot SX200 IS! My dearly beloved, John, presented me an early Christmas-cum-40th wedding anniversary-cum-birthday gift during the last week of October. Hehe…too bad that [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on September 30th, 2009

Gardening is truly food for the soul and its rewards are endless, a tonic for stress and a sight for sore eyes!
We’re absolutely delighted to be maintaining a garden blog here that gives us the opportunity to share online the many treasures seen in our tropical urban garden. They may look very ordinary to some [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on July 30th, 2009

Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar Periwinkle, Rose Periwinkle)
An old-fashioned and reliable bedding plant that never fails to shine year round in our tropical climate, abounding in pretty little flowers that are usually of the purplish-pink, rose-pink or white form.
But, of course, many marvelous cultivars/varieties of various vibrant colors and dwarfish forms have been developed over the many [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on June 18th, 2009

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 [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on June 1st, 2009

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 [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on May 18th, 2009

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 [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on April 24th, 2009

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Tropical Hibiscus, Chinese Hibiscus, China Rose, Shoe Flower)
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, the single form with the 5-petaled blood-red blooms, is Malaysia’s national flower. It is locally known as ‘Bunga Raya’ in the Malay language. Hence, it is no surprise that this spectacular ornamental shrub is popularly and abundantly grown in our country, especially along roads [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on March 14th, 2009

Gomphrena globosa (Bachelor’s Buttons, Globe Amaranth)
These globe-shaped blooms in brilliant magenta-purple contrast beautifully with its cool and refreshing bluish-green foliage.
Wonderfully catchy and everlasting in color and shape, their showy flowerheads are popularly used as cut flowers or dried flower arrangements!