Dracaena braunii: better known by its synonym, Dracaena sanderiana

Dracaena braunii (syn. D. sanderiana), commonly named Lucky Bamboo, Ribbon Plant, Ribbon Dracaena, Belgian Evergreen Whenever the Chinese Lunar New Year approaches, traders far and wide will be laughing all the way to the bank with pockets full from selling these Lucky Bamboo plants. It’s a very profitable trade during the annual festive season as the [...]

Ochna kirkii, the fascinating Mickey Mouse Plant

Ochna kirkii (Mickey Mouse Plant, Bird’s Eye Bush) Can you spot Disney’s Mickey on the branch of Mickey Mouse Plant in the left image? Cool, right! Now you know why one of Ochna kirkii’s common names is Mickey Mouse Plant. Its roundish and glossy black fruits, protruding from the swollen base of the bright red [...]

Euphorbia bracteata with quaint bird-like flowers

Euphorbia bracteata (Little Bird Flower, Slipper Plant, Candelilla) An attractively beautiful shrub, Euphorbia bracteata is home to numerous quaint-looking birds when it blooms. Figuratively speaking, of course! They’re not our feathered friends, the chirpy and lively birds in the real sense but flowers that appear so similar to birds that make them as desirable to [...]

Brugmansia suaveolens and hybrids, with dramatic floral display

Brugmansia suaveolens (Angel’s Trumpet, Angel-star, Angel’s Tears) The exotic Brugmansia suaveolens is a small tree or large evergreen shrub that is cultivated exclusively for its dramatic floral display. A prolific bloomer that may grandly display as many as 100-200 stunningly beautiful flowers at one time under good growing conditions. Simply spectacular… as if presenting rows [...]

Yucca aloifolia (Spanish Bayonet) – excellent for landscape design!

Yucca aloifolia (Spanish Bayonet, Aloe Yucca, Dagger Plant) How marvelous! We recently sighted a flowering Yucca aloifolia for the first time, on June 30th. Not from our own top-heavy potted plant which has been residing at our front yard since year 2005. Humph… I wonder whether it’s about time to bid it sayonara? Spotted this [...]

Our tropical garden happenings in June 2011

Yippee… a newly purchased plant for our garden in June 2011! Aglaonema ‘Miss Thailand’ (a Thai hybrid) We got this beauty for only RM20! A very good bargain indeed as there were 4 plants in the pot. Had they been separately potted, each would had been sold at RM10 per plant or more. I love [...]

Pseuderanthemum reticulatum (Yellow-vein Eranthemum) simply adores the sun!

Pseuderanthemum reticulatum (Golden Pseuderanthemum, Yellow-vein Eranthemum, Golden Net-bush) These stunning sun-loving flowering shrubs, growing at the The Little Sisters of the Poor St. Francis Xavier Home for the Elderly in Cheras K.L., certainly caught our eyes. Golden Pseuderanthemum simply adores the sun. From afar, we saw smiling and sunny faces, reverberating in the sunlight that [...]

Ricinus communis (Castorbean): beautiful & useful but deadly!

Ricinus communis (Castor Bean Plant, Castor Oil Plant) Cruising our neighbourhood one afternoon late last year, we came across this lovely shrub flourishing along the roadside and were hypnotized momentarily by its eye-catching foliage. The Castor Bean Plant was adorned with beautiful leaves that were uniquely coloured. A purplish-maroon shade that is rarely seen in [...]