John&Jacq~s Garden

Our garden joy from July to August 2013 – Part 2

Continuing from Part 1 …

Many of our plants flowered and shouted for attention during the last two months as the fine weather was in tune with their demands. Even the non-flowering ones delighted us so with their luscious growth. Without fail, our tropical garden has a constant supply to provide us with our daily dose of joy!

Torenia fournieri (Wishbone Flower, Bluewings) – sprouted with a vengeance and filled up every nook and corner with their cheerful, smiling faces. Torenias are beautiful and reliable filler plants for borders and containers, even the bricks and cracks in walls are not spared their presence. The best part is they self-seed readily and endlessly.

Going through my archived articles, I’ve observed that they were rarely mentioned in spite of giving us much pleasure all these years. They definitely have a special place in our hearts. I plead negligence and has now ranked them top priority here!

We’re amazed that with the purchase of only four pots of Torenia almost a decade ago, we’re assured of their perpetual presence! They’ve even ‘intermarried’ and produced more colourful varieties. How marvelous, the endless possibilities that Mother Nature can conjure! More of torenia’s colourful faces can be seen here.

Gardenia jasminoides Tabernaemontana divaricata cv. Flore Pleno (Crepe Gardenia, Crepe Jasmine) – joined our collection three months ago and has been happily smiling non-stop. Love the subtle fragrance of its rose-like flowers. The whiteness on its ruffled petals is so pure and stands out wonderfully amidst its medium-green foliage. Simply adorable!

Azalea indica, Rhododendron simsii (Indoor/Sim’s Azalea, Indian/Chinese Azalea) never disappoints even though we’ve not repotted it ever since it joined our garden as far back as 2007. Truly a hardy plant!

Though this is the first time we’ve seen so many flowers on this dwarf variety, we’re amazed at its longevity and blooming ability.

Just need to cut back after flowering and before long it’s up and about again. Just love these radiant rosy-pink flowers that brighten shaded spots. Check out more details on Azalea indica, here.

Blue Hydrangea, Ruellia simplex (Britton’s Wild Petunia, Mexican Petunia/Bluebell) and Aphelandra squarrosa (Zebra Plant) were some of the plants that were showing off as usual.

Tibochina mutablis, a purplish pink cultivar (ID please, anyone?) – acquired this lovely young bush during the final week of August. We’ve been eying this plant for about two months, hoping to purchase a vibrant deep purple variety but to no avail.

Finally settled for this beauty with purplish-pink blossoms which is as glamorous. I’ve planted it at the outer border which gets full sun all day long.

Seems to be happy residing there and bursting with gorgeous blooms everyday, with numerous buds waiting to explode. We’re absolutely thrilled with this new addition that adds much interest to the small plot.

Had previously thought it was a species of Melastoma, until I came across some info at Tatiana Gerus photostream where she explained the differences between Melastoma and Tibouchina, both genus belonging to the Melastomataceae family.

The outer border – some plants were recently added to bring new life to this area! Definitely looks more appealing now. However, further changes need to be done on the right side. John insists that the Lemon Grass at the back is an eyesore. I agree but not enthusiastic to remove it as that’s the only place where it thrives best and will provide ample supply for our cooking purposes. We’ll see… anyway, great opportunity to go plant shopping again. ;)

The outer border as seen in image above includes a purplish-pink cultivar of Tibouchina mutabilis, Ruellia simplex (Britton’s Wild Petunia, Mexican Bluebell) with purple flowers, Ruellia brittoniana ‘Bonita’ (dwarf variety with pink flowers) and Dwarf Tabernaemontana divarcata (Pinwheel Flower).
Joining the above-mentioned are self-sown Torenia fournieri (Bluewings), Cuphea hyssopifolia (Mexican Heather) and Catharanthus roseus (Cape Periwinkle) as filler plants, and our old faithful Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Golden Hahnii’ and ‘Silver Hahnii’, plus Cymbopogon citratus (Lemon grass). Sadly, the pair of Exacum affine (Persian Violet) with sweetly-scented, violet flowers breathed their last, sometime late July.

At the courtyard – this is located adjacent to our dining and sitting hall. A small sub-section of our garden  that really warms our hearts… the place where we do some workout too, away from prying eyes. Planted therein are mostly foliage plants where variegated ones top the list. Our gorgeous babies… the first to greet us each morning as we descend the stairs after a good night’s rest, to feed us with joy as we start the day!

Plants seen above include Crinum asiaticum ‘Variegatum’, Calathea lancifolia (Rattlesnake Plant), Stomanthe sanguinea ‘Tricolor’, an unknown paddle-shaped foliage plant (ID please?) Ctenanthe burle-marxii ‘Amagris’ (ID’ed from this site), Proiphys amboinensis (Cardwell Lily), Dwarf Pink Anthurium, Calathea makoyana (Peacock Plant), Prunus laurocerasus ‘Marble White’ and Dracaena surculosa ‘Florida Beauty’.

Platycerium bifurcatum (Staghorn Fern), Aglaonema cv. ‘Valentine’, Spathiphyllum sp. (Peace Lily), Chlorophytum comosum (Variegated Spider Plant) and Alocasia sanderiana (Kris Plant).

Last edited: April 1, 2015

Last edit: June 11, 2016

Tags: annuals, blue, flowering plants, foliage plants, green, indoor plants, our garden, outdoor plants, perennials, pink, purple, variegated plants, white, yellow