My Tranquil Little Corner
08/09/2016
6. Wonderful Plants Indonesian Language, My garden, Shrub 2 Comments
Japanese Andromeda atau Andromeda Jepang adalah tanaman perdu kecil yang berasal dari negeri Sakura (Jepang). Nama ilmiahnya adalah Pieris japonica. Bunganya yang kecil merantai dan merunduk kebawah berbentuk seperti lampion. Disaat tidak berbunga pucuk daunnya yang baru sering berwarna kemerahan. Bunganya banyak yang berwarna putih tapi ada juga yang semburat merah muda. Baca selengkapnya
14/08/2016
6. Wonderful Plants Diosma, My garden, Shrub 2 Comments
Golden Diosma (Coleonema pulchellum/pulchrum ‘Aurea’) is a low growing shrub that love cool climate. This pretty plant with fragrant fine leaves will get scorched and susceptible to fungal disease in very hot and humid summer over 32 deg. C. In winter time to early spring, it will bear many tiny flowers that can cover the whole plant. Read more
19/01/2015
6. Wonderful Plants Michelia, My garden, Shrub 4 Comments
Michelia figo – Port Wine Magnolia shorter new look.
Note January 18, 2015.
The Port Wine Magnolia aka. Michelia figo was getting taller, it almost reached the eaves. It was harder for me to reach the top when I had to trim it. Yesterday I cut the two-tier topiary shorter. More
12/08/2013
6. Wonderful Plants My garden, Shrub Leave a comment
Close up Loropetalum chinense flowers. Wind blown pollens are visible on the young leaves.
This evergreen shrub has colourful foliage and the attractive small spidery flowers will bloom from late Winter to Summer. It can grow up to 2 meters high and 1.5 meters wide. Suitable for sunny or partly shaded area of the garden that free of lime and can happily grow in clay soil. Can be pruned lightly after flowering to maintain compact shape.
Loropetalum chinense is also commonly known as Chinese Fringe Flower or Chinese Witch-hazel. Other known botanic names are: Loropetalum indicum, Hamamelis chinensis. Native to Himalayas, China and Japan. Once established, it is heat and draught tolerant. The plant will tolerate cold weather down to – 5 deg. C.
The one that we grow is still small. We transplanted it last year to a more suitable place. I thought it was going to die, but it is a tough plant and it survives. The small unusual flowers look good in photographs.
15/10/2012
6. Wonderful Plants My garden, Shrub 1 Comment
When I bought this plant, the seller in Caribbean market told me that the name of the plant was ‘Yesterday-Today -Tomorrow’ and other people called it ‘Kiss Me Quick’. He was such a jolly old guy with his thick Italian accent, and at that time I thought he was joking about the descriptions of the plant. He said: “The flowers changed colour….. yesterday was purple, today is light blue and tomorrow… white. Many flowers and smell very nice.” I had never heard such a thing at all! Flowers would not changed colour like that!
Anyway, I bought one pot of the unusual plant. At home, before planting, I googled it to get informations. To my surprise, the old fellow was not kidding! He told the true facts about the plant.
These are the informations about the plant that I gathered from various sites:
I am really glad to buy this plant. It seems that it is happily growing in the front yard next to the Port Wine Magnolia. Now it is flowering and the beautiful scent is similar to jasmine flowers.
Kiss me quick….. kind of reminds me of a very popular old song by Elvis Presley. This is a Youtube link to listen to the song:
18/09/2011
6. Wonderful Plants Michelia, My garden, Shrub, White Fragrant Flower 2 Comments
Michelia yunnanensis ‘Scented Pearl’ and Mirid Bugs
What I like most of this Michelia yunnanensis ‘Scented Pearl’ is the small size. It is perfect for a small garden or a small courtyard. Michelia yunnanensis is an evergreen shrub/small tree from Yunnan and surrounding area in China. It is hardy and respond well to trimming and shaping. The Scented Pearl sp. has pure white flowers as big as a 50 cent coin, while another species has yellow blooms. The sweet scent is very delicate. The hairy flower buds have an attractive copper colour.
We have had this plant for many years and it is only about one and half meter high. It has a habit of having horizontal branches, and I always trim them to make the plant grow rounder and compact. This is spring time here in Melbourne now and it has exceptionally outstanding flowers – so many flowers, the best as long I can remember. Among the leaves and flowers, I saw quite a few of bugs breeding ( I think they are some kind of stink mirid bugs). I leave them alone and I just hope they will not do damage later on.
Michelia yunnanensis ‘Scented Pearl’
‘Scented Pearl’ – Michelia yunnanensis
24/01/2011
6. Wonderful Plants My garden, Shrub, White Fragrant Flower 4 Comments
Another fragrant white flower is Murraya paniculata. Some people call it Orange Jasmine or mock orange and it is the close relative of Murraya koenigii the curry leaf tree that is used in Indian cooking. In Indonesia people call it ‘kemuning’ and there is a very popular song about the flower. I always think that most of the beautiful scented flowers are pure white in colour like for example jasmine, gardenia, tuberose and stephanotis.
We have two murrayas grown in the garden, one in the front yard and the other one in the back yard. It is very easy to grow here in Melbourne as we have quite warm temperate climate. I grow them mostly for the delicate sweet scent, but when not in flower, this evergreen little bush can add colour during cold and dull winter days with its pretty green foliage. Naturally grows in compact shape, Murraya paniculata respond well to pruning and trimming. Some people use this plant for hedging.
About the plant:
There is a love song ‘Kemuning’, an old Indonesian song but still well loved. This version was sung by Mus Mulyadi:
Links to read my previous blogs on Fragrant White Flowers:
https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/gardenia/
https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/tuberose/
https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/jasmine-flower/
04/10/2010
6. Wonderful Plants Fragrant Flowers, Michelia, My garden, Shrub 1 Comment
Port Wine Magnolia or Michelia figo is an attractive little shrub with mass of small flowers. The flowers themselves are insignificant compared to their unusual fruity scent. Some people compare the sweet scent to very ripe banana or port wine, but to me, it is more like a cocktail of many fruits mixed together. I imagine the smell is like the mixture of banana, apple, pear, pineapple, passionfruit, mango, kiwi fruit and water melon :o)
When the sun is shining bright and the weather is warm, the fruity fragrance lingers and it gets really strong if you have a sniff at the shy little flowers. I say shy because many of them are hidden behind the green glossy leaves:o) and once open they are very fragile. They fall apart at the slightest touch.
About the plant:
We planted our port-wine magnolia long time ago (don’t remember when) and it seems that it has no problems and it survives the extreme heat of Melbourne summer. We have shaped ours into an informal 2 tiered topiary and regular trimmings make the plant grow compact and neat. Once established, it will be happy to be left alone. I hardly water it (only when the summer is very dry) but I apply slow released fertiliser once a year. I also use some mulch to keep the soil cool and moist.
01/10/2010
6. Wonderful Plants Genista racemosa, My garden, Shrub 2 Comments
After complete defoliation by caterpillars in March this year, our Genista racemosa is recovering very well. Now it is blooming!!! I notice that the canopy is smaller than before and it is more compact. It seems that the caterpillars trimmed it really hard and surprisingly did a good job. Ha…
07/08/2010
6. Wonderful Plants My garden, Shrub Leave a comment
This last month of winter (August), we have been having so much rain. The ground is absolutely soggy and cold. It is hard to believe that the Jacobinia pauciflora is fully covered with tiny flower buds.
Jacobinia pauciflora ‘Firefly’ is also known as Justicia rizzinii. This plant has small scarlett and yellow tubular flowers that borne profusely over a long period of time during end of winter to spring.
About the plant and growing requirements:
What I like best about this plant is the low maintenance. Once it has found the perfect place in the garden, it will practically look after itself. For awhile we tend to forget about this plant until it starts to show the brightly coloured small flowers.
Lois writes in English and Indonesian. The main purpose of this blog is for writing about plants and garden. Blogging for her is to write and to be creative.... to keep her mind on the move. Besides plants and gardening, she also enjoys to talk about life, animals and visited places. A bit of poetry, short stories, recipes and songs to share.
If by chance you read this blog, please enjoy and if you like plants and gardening, hopefully that it can be useful. Some comments are her bonus and she will be forever grateful for them.
Most of the photos of plants and flowers are from our garden or from our surrounding area.
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