Thursday 29 May 2014

The red Plant

This plant cannot live healthily under the sun. The leaves are half dead after a while, "rusted and burnt". Look like, photosynthesis does not apply to this plant. But there is a green seed coming out, ready to shed new life before the plant dies!


Cassia nodosa 

The flowering season of the trees is now almost over, leaving behind the fruit-like remnants.


Zephyr lily

Why two flowers are full of ants, while the other two are clear of insects?

Dark brown butterfly with white sprays

It can hang vertically onto a small lantana flower and suck the nectar!


Black Myna

I have the feeling that I am being watched. 
Hello, hello, is there anyone behind the mirror filming my naked body ?



Wednesday 28 May 2014

Codiaeum Variegatum (Garden Croton)

Initially yellow, then greenish yellow, follow by greenish orange with red edges and finally settle for dark green with red edges. The leaves experience many colour changes, which mean different chemicals being produced, why ?


Stealth Plant

The plant is growing better inside the house than in the garden. It has now eight stems.


New variety of Hibiscus Plant

The leaves are dark green variegated, let's wait to see what the flowers will be in a year time! 
Besides, what other plants are flourishing in the pot?



Fireball Lily Flower

Just wonder how the disordered flower buds turn into orderly round hairy flowers!


Tuesday 27 May 2014

Barleria Cristata (Philippine Violet)

Haven't seen the flower for a while, it is still beautiful and graceful!


Ctenanthe lubbersiana (Never-never Plant)

This evergreen perennial has attractive variegated foliage and is less than 2m height.The attractive oval leaves are striped and has green-cream-white colour.


Monday 26 May 2014

Sri Aman Scene- the blue Mountains

When I get bored with the plants, I look for the mountains or the seas.




Light grey Water Lily Flower

The colours are light grey with bright yellow interior. It has beautiful  and complicated structure with dome-like stamens at the middle.


Future landscape

In the future, substantial area of the land will be covered with oil palm plantation for economic reason. It will be similar to West Malaysia if you travel along the main trunk roads. 
The other day, I met the neighbour who owned more than ten acres of land, he said he also wanted to plant oil palm. I cannot imagine the ecological disaster if the whole landscape is only planted with one single species of plant.
Palm oil trees do not need much care but give good returns. Just clear the forest of all plants and trees, plant in grids and wait for five to seven years. Then pluck the fruits and send to the palm oil factories, there you go, MONEY. 
But I was told too and read from the newspaper that the palm oil factories offered very low price until the farmers complained and protested. If you cannot sell the fruits, then the oil palms are worthless because you do not have capital to process to palm oil or other product and the fruits are not edible! Over dependence on one farm product for income is therefore dangerous.



Sunday 25 May 2014

Orangey brown Butterfly

Why do you look so arrogant ?  Is it because you have beautiful wings?
Be humble and do not show off, as you age and die, there will no trace left of you, unless, someone documents and mummifies you in the museum!



Steaming Mountain

Every time after the rain or on the cold morning, the mountain ranges near the Sarikei Semangoi area are covered with white steam, sometimes moving and often hanging around. This gives me a chilling and dreamy feeling. But this steam won't remain there forever. When the sun comes out, it disappears without trace.


Water Lily Pond

Standing majestically among the floating leaves, the two lotus buds are going to open up. But there is one defect, one that cannot stand up and is sinking into the water. 
Life is just like that, whatever form, there is always some defects, including humans. Perhaps, this is what Charles Darwin called, evolution due to environmental conditions, whether due to natural or artificial reasons. In the end, fittest survives.


Friday 23 May 2014

Water Apple Tree

The fruiting period only lasted for two weeks. The tree is now bare of reddish water apples and all the birds are also gone.


Coco yam Plant

This coco yam plant just sprang up in my Miri house garden from nowhere. 
Actually, I like to eat the fried yam biscuit, made up of yam starchy corms and rice powder. It is tasty if you know how to cook it.





Thomas Cup 2014 Semi-Final (Badminton)

China 0 Japan 3. 
This result was extraordinary, the Giant Chinese badminton team was humiliated by a newcomer in the world scene!

Malaysia 3 Indonesia 0.
This result brought some hope to the Malaysians who have been experiencing many negative incidents lately.






Thursday 22 May 2014

Cassia nodosa seeds

This tree produces a lot of seeds and when they fall on the ground, new plants will spring up. There are hundreds of such small plants inside and outside my house. 






Cordyline Fruticosa (Flaming Dragon Tree)

This dull  violet plant comes "alive " after being shone with the sunlight.



Adjacent Land and Vegetation

Adjacent land of my house was left vacant for more than 15 years and is now covered with tall grass, ferns, creeping plants and small trees. Can you guess how many species of wild plants are there on this 20mx40m tropical land ?




Zephyr lily

By nature, yellow nectar will stained on the petals  after the flower opens for a few days. Soon, many ants will flood around to suck the juicy nectar and at the same time help to pollinate the flower by moving around.


Wednesday 21 May 2014

Light pinkish Brown Moth with white spots

This light brown moth has a lot of white spots on the wings. But be careful of your eyes, the insect can spray irritable white powder towards you once threatened!


Orangey Red hibiscus Rosa-sinensis

Even by the afternoon as the flower was closing up, it still maintained the beautiful and graceful look!


Foliage Begonia hybrid (angel wing begonia)

The plant is blooming with many little pinkish "heart bag" flowers.


Sunday 11 May 2014

Unknown Pink wild Flowers

The flowers are quite pretty, cup-shaped towards the sky and tender. But why are there so many buds?
  

Japanese Bamboo

All these plants are very old, about fifteen years old, and loose the shine. The leaves seem to be rusted with o marks.



Metallic green and light brown Starlings

These scary ugly red eyed birds, what are they watching in different directions, some two upwards, one towards the side and one downwards? 
Why there is an odd colour among the majority dark colour?


Saturday 10 May 2014

Ixora coccinea

The old plants in my garden are not flowering any more but the new plants are growing well with densely clusters of small tubular flowers among the dark green leaves. These plants have to be trimmed or replaced every ten years in order to give spectacular display of flowers. 


Water Apples

These two weeks have to race with birds and insect larvae to get the fruits! 
Almost every meal, we have fresh fruits. The whitish ones are not ripe yet and therefore not sweet. 
But when they turn pinkish, the birds will come and the insect larvae burrow into the fruits! 
If you cut open the fruit, sometimes, you will see little white larvae wriggling around.
 Never mind, just swallow down, insects only! 
If you mind, just cut away the invaded part, the rest is still yours.




Three Coloured Plant

As long as the leaves are pinkish and whitish, the plant is growing well with new leaves and "expanding".


Casia nodosa

The trees in front of my house are flowering at the top. Well, cannot see the details as they are too high up, about 10m. 
These trees are often found along the road sides of Kuching.


Dying Christmas Trees

My two fifteen years old Christmas trees are dying, the leaves are turning brown, look like the white ants had eaten the roots and trunk centre. I have been fighting the white ants for years. These insects are very aggressive and horrible. They can kill a tree within a night!



Yellow Allamanda Cathartica

It has been dormant for a while, now the flowers are blooming!
These flowers appear smooth and lovely.

Friday 9 May 2014

Light Pink Rose

Look like not many people interested in the small world, let's look at the beautiful world. Roses start to come out regularly and look better, perhaps summer is coming, the weather is hot, stimulating the flowers to boom!
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My Ugly Dog

"Open up the Gate! I want to meet my girl friend !"
"Okay, outside world is full of traps and danger, you go out at your own risk! Don't blame me that I don't warn you!"
"Don't worry, I have strong legs, I can run fast!"


Large Dark Brown Ugly Ants

What are they carrying ? Look like a pink flower petal with dark brown seeds. 
The small world is another interesting world where bustling activities carry on like human world.
Human world has 7 billion population, small world, just ants only , do you know what is the population ? Trillions!


Spectacular Multi-coloured Spider

Eight legs ? So, it is the spider, why are there so many colours ? It was found in my garden loitering round a small tank. Poisonous or not ? It is so small, like a large ant, you won't notice it if you do not bend down your body.


Thursday 8 May 2014

Crossandra pungens

These plants are blooming well in the shade with orange flowers despite hot sun.


Striped Starling Birds

The birds look better when the eyes are not so red!


Adenum Obesum (Desert Rose)

The weather is now so hot that this plant seems to live very well, producing bright pink flowers. Somehow, the flowers lack the beauty of the rose.


Cuphea Hyssopifolia

This short plant appears to be continuously producing small pink flowers throughout the year. 


Wednesday 7 May 2014

Delonix Regia ( Flame tree, Peaccok Flower)

The leaves are now turning slightly brownish green and stiffer, loosing the freshness and graceful dance exhibited at the beginning at he year. By September, the leaves will drop and red flowers will blossom. It means another year gone, gone in the wind. What do I achieve this year? 


Rhoeo Spathaces Dicolour (Oyster plant, Moses-in-the Cradle)

This variety is fleshy and it is dark green at the upper surface and purple below. I used to boil the plant with some other herbs as "cooling" drink. The liquid turns purple.
Ha, now I see why was Moses involved in the plant's name! Moses was put in the cradle when the Egyptians were hunting for the baby and probably the cradle floated onto these plants where the Princess found her!


Rhoe Spathaces Tricolor ( Moses-in-the boat)

The leaves are metallic green above and purple below, this tropical perennial can be forming a nice landscape if grows in large patch. But why named Moses-in-the-boat? 
Moses crossed the Red sea with the help of God's power, I could not recall He was in the boat! Most of the time He was walking through the Desert to the promised Land.


Metallic dark green Starling

Obviously, the bird does not look lovely with its red eye and fierce look. What is it after on this Wild tree?



Tuesday 6 May 2014

Red Hot Hibiscus

It is better to look at this flower then the red eyed birds !