Frankly, in this current stage, Putrajaya hasn’t yet been tourist friendly enough. The city is still under development, guided by the strategic vision 2015, which is to turn Putrajaya into a well managed, vibrant, prosperous city.

Photos taken in a bus

“City in the Garden” is the main theme that the development of Putrajaya is based on, and I think the city is sticking with the theme very well. Lots of greens, beautiful parks, and landscape architectural ideas, I am looking forward to see how this city will turn into in the future

Putra Mosque – probably Putrajaya’s most distinctive landmark and one of the most modern mosques in the world

Some federal government buildings, including the office of Malaysia Prime Minister

Since Narcissus flower blooms around lunar January, it is one of the most associated flowers with the Chinese New Year. The Chinese like to decorate their homes with this beautiful white Narcissus flower and wait in anticipation of its blossom, which symbolizes good luck and prosperity for the coming year.  In addition, Narcissus has one of the sweetest fragrances!

Narcissus bulb carving and cultivation is an art.  Here are some Narcissus bulbs which Teacher Wong has craved.  Since they are craved differently, they will grow into different shapes and sizes.

About a month after carving, some Narcissus bulbs have grown into peacocks.  And the one between the two peacocks is called “crab pincer”.

left: flower basket (the Narcissus flowers haven’t yet blossomed); right: crab pincer

These are the Narcissus bulbs.

Although members are restricted to cultivate plants other than bonsai trees in the bonsai workshop, Teacher Wong always keeps some flowering plants in the workshop for ornamental purposes.  And now in the early winter, we have some big and beautiful Chrysanthemums with showy blossoms

Merry Christmas and Happy Gardening!

Bichetii Grass (aka False Lily Turf,  Siam Lily,  botanical name:  Chlorophytum bichetii) is in the same genus as Spider Plant, a very common variegated form of Chlorophytum laxum.   Like Spider Plant, Bichetii Grass has green, long slender leaves with tapering tips and ivory-white band down the center or the outer margin of the leaf.  And just like Spider Plant, Bichetii Grass has flashy roots and bloom tiny, unnoticeable six-petaled white flowers.

While the “baby spider” or offset, if you prefer the horticultural term, is the easiest way to tell apart a Spider Plant from a Bichetii Grass, we can also get some clues from the leaves of the plants.  Compare to the leaves of Spider Plant, those of Bichetii Grass are thinner, with inconspicious midvein.

As you can imagine, the similar looks of Bichetii Grass and Spider Plant have caused lots of confusion.  And it could be even more confusing when we identify the plants with common names.  For examples, sometimes we find Bichetii Grass called as Variegated Spider Plant, or Dwarf Spider Plant.   This is just another perfect example of why do we use botanical names, when the common names can be very misleading.

This Vanda orchid likes the driftwood so much that its roots keep drilling into every corner and cracks of draftwood

Compare to the Vanda orchid that is mounted on the driftwood, the root system of this orchid is much weaker, with some roots drying up and dying.  In additional, unlike the other Vanda orchid, the root system of this orchid doesn’t hold onto the rock which it’s mounting on.  I guess it doesn’t like the rock that much huh…

So I found another driftwood for my Vanda orchid and remounted the plant.  Now, both Vandas are mounted on a driftwood.

In hindsight, that rock was a bad choice for mounting my Vanda orchid.  It was probably a rock which my dad used before for decorating his fish tank.  Even though I have socked the rock in water for 24 hours,  it’s probably not sufficient to remove all the impurities in the material.

In order to reuse the soil that was used for yellow-skin watermelons and cantaloupes in the greenhouse, Teacher Wong has adjusted the soil pH level, mixed in additional organic fertilizer, while leaving the soil heated under the sun in the greenhouse for several weeks.

These are the strawberry plants that we have planted in our greenhouse.  I potted these strawberry plants around a month ago.

We have planted 30+ containers of strawberries.

I am wondering if we have planted our strawberry plants a bit too close to each other…

A hanging basket would be nice for trailing plants like Episcia, but I couldn’t find a suitable place in my house where I could hang the plant   While I was puzzling over the new container problem for my Episcia, I saw a cool bike/trolley looking raised planter when I was shopping one day. Yes! This could solve my problem I thought, and so I bought it right away.

This is what I got for my Episica. I guess it can keep the stolons hanging nicely for another year at least

Collecting seeds of Zinnia Elegans is fairly easy. As the blooms fade, air dry the flowers by hanging them upside down.

(Left: Zinnia seeds that are not yet ripened  Right: ripe Zinnia seeds)

Seeds of Zinnia Elegans develop on the end of the petals. So, all we have to do is pull apart the Zinnia flower petals and check to see if any of them house a seed. Do not pull the heads too early. Else, the bees and other pollinators may not have had the chance to do their work, and the seed won’t be ready.

At the insertion point of each petal is a pointed tip, like an arrowhead. This is the seed. To be ripe, it should have darkened to a dusty brown or gray shade. White seeds are not yet ripe and should not be collected.

For storage, put the seeds collected in a paper bag. Paper bag will absorb any excess moisture as the seeds overwinter. It will be even better if we put the paper bag in a plastic bag for extra insurance. The goal is to store them in a cool, dry place through the winter.

Depending on the variety, each Zinnia flower can have dozens to hundreds of seeds. Once the seeds are collected from the heads and seperated from the petals, we can use the petals for potpourri or filler for a craft project

As said in an earlier post, my Hoya Kerrii had grown a new leaf. But unlike the other leaves of my Hoya Kerrii, this one was all in green.  While I was wondering if the edge of the leaf would somehow turn yellow as the leaf grew bigger, I read an excellent post about Hoya Kerrii in Plants are the Strangest People (thank you Stephanie ).

In the post, Mr Subjunctive, the author, suggests to remove all the stems with all-green leaves.  He explains that because a stem with all-green leaves has an advantage over a variegated one, with enough time, the all-green leaves will eventually take over the whole pot !

I really like the patterns on the leaves of my Hoya Kerrii, and I definitely don’t want to lose them.  So, without a second thought, I took my shears and cut off the all-green leaf on my Hoya Kerrii.

Some white latex was exuded from the wound after the stem was cut.

But only after I cut off the leaf, I found that the leaf actually had a greenish yellow edge…  Now I wonder if I have cut the leaf too soon…