Our daily dose of JOY!

27 Oct '06 5:00 am

Beautiful and welcoming - the word 'Serenity 'also comes to mind ,Jacqueline .I love it !
Dixie.

28 Oct '06 5:33 am

Thank you so much my dear friends Anna, Liza and Dixie for your sweet and encouraging comments!

Here’s some more garden pictures taken throughout the whole of October to delight your eyes. In fact, since July I went on a photography spree around my garden to practice and learn how to take photos (never too late to learn, though it's just the basics of point and shoot using either the auto or macro mode, nothing elaborate! Laughing

) so that I can share my garden joy and new-found interest here. Hope you enjoy watching our garden as much as I do. Smile

P/S: Advice needed Exclamation

Can anyone please advise me on how to prune my oleander plant as shown in the first picture? You can see that the main trunk started to branch into two stems too high above the base (almost 2 ft. above ground). Can I prune right down to 8 inches above ground, would that be too drastic? This plant had been transplanted into its present pot nearly 2 months ago, so I think it's already stabilized as it looks healthy and had been flowering since a month ago. Any help is much appreciated, thanks.

28 Oct '06 6:30 am

Jacqueline, your post has added to the Forum its exotic corner! Beautiful, unusual plants these lasts ones!! Nature never ceases with its marvels!

Now, about the Oleander: after blooming is over, just cut back the stems at the height you wish. Very soon, you will see new shoots . Oleander does not like to be very potbound , and does not like visitors living on its roots. So, it is much better to remove the little plants living with it. Oleander , having all its leaves and in bloom, likes humidity in its pot -- never waterlogged , though -- and demands excellent drainage. Beware of black scale suckers under its leaves.

28 Oct '06 6:59 am

Jacqueline,
There is no stoppng you now, as you've got that camera well and truly clicking. What beautiful flowers! And I love the groups of plants, the way you've put them together in little families. Very few of the plants are familiar to me - this is rather exciting. We all have so much to learn, don't we!

Please keep on with the lovely pictures. I think the Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow plant has the loveliest name! It's symbolic of all the things we do in our gardens, isn't it!
Cheers

28 Oct '06 10:46 pm

Jacqueline, I am sure you must be the wonder of all your neighbours! You are achieving miracles of beauty and excellent cultivation in what can not be the easiest of circumstances! As Liza says, pots demand extra attention, especially in the heat, and I don't think many people realise the extent to which not only plants but also pests can grow and flourish in a hot, humid climate! Your photography is also excellent.

'Yesterday, today and tomorrow' is one of my favourite plants - I hope yours is also wonderfully scented at dusk! I know not all cultivars are well scented, and I don't know if the humid heat helps or surpresses the scent. At my last home (in a townhouse complex) in Johannesburg there must have been 30 plants in the relatively enclosed but sunny entrance area to the complex and their scent was quite intoxicating! Here they are a shadow of that, as they frost badly in winter and are very tiny at flowering time. But we soldier on!

Plectranthus: is yours in shade? Being such soft-tissued plants they wither very easily in summer sun. I think they are best grown fresh from cuttings anyway, so WELL DONE! It is another of the plants that grow wild on our farm - I have about 5 wild varieties, but need to be very careful how I use them in the garden because of the sun factor. One of the gardens I am busy developing is called the "sage's walk" with plectranthus on the shady side and salvias on the sunny side. I must admit that most of it is still in my head!

29 Oct '06 11:16 am

Still loving the photos. Smile

About the only thing I know about oleander is how poisonous every part of the plant is, so wear gloves when you're pruning, won't you and don't compost the cuttings (I think that's right???). Smile

We used to have Yesterday, today and tomorrow at the old place. It looked so scruffy growing in amongst the weeds Very Happy

but then it would reward us (not that we deserved it!) with those glorious blooms.

29 Oct '06 11:57 am

I just adore your potted garden Jacqueline, I am amazed at the variety of plants you have growing in pots.Such lovely bright flowers to welcome your visitors. Thanks for sharing.. Very Happy

1 Nov '06 4:30 am

Liza: so very true, there’s so much to marvel and be astounded by the awesomeness of God’s creation. Thanks for your lovely comments and invaluable advice on the Oleander plant, much appreciated! I’ll try to first propagate some from the tip cuttings or semi-wood cuttings before I give it a bald haircut on the main trunk!

Moosey: thanks for your uplifting comments and encouragement, and providing a place here for us all to learn and share! You know something, this yesterday-today-tomorrow plant is also aptly known as morning-noon-night!

Jack: thanks, hehe, you make my heart sing with your praises! Yes, neighbours and visiting friends are often amazed by what they see in our ‘mini’ garden, especially being ‘packed’ with so many healthy plants and variety of blooms in such a small available space! Often times while working in the garden and subtly hidden by our shrubs along the fence, we’ve overheard passers-by pause briefly outside and comment favourably of our plants and that sure makes our heart skip in delight. Frankly, I hadn’t realized that pot planting can be demanding as perceived by you and Liza since my main focus in gardening is how to keep our plants growing healthy and blooming and keep off the pests. Rolling Eyes

But one thing I know for sure now is how very different and difficult temperate gardening is and I really salute all you gardeners in temperate countries, Applause

it’s your awesome gardening passion that marches on! Aha...Jack, my ‘yesterday, today and tommorow’ is also one of my favourite plants as it flowers all year round especially when pruned regularly. Their flowers also scent the whole garden throughout (24hours, I think!), though its perfume is slightly too strong for my taste! Regarding the Plectranthus, when we first brought it home in June, we placed it in shade (indirect sun) but saw that the new flowers were too light, so repositioned it to receive the morning to midday sun and then the flowers blossomed beautifully into that vivid purple as shown in picture. However, sometime in September, I noticed some of its branches were starting to wither – not sure whether it’s because I pruned it as it was growing too large and fast or it may have been receiving more sun than it should without us realizing! Anyway, I know you’re right Jack, that it needs the shade because those that were propagated at shady areas are growing beautifully and the new plants that were growing well in the pot but shifted out to a sunny area recently, died! Anyway, I’m still experimenting for the best spots to place in our garden.

Anna and Goose: Thanks so much for ‘visiting’ and posting your lovely comments and advice.

1 Nov '06 10:00 pm

Jacqueline from the looks of these pictures I would have to say you have got the photography thing down pretty darn well. Some of the shots of your blooms are fantastick I am sure that more than one garden catalouge would love to have those pictures.

You truley have an amazing garden and it is so beautiful. The work that goes into a container garden is usally much more intense than what it takes to grow in the ground. Please keep that camera handy I really enjoyed veiwing your garden and would like to see it as it progresses through the year.

2 Nov '06 2:57 am

Hello Jacqueline. I just wanted to join the crowd in singing the praises of your beautiful container garden. Your photographs are fantastic and show off the wonderful blooms of your seemingly multitude of plants.

You should not be so self-deprecating. Container gardening is so much harder than growing plants in the ground. Mother earth is very forgiving and takes care of our babies when we sometimes become a little neglectful. (Of course, we do have to do our share most of the time.) With containers, the plants are totally dependant on the gardener's constant attention. Keep up the good work!

Faith

Our daily dose of JOY!

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Nerium Oleander

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Thanks alot, everyone!

Joyful Containers