Our daily dose of JOY!

23 Oct '06 2:44 am

Yes, that's the happiness our garden is constantly supplying us every day! Smile

I've been taking some pictures of our garden since early August and had wanted very much to share with all of you wonderful friends here, but had procrastinated until now. I just had so many things to do and had to prioritise since there's so little time! Rolling Eyes

So, finally tonight, here's a peep into my little 'paradise'. I'll present them in 3 parts as our garden is split into 3 small areas.

Part 1: The Indoor Garden (area is 13' x 8') which is adjacent to our dining hall. These babies here are the first to greet us in the morning as we descent from our bedroom, situated upstairs. Enjoy and hope they cheer you too! Wink

23 Oct '06 11:24 am

They're beautiful and well looked after. Thank you for showing us them.
Our indoor plants are more than a little bit scruffy. They're hubby's domain, I leave them be. You could teach him a thing or two. Very Happy

24 Oct '06 2:30 am

Thanks for your posts, Jacqueline! How beautiful the tropical leaves are - I often wonder whether there is a 'scientific' explanation for the incredible textures and colours...

The poinsettia should do very well for you - although it might become quite tall and leggy, but still beautiful: I don't know if the 'indoor' varieties are bred to be tiny or thrown out before they get big! In hotter areas of South Africa (with little or no frost) they are a favourite plant. I had one at my last house in Johannesburg but eventually removed it, for it would get frosted just as the 'flowers' (actually bracts) became colourful. The stems were between 1 and 2.5m long! It is popular in the hotter and more humid parts of our country.

Did you know that it is related to the spurge (Euphorbia polychroma) I write about in my Rondel Garden post: bright bracts and milky sap. The Euphorbias are a fascinating family!

24 Oct '06 4:44 am

Really Beautiful and so LUSH , Jacqueline .The combinations of foliage is so well arranged and the touches of red just right.I like the tiling and the personal touches such as the wee ducks !
Dixie

24 Oct '06 5:11 am

Jacqueline, these plants shine of happiness! And you know why?? Because they are trully loved , and not just admired as beautiful objects! Have you seen your face in the mirror , when you are trully happy? You shine! Our faces become different when we shine of happiness... Plants'..faces,too.

It was a time, when we were living in appartments with quite bright living-rooms . As you can imagine, we(:I) had less furniture in there than indoor plants... Your plants in the photos , dear Jacqueline, were my dearest babies those days...I still have all those books for indoor gardening... I still remember their common "secrets of success" : rather dry pot compost and water spraying almost everyday. Cleaning the leaves with wet sponge, both sides...Feeding only during the good season... Away from room-heaters..But I never had those beautiful blooming plants of yours...

I also loved the harmony and discipline around your pot gardens...The way the plants are placed side by side, in harmony of height and colours. Your close-up is fantastic! What blazing colour! Thank you so much , Jacqueline, for this dose of joy!

24 Oct '06 8:35 pm

...to all dear friends for your sweet and encouraging comments from John (my hubby) and I. Very Happy

Anna: Thanks! Hehe...it’s teamwork actually in our garden – but credit definitely goes to John, who holds the more important multi-tasking role of watering, fertilizing and applying pesticides. If this was my role, I’m sure that our plants would long ago have died due to over watering (speaking from experience), you’d understand how it is with mothers who overfeed their human babies out of love and make them sick without realizing! Rolling Eyes

Fortunately, I’m resigned to doing what I love best (easier jobs Wink

) such as planting, repotting, propagating, checking for garden pests, arranging or rearranging (this to my hubby’s annoyance sometimes because I’m so fussy and fickle) including ‘landscaping’, and other minor tasks like internet garden surfing for plants’ info! Wink

Jack: I’m glad to know that the poinsettia holds promise of spring for us – thank you so much for this info! We’ve been longing for this plant since we first saw it at Cameron Highlands more than a year ago and thought it couldn’t survive in the lowlands with our hot and humid weather. But, when we saw lots of potted poinsettia at the nurseries recently, and being assured that they’re already acclimatized here, we just couldn’t resist getting one. Hehe...learn a new word a day!...today, it’s ‘spurge’ for me! Thanks, Jack and this is what I’ve found at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/spurge and many more Euphorbia varieties! I’ve put on hold visiting your Rondel garden to a later date when I’m freer to absorb and enjoy all your wonderful narration, etc.

Dixie: Thanks, I appreciate your artistic and creative thoughts! I’m delighted that you liked our garden setting too, including the ducks, though I had wanted a portable mini water feature like a pond or fountain at that spot. My idea was shut down by my beloved Sad

because he knows that he’ll end up cleaning the mossy green water eventually! I understand his feelings very well since he had recently given up his aquarium hobby of four decades due to heavy maintenance.

Liza: Thanks for expressing your delight! That’s exactly how I feel. My plants make me happy with their pretty faces as I make them happy with my tender loving care – it’s a win-win situation! But I somehow think that our plants work harder to please us than we do to please them. Speaking of indoor planting, I’m a total failure in this area. Plants taken indoor to decorate inside the house usually end up miserably. Sad

Incidentally, I’m so sorry that I’ve not elaborated about my indoor garden and misled you to think that they’re really ‘indoor plants’! We’ve always regarded this area in our double-storey link house as an indoor garden because it is a garden enclosed in our home, not visible to the public! An area, like an air well or air void, so to speak, where it’s open for ventilation and the plants (and we) can feel the rain and see the skies above through this open space. Many of the houseowners in our neighbourhood have renovated and covered it to extend the dining area or turn into another room, but we’ve left ours as originally designed except tiled the ground and fixed a grill of iron bars above for safety precautions. Attaching a pic to illustrate.

24 Oct '06 9:45 pm

Part 2: Our Backyard Garden (also nicknamed Maxi's kingdom!) This area measuring 22’ by 9’ is at the back of our house exiting from our kitchen. The first to greet us every morning when we open the backdoor even before seeing our plants is our wonderful companion, Maxi, the ever watchful sentinel, standing on his hind legs or jumping! Very Happy

Generally, the plants here are for practical reasons such as giving shade, some foliage for cooling the afternoon heat, as well as providing fruits and other edibles. Not really eye-catching, but pleasant greenery no doubt and something to make us happy, though the main joy-giver and attention-grabber here is our pet dog and his comfort and health are our priorities! And we can’t share our backyard garden plants without him, can we? So, here's sharing what delights us.... Very Happy

and hope they delight you too or at least you've an idea of this part of our garden Smile

25 Oct '06 8:39 am

Lovely. And I love the look of your dog. Maxi is gorgeous. I'm a big dog fan!
Heck with it, I'm small dog fan too! Very Happy

Shut up Anna!

27 Oct '06 4:04 am

Part 3: Our Front Yard measuring 22’ by 20’ which includes a very short driveway and car porch. This is our garden area which presents us the most pleasurable sights with its mix of various foliage and flowering plants and kindles in us much joy, contentment and satisfaction. Someone remarked that her favourite flower is the one that is blooming on that day. I totally agree, though I feel very blessed and thankful (praise The Lord!) to have more than one favourite flower each day because our garden seems alive with more than enough colours to brighten and cheer us with a constant supply! Smile

Here’s an overview of our front yard garden (piccies taken in mid August). Enjoy!

27 Oct '06 4:45 am

Jacqueline! I congratulate you for this spectacle, because I don't only see healthy, happy plants, but a clean , neat , and beautiful terrace/balcony!! I think, working with a pot garden is much more difficult and complicated than with an outdoors/landscape garden. And , when I said "indoor plants" before in my reply, I was talking about having the same plants as you, but in the Greek climate in Athens!. And , yes, a Mediterranean climate , but with temperatures falling under zero during Winter. All these plants, are considered indoor plants in Europe, Jacqueline. You can meet them very often in the entrance halls of big , modern hotels, not so healthy and beautiful as yours, of course. And many people often move them to their patio or their balconies/terraces every good season, and then again indoors.. I did not want to do that ,though, with mine. I used to let them constantly indoors, cause they were playing the role of alive furniture, and very precious ones, more precious in fact than the real furniture! They were really happy plants.

Jacqueline, your plants are just gorgeous, shining, healthy, happy! And some of them so rare ! Congratulations! And little Maxi is so extra happy himself amidst this blessed, paradisiac garden!

Our daily dose of JOY!

Our daily dose of JOY!

Tropical splendours

beautiful

Extra happy plants!

Word of thanks and appreciation

Continuing.....

Finally...the last garden area but not the least!

Absolutely beautiful !