Main garden progress as at 25 May, 2020.

The main garden with fruit trees e.g. Cononut, Starfruit, Kedondong, longans etc..
View as at 25 May ,2020.

Burnign spot at the Main garden.

 The main garden is the middle garden. Two sections are relevant.  First the area in the middle where the big trees especially the fruit trees are planted. Second, there is the area next to the car porch planted with palms, flowering shrubs and covers.
The heliconia species are doing well and top on the list are the Heliconia latispatha and Red Lobster's Claw.
The main garden is a place of shade and also a burning spot.
The Staghorn fern is doing well, so are the Ivora shrubs.

Red Golden Penda.

Heliconia Red Lobster's Claw.

Heliconia latispatha.

Staghorn fern

Kuching escapade - Mar'17

Scented flowers of the Drunken Sailor (Quisqualis indica)
Syn: Combretum indicum

 Checking out the garden early this morning.  Woke up to the surprise calls and whistles of the wild pigeons up on the Tabebuia rosea tree branches.  They have not left the garden.  These Pink-necked Pigeons have accustomed themselves to living in the garden.  Since the last visit in January this year, many were seen building nest at the Yellow Bamboo clumps and the Ong Lumok tree. Thank goodness this visit has further confirmed that these pigeons find safety in the garden. Some plants worth noting this morning are the beautiful variegated leaves of the Cordyline terminalis, both in red and cream/green variants, a spray of purple orchid and the scented flowers of the Quisqualis indica (Drunken Sailor).

Cream/Green variegated leaves of the Cordyline terminalis in the background, with new pinkish leaves of Pawas (Litsea cubeba) at the foreground.
For images of the Daun Pawas please watch them at the Kambatik Park in Bintulu here.

Cordyline terminalis 'Fire brand'

Colour the garden

Living in an evergreen tropical climate one's eyes is constantly washed by the refreshing and healing colours of green. Often times when I enter a room or an office my eyes are naturally attracted to live plants that would indicate to me that there is live, growth or stability in the living or work place I am part of. Green is easy on the eye.

Still, we do need colours in our lives just as we need them to add vitality, appeal, sparkle and warmth to the garden. The green wash is considered a 'cool colour' and it is the hot or warm colours that we need to paint the garden to make it look vibrant and invigorating. After about a year since we started digging and experimenting with our garden in Kuching, some positive results are showing up. My focus today is flowers of the red hue( fully saturated). Add a little white and the redness dissolves into more pink values (tints) and here I have planted a couple of species like the heliconia 'sassy pink', pink hibiscus and pink frangipani that hopefully would tickle my senses ( see inset above).

The green wash of the small lawn, palm leaves and shrubbery at the front garden gives out much oxygen and freshness. Besides the the overall greeness, I have added darker values of red ( shades ) to the lower storey plants, thus the dark red or maroon leaves of the irisine. Even the wild banana leaves are variegated with blood red shades of colour.

Pink Hibiscus

In order to enjoy the garden early my strategy was to complete the front garden first. The side garden and the back garden would evolve later. Presently I plant all sorts of species at the back garden as 'advance nursery' which would provide me with the required quantities and heights of the plants upon transplanting . This method is cost saving because you get to propagate the plants yourself instead of purchasing them which is not cheap considering the quantities involved later.

Above, I use a lot of the highly variegated coleus species ( darker shades of red) as under storey plants for the side garden which is slowly emerging.

Having spent a good morning walk about at my garden , I was delighted to make fresh cuttings of the frangipani, hibiscus and heliconia that make their starring performances today. As a test to my kambatik garden concept, I would put it that in our rich tropical diversity, one should be able to move out of the house and within minutes make a simple composition for the table. I attempted it just now and pleased to call this composition 'My Pink Lady'. For more fast compositions of floral arrangements from the kambatik garden please browse here.

( Note: This is a re-posting.  For full story and images, please follow this link ...>>>http://mykambatikworld.blogspot.my/2009/02/colour-garden.html )

Colourful hearts

View of side garden with coleus planted as cover in border planting.

I am pleasantly surprised to see the coleus plants parading their best colours today. It must have been the manure that I generously applied before I left for Bintulu two weeks ago that did the magic. Coleus (Solenostemon scutellariodes ) are known here as 'Ati- Ati ' derived from the Malay root word 'Hati- Hati' meaning hearts. I plant them for their gorgeously bright multi- coloured foliage. In our tropical evergreen environment where the green wash is an everyday occurrence, splashes of colours can be obtained by planting the coleus plants. Being herbaceous perennials ( i.e. they don't have woody stems above the ground) they are rather short-lived,maybe surviving for 1-3 years at the most. However they grow very fast and thus useful for 'instant' garden results. It is important to prune them head back after every flowering season for renewed growth and fresh new foliage thus creating showy masses of colours in the garden daily.

(Note: This is a re-posting.  For full story and images, please follow this link ....>>>http://mykambatikworld.blogspot.my/2009/04/colourful-hearts.html )

Reds in the garden

Red Cat's tails against Red sheaths of the Pinang Lakka in the background

Hibiscus

Red Ti

Ripe fruits of the Carpentaria palm

Ixora coccinea

Hibiscus at the back garden

Outside looking in

Poui tree starting to flower - view towards house, looking north
Kambatik garden, Kuching

 It was magic when I stepped into the garden this morning.  Looking south from the car porch I saw columns of light mauve and pink washes.  The Poui tree (Tabebuia rosea or previously known as Tecoma pentaphylla ) has began to flower.  I am always excited to see this tree everywhere I travel around Sarawak.  This is because of an envelope I received from Singapore that contained the seeds of this tree and from which thousands more trees originated in Sarawak.  The link to the story is here   .  At this stage the tree is not yet in full flowering, probably in a day or so it will.  The large bell-shaped flowers may be white or pink  depending on the form.  'Tabebuaia rosea' when it is pink and 'Tabebuia alba' when white.  In any form the colours are pastel and impressionistic and touching to the soul because underneath the tree you can have party (picnic) and consume the beauty of nature and its enriching qualities. Try.

( Note: This is a re-posting.  For full story and images, please follow this link ...>>>http://mygardeningprojects.blogspot.my/2014/08/outside-looking-in.html )

Colours in the limelight - Feb'14

Colours in the limelight...Red Ti (Cordyline terminalis)

On this trip to Kch, we found that the garden is gradually maturing.  The abundance of colours are a real treat to the eyes.  Here's a few views that showcase some of the great colours into the limelight. 

( Note:  This is a re-posting.  For the full story and images, please follow this link ...>>>>http://mygardeningprojects.blogspot.my/2014/02/colours-in-limelight-feb14.html )