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

Bright purple covers

Seribu Bahasa (Berawan) - Centratherum punctatum, grown as cover

 I have been experimenting with the Seribu Bahasa as a cover plant in Bintulu as well as in Kuching.  At both places the result were pleasing.  Here at Kambatik garden, I find today that the plant grown in a small mass looks  very healthy and flowering well.  The bright purple flowers attract the Eggfly butterfly.  The ethnic Berawan people of Sarawak call this plant 'Seribu Bahasa'.  I saw the plant growing wild initially  at the Kambatik Park in Bintulu from which I got the initial stock for propagation purposes and brought some to Kuching.  My planning for the Kuching garden is therefore to plant more of this species for covers and skirting since the plant seems to manage well in open sun and semi-shade locations.

Grow them in small masses and feed them well to obtain abundance of flowers

The Stag's horn fern is well

Disc Stag's Horn Fern ( Platycerium coronarium)

The fern is attached to the branches of the 'Cempaka Putih' tree (Michelia alba)

The Dics Stag's Horn Fern I brought from Bintulu is doing well.  I had temporarily placed it on the Cempaka Putih branch before and now looks healthy and well.  I may have to move it to another location probably on a taller and bigger tree for maximum effect and growth.  For more pictures and stories abou ferns, please visit The Kambatik Park, Bintulu.

Smoke gets in your eyes

Burning of grass cuttings, old branches, fronds and ferns, weeds etc  in progress

Yellow Penda in CU

 There is no rain today,which is exceptional for Kuching.  I say this because it rains almost daily in Kuching especially after 4 pm.  It is speculated that the remaining months of this year the rains in Kuching (and Sarawak in general) will be heavier with the coming of El Nina, starting just now!. The small window of opportunity accorded me this afternoon made me rush to carry out much needed garden cleaning up works and later quickly made the debris disappear in smoke.  Project completed!
After everything looked fine, I zoomed my camera lens to the green canopy.  Focus on the lower story, then middle story and finally a picture of the garden in LS (long shot). Below are the images of the garden today ,17 May'16.

Long shot view of the greenery
Note the flowering Yellow Penda tree (Xanthostemon chrysantus)

Lower story
Note the grass lawn that has just been given a low cutting.

Middle story - in the center of the picture is the Yellow Penda tree

Kuching escapade

View towards sunset

Back in Kuching city.  First things first.  The garden grasses, shrubbery, trees and vines are a bit overgrown.  More gardening work is envisaged.  The main thing is to tidy up the place for we gonna stay in Kuching a pretty while on this escapade.  Was pleasantly surprised to see the orchids flowering at the back garden.   This species will normally keep the flowers for about two months on the stalk.  Such brightness of colours are a welcome sight in any garden.  

Will be writing more about the Kuching garden soon.  Meantime enjoy the sunset from the garden.

Looking beyond the Kambatik garden

Bringing nature outside the bedroom
View from main garden, looking west.  Note the mountin range in the far horizon.

Occasionally we need to re-focus our sight.  Beyond the Kambatik garden (Malaysian garden defined) I see the distant hills, with bluish green cover.  Further still the mountain range seemed a formidable soft barrier of blue.  The expanse of sky and open air beyond reminds me of nature's kindness, giving life and hope in an encompassing universe that needs to be conserved for the future generation.  It prompts to ask 'What have you done to your country, if you say you love your country?'  Closer to home, I see the football fields and the green open spaces of the neighbourhood.  There are trees that adorn the streets and the fields.  It is a connected world.  The Kambatik home garden is but a tiny sanctuary in urban green lung.  The prime idea however is its role in the passageway of nature's big corridor of wildlife and the plant kingdoms we needed most to be alive and kicking.  We need to build home gardens to provide transit and temporary home to some of nature's wildlife species as they travel and forage for food.  Without plants and wildlife human will naturally die.  With nature humans prosper.  Do a Kambatik garden if you are a Sarawakian, and soon.  Very immediately you'll partake in nature's power and glory.  Look beyond the Kambatik garden!