Full of Luck - Sepenuh-penuhnya!

Arrangement # 139

THe Malays call the Eurcyles amboinensis plant as 'Sepenuh' and is said to bring good luck especially when it flowers. Eurcyles amboinensis is also known as Proiphys amboinensis.  For one thing it is difficult to flower.  Conditions must be ideal. That must be it for the last one week!.  The weather in Kuching was hot yet it rained almost all evenings and there again was accompanied with thunder and lots of lightning effects.  Thus I have been enjoying the white flowers of this beautiful tropical lily plant.  Its wide heart-shaped leaves are dark green and glossy.  I managed to propagate about ten now vegetatively  i.e. splitting its tubers.  Today I decided to team it up with the magical white and green leaves of the Ctenanthe pilosa which is slowly growing into a big clump. The Ctenanthe is related to the 'maranta' and ' calathea' species. 

Today's composition look clean and simple, and would just call it....Plain Lucky.

Lovely Pink and Orange Flowers

Today I noticed the cannas are looking good. Since about two months ago I have collected two varieties that I think are excellent for their colours and dwarf-like qualities. They are the pink and orange variety. Cannas love manure as fertiliser and since last month ago the heavy application has done a good job of producing healthy plants with stalks in heavy flowering as can be seen in the picture below.
Thus I had in mind early in the morning to make cuttings of them for today's display. What other plants should I add to the company? The brown bracts of the Calathea lutea looked wonderful to match with the brown vase. Then while walking around for another candidate the fragrant flowers of the pink frangipani stole my senses. In they go. The inset shows the brown vase displayed at the front garden.

View of South Garden (the front portion) with orange canna hybrid in the foreground.

Today, like most days of April and May the weather in Kuching is hot and sunny though it is very likely to rain here in the afternoon even in light showers. It does rain mostly at night too and all these occasional rains have made the plants this month healthy and strong. Other plants that are growing profusely in the garden right now are the multi-coloured foliage of the coleus of which I have collected about 12 varieties so far. Collecting these varieties in Kuching is not a problem at all because the flower market at Satok Sunday market has abundant supplies of them. This is peculiarly Kuching and is probably due to the fact that there are many protocol activities in Kuching that require ornamental plants for official functions. ( Note the colourful coleus foliage towards left of the pink canna above)

Arrangement # 138

In the above picture I have display the arrangement indoors.
The overall effect is lovely. Therefore would name this composition...Colour me Lovely.

Red Fountains in the Sunset

The various colours that are seen at the front garden is something to be admired. Hues of orange, red, yellow, white, brown and pink are in harmony with one another. Of special interest today is the deep brown colour of the fountain grass ( Pennisetum setaceum ). I've made some cuttings of its inflorescence from the front garden just now, and will marry it to cuttings of the spiral red flag ( Costus woodsonii ) , pink canna hybrid and the red lobster claw ( Heliconia stricta ).
It was just a few months ago that I started to plant the fountain grass in my garden mainly for its colour and of course its magnificent inflorescence's (resembling long fountain sprays) that are produced daily.

Arrangement # 137

The reddish brown colours of the fountain sprays, red lobster claws , scarlet cones of the spiral red flag and the pink canna petals seem to blush in a glowing atmosphere. The colours remind me of an evening sunset and therefore name today's composition ....Red Fountains in the Sunset....( Sounds familiar?)

At the south garden, closer to the fence I have also planted a small cluster of the fountain grass which is barely seen at the middle ground of the picture above.

Canna Stop Loving You

There are three varieties of cannas that I grow in my Kuching garden right now. There are in colours of pink, red and orange. Today I have just made a cutting of the pink canna. With a little bit of help from the two reliable heliconia varieties viz heliconia stricta and latispatha, a simple composition is done.
Would like to name it..... Canna Stop Loving You.

Arrangement # 136