Tropical colours

Arrangement #150 ~ Tropical colour

Today's colours are warm, hot and tropical. From the garden I have collected the light brown bracts of the Calathea lutea. The yellow and deep orange colours of the parrot flower or Heliconia psittacorum matched well with the crimson colours of the Costus woodsonii. The golden colours of the yellow hibiscus add a heartening glow to the whole composition. Such warmth and vibrant colours are typical of tropical flowers. For that I call this composition...Tropical Colours.

Another view of the composition taken inside the house.

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.

Ebony, Scarlet and Sassy Senoritas

Arrangement # 91

The exotic bracts of calathea and heliconia sassy pink are joined by the fiery hot scarlet ginger ( Alpinia purpurata).

To provide interest and as conversational piece I  lay down the pendulous stem of the sassy pink on the calathea leaf place mat.  This kind of flower arrangement should last for a week as a table decoration. In many writings I do come across mention of heliconia sassy pink as 'sexy pink'. Between these two I still do not know the authoritative name. Either way both'sassy' and 'sexy' sound well and good. What about calling the above composition....S.S. ....to mean Sexy Senoritas ?

Calathea and Sassy Pink composition - 2

Arrangement # 90

My fascination with the brown calathea flower spikes and the long pendulous pink bracts of heliconia sassy pink continues. I grab hold of my good old rotten tree trunk, tested and seasoned over time, and plunge the terminal flower spikes into its gasping hole. Had one pendulous stem half circle the upper storey and another at ground zero. Thought that was easy.
With a bit of light effects and alakazam...a composition is born. Upon reflection, I call this composition simply.....Return to My Roots.

Calathea and Sassy Pink composition-1

This week we are busy at the farm clearing the initial young fruits of the oil palm, merely a cultural practice to encourage later fruits to be bigger and more even ripening. On one of those rounds I met across a clump of this calathea lutea. The broad leaves of this plant are used by the local people here especially the Kelabit to wrap rice when they go for day long journeys to neighbouring villages  mostly on foot. What is equally attractive about this plant are the terminal flower spikes where the brown bracts cover insignificant yellow flowers.

Arrangement # 89

In the above example the calthea leaf, some 60 cm wide and  80cm long , is used as place mat for the glass vase. Here I crowd the calathea spikes and let them arrange themselves in irregular upright form like in the wild.

To make the display wild and tropical and exotic I lay the pendulous stem of the heliconia sassy pink around the base of the vase. That seems easy.

Finally to create a signature to the composition, I remove some of the sassy pink bracts to expose the partly hidden flowers and circle it around the calathea spikes.

I thought that's looking good.  Therefore am pleased to give this name to the composition....That's Looking at You Kid.

The Best is Yet to Come

Arrangement # 85

Two yellow bamboo culms. From yesterday's presentation is retained the caladium, sassy pink and heliconia psittacorum. I add the calathea lutea in the above display to give the feeling of equal achievement. Two man ( or woman)  standing tall.

As we look around us,do not feel proud of our achievements because others could be even better.  Be thankful that you can contribute to make the little difference in people's lives. And you can mutiply it by the billions of lives on earth. By promoting prosperity around us  we accept the fact that we are a child of the universe, in a big cycle of change and renewal.

If the call is made to us, rise to the occassion, play our role to the best of our capability

knowing that all's well that ends well. Thus feeling philosophical today, I

call the above composition...The Best is Yet to Come.

A Jarful of Satisfaction

Arrangement # 77

( In Three Stages)

I have these 'tongkat ali' roots ( a local aphrodisiac) inside the jar for sometime. But it was just the tongkat ali and the brown jar. I was however inspired to make a composition based on the jar and the aphrodisiac this morning.

To match the jar's brown colour I add three bracts of calathea with its minute yellow flowers hiding behind their thick brown bracts, making the flowers less showy as is charateristic of this species. At the lower storey I placed a few stalks of the pseuderanthemum ( Pseuderanthemum recticulatum ), the flowers of which are held by terminal spikes. They have white blossoms with purplish spots radiating from the center. The young leaves are very attractive due to its golden yellow colouration.

Then I add another heliconia species, the orangish heliconia latispatha with its lovely green tips.

Finally to add drama to the whole scene, I made the heliconia sassy pink to circle the base of the jar.
Yes...completely satisfied I felt and in no uncertain terms call this composition....a Jarful of Satisfaction.

Exotic Plant Therapy

Arrangement # 75

I am pretty impressed by the survival factor of yesterday's cut flowers. To recall I had the heliconia sassy pink, calathea, costus , parrot flower and finally the fragrant white blooms of the spider lily.

Today I thought of just reorganising the presentation. Therefore I had them placed inside a special square container that is made from four pieces of the abacus. I let the green tips of heliconia sassy pink peep out and cascade from the front side of the container to suggest movement.

For having counted days of blessing my soul as I watched them and still do, without a tinge of doubt I call the above composition...A Continued Blessing.

An Exotic Cut

Had a good look at the front garden this morning.  Love those young fragile cycas fronds (Cycas rumphii) welcoming a new day.  My front garden has slowly turned out to become more exotic as the various large and multi-coloured foliage reveals their true identity.  The under story of colourful foliage too are showing colours of pink and purple especially the species belonging to the rhoe discolour and the irisine.  The upper story of palmate leaves are rising to the occassion as well.

From yesterday's composition I noticed that the spider lily flowers are still stiff and freshly fragrant and more buds are blooming even as I am writing this post.  This prooves that the spider lily flowers are  quite lasting  materials for cut flowers. Not to miss this new found love of the spider lily as cut flowers I therefore decide to retain yesterday's cuttings and to add that tropical exotic lustre to the display, I placed a flowering stem of the sassy pink heliconia with some bracts removed to expose its beautiful green tips.

Arrangement # 73

I strongly feel invigorated with this new discovery of the spider lily as cut flowers. Pleased and entertained as I watch the above display , consequently would love to name this composition... Exotic Cut.

As I type this post the sweetly fragrant scent from the spider lily flowers perfumes the ambience around the dining table. A day to remember.

Spider Lily

Arrangement # 72

My house garden in Kuching is still in its infancy since we decided to 'look west' .  While trying to make my pick for the day, I was pleasantly surprised to see a bed of spider lily ( Hymenocaullis caribaea) bearing a couple of flowers. I just took one stalk thinking to make a simple,fast and elegant composition.

To match its long stalk and white flowers, I chose the contrasting colours of the brownish bracts of calathea ( Calathea lutea) and stopped at that. Not to complicate things further.

Glad to call today's composition ....In Contrasting Mood.

Sarawak Delights Series

It is raining this morning here in Kuching. And today is memorable to start something new. Today the 2008 Olympics begins in Beijing, China. Therefore I will start a new series themed 'Sarawak Delights' in this weblog that will showcase Sarawak handicrafts that can be used in conjunction with floral displays.

View of my front garden in Kuching. To the right is a dense collection of wild bananas.  To the left are the broad leaves of calathea ( Calathea lutea)

Kuching is the capital of Sarawak, Malaysia and it is one of the best lanscaped cities in Malaysia.  In my opinion, the whole Kuching city is just like one big oversized botanical garden.  But it is more than that.  Kuching is rich in cultural heritage that is based on the forest and ethnic diversity. In Kuching you can easily sample all the various handicrafts of the peoples in Sarawak by walking through its hundreds of handicrafts  and sovenier shops along the Kuching Waterfront.

In my collection at the moment is a piece of bamboo 'coin box', a bamboo weaved container and a 'rattan' woven mini 'tambuk' ( which is a Bidayuh term to mean a carrying basket). These will be used in today's presentation.

Arrangement # 62

I have placed the bracts of heliconia, costus and calathea inside a glass and then fit them inside the mini 'tambuk' ( which is sold in Kuching as a sovenier).  In the above example, I have removed the pink bracts of heliconia sassy pink to expose the beautiful green tips.

Arrangement # 63

Finally, I placed two Sarawak handicraft items, the bamboo 'coin box' and a bamboo woven container next to the 'tambuk'. I would like to name this composition....Sarawak by Design.