Saturday Matinee

Early this morning I was happy to notice the Creamfruit ( Roupellia grata) plant showing off its white flowers ( see inset). This plant was bought from Kuching a couple of months ago. When pruned the plant seems to grow into a beautiful shrub and may exhibit a climbing habit if left unchecked. To match it I gathered as many flowers and colourful bracts as I could.

On the list are the heliconias ( 4 varieties), gardenia ( 2 varieties) and the lilium or pink lily hybrid. Today's special I thought. Make the composition as colourful and striking as possible.

Arrangement # 143

Today being a Saturday, I would like to name the composition as ...Saturday Matinee.

Bamboo Culm Compositions - 5

Arrangement # 84

The two yellow bamboo culms are cut staggered and so is the tiered arrangement of the caladium,sassy pink heliconia and finally the top of the deck heliconia psittacorum.

Now I am beginning to like the caladium hybrid pink foliage not merely for its magnificient coloured foliage but also its longevity as cut foliage.

Today is special. This morning I had a try at watercolour and decided to paint the caladium and the sassy pink . The result is on top of this post.

Being such a wonderful day( since I have not been painting for quite a while) , feeling relieved and released, I name this composition... Better Days to Come.

Sassy White Flower Boat.

Arrangement # 31
You have to take this presentation in stride. First, an earlier presentation was based on the minimalistic notion. ( See Arrangement #30 below). Pure and basic purple bracts and white flowers of the heliconia, served on a banana leaf.

The above is the final arrangement, minus minimalism. Here I combine the virtues or goodness of sassy pink with gardenia. Thus I call this arrangement...Sassy White Flower Boat. Sometimes I feel minimalism has its place. When the idea is economy, then scarcity , basic needs and of course budgetary concern are of prime importance. It is good lifestyle for a change. That's why I thought the arrangement below is a complete piece by itself. But sometimes we need to spice our life ( a little bit) , then the concept of minimalism will no longer applies. Other concerns come into focus - e.g chaotic gaiety,
Arrangement # 30

I still love the above composition for its simplicity and economy .

Sassy Flower Boat

Arrangement# 29

Still on the minimalist streak. I peeled of the pink bracts of the heliconia 'sassy pink' to expose the young buds. Had two of them placed inside the banana bracts, and then reflected... Oh! want a decisive statement. The title of the composition is naturally.....Sassy Flower Boat.

Fascinating Ferns

Last week when I was doing a lot of underbrushing works at the Vegetation Island No.1 , I came across at least three samples of bird's nest fern that were attached to the tree trunks or branches. This morning while walking around the garden I encountered an old stump that was 'planted' with bird's nest fern probably a year ago. When I remove it from its hideout, I saw the rugged look of the stump, like my old pair of Levi's jeans. There is a certain appeal in being rustic and seasoned, especially by age and in we human, by experience. I thought I will make ferns as my central theme today.

Arrangement#22
In the above arrangement, I had the heliconia' sassy pink' bracts ( not fully opened yet) to emphasise the uniqueness of the wooden stump. The pink -red colours of the bleeding heart is supposed to keep the harmony between the pink colour of the heliconia and the metallic, rustic and brown colour of the wood. The small bird's nest is the center of attraction.... now, I call this arrangement...Rustic Love.

Arrangement#23

The general colour tones and hues of the above arrangement is yellow. The yellow tones of the plant varieties like the two bracts of the heliconia yellow 'parrot flower' and the fine flowers of Tristellateia at the level of the bird's nest fern suggests sunshine in one's life, gaiety, happiness, like having a pound of gold at today's prices. Therefore I would like to name the composition...Golden Happiness.

Sparkling Fragrance

Here's a variation of the jasmine flower basket from the earlier composition.
Arrangement # 16

The orangish pink lily flower and a few petals of red ginger would provide fire or spark of life to the whole composition. Thus for the purpose of naming it, I call the composition...Sparkling Fragrance.

Pink Sprouts

There is so much that one can do and discover in the jungle. Like the other day, while I was developing the 'sassy pink' footpath I came across a few rotten pieces of wood that have decorative as well as utilitarian potential. If there were swept on the beach they could very well be called driftwood. They look seasoned and resembled attractive art pieces by nature's handiwork. With its core rotten and hollow, I decided to make it as a plant container.

A view of the display to indicate the placement of the heliconia flowers inside the core of the rotten piece of wood .

The meter long wood with a string of the heliconia 'sassy pink' bracts placed inside its hollow core. Shall we call this display....Pink sprouts?

Colourful heliconia bracts

Being a Sunday morning I thought of taking it easy. I had an early morning walk to the back of my chalet that faces the jungle. While walking up the steps of the heliconia collection area I noticed the heliconia clumps seemed to greet me in full colours and rich splendour. Why not clean up the footsteps and let the sun shine reflect further the beauty of the heliconia bracts? Or so I thought.

In a moment's notice I rushed to get my gardening tools and with a zeal and enthusiasm I have not felt for quite sometime, I began scrapping the overgrown footpath from the bottom step and quickly moved up, step by step. By the time I finished the morning hours, it was time for lunch. Along the side of the steps are a collection of six varieties of heliconia, which I will describe shortly.

Heliconias make splendid cut flowers, not because of its flowers which are very insignificant and almost enclosed by the bracts but it colourful bracts. Herein lies its appeal. The bracts can be golden yellow, pink, orange, lipstick red or combinations of the these various colours and more.

My favourites? It's difficult to say because In my collection presently are twelve species. And there are hundreds more! Pressed further, I would say heliconia 'sassy pink'. I love its long pendulous string of pink bracts some one meter long or more. Then there is the dark red and the 'dare you try me' look of the heliconia stricta. I have two varieties of the golden yellow coloured heliconia as in the heliconia psittacorum species ( lobster claw or parrot flower) . Another striking variety I noticed this morning was the heliconia latispatha which have tiny bracts of yellow and red colours. At one corner I found the bright and attractive heliconia rostrata ( fire crackers).

Most heliconia bracts last long, some more than a week in a container filled with water. There are easy to grow. Requires shade and respond well to fertilising. Needs lots of water though.

My arrangements for today:

Arrangement #8


I had an empty round glass fish bowl in the store which I took out from its hiding place and made it to hold three short stalks of heliconia'sassy pink' as above.

Arrangement # 9

In the above arrangement I added the redness of heliconia stricta to the composition. In closer view, each inflorescence of the heliconia stricta has lip stick red bracts edged with green.

Below is the scene of my morning workout. At this one spot is a collection of six varieties of heliconia .