Colourful Coleus leaves and Jasmine flowers

Arrangement # 124

My Kuching garden is slowly shaping up. Before we left for Bintulu last October, I had planted four varieties of the coleus ( Solenostemon scutellarioides ) which I bought from the Satok Sunday market. I noticed they are in their best looks today. Among the Malays the plant is called 'Bunga Ati-Ati'. They plant them for their multi-coloured variegated leaves more than for its flowers. They have 4-angled stems with small flowers and toothed edges. Planted in pots they are beautiful decorative plants for official functions. Coleus are native to this region ( South East Asia). Now you are likely to see more varieties appearing at the market place due to the fact that this plant is a favourite among hybriders who constantly try to produce new cultivars.

The coleus I chose above has dark maroon and red colours. Then to add contrast I plucked three flowering stems of the white jasmine flowers (jasminum multiflorum) .

Finally I like to name the above composition as ....Coleus in Contrast

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.

Jasmine Fragrance.

I came back to the farm quite late this afternoon after a half day outing at Bintulu town. Thus it was in the late afternoon sun that I walked around the garden to look for my next candidate. At one corner of my garden was a big jasmine shrub that hugs to the post. The scent from the flowers were heavenly. Jasmine flowers mean a lot to Malaysians. Many parents lovingly named their girls Jasmin, or Melur or Melati after this fragrant flower. I find that it is the buds that are more fragrant. When the buds develop into a flower the scent seems to fade away.

Arrangement # 15


I had some leftovers from yesterday's collection of sassy pink heliconias. I experimented by removing the bracts to expose it true flowers and bend the stalk to create the impression of a flower basket handle. Then I combined it with the jasmine flowers and one gardenia flower from the variegated species. I call the above composition......Evening scent.