A Visit to Cameron Highlands (early 2017)

A Visit to the Cameron Highlands  (early 2017)

The following are photographs of flowers at the MARDI nursery at 
Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia.

1. Roses in bunches



2. Orange roses

3. Lady's Slipper Flowers hanging down from the vines

4. Close up of the Lady's Slipper flower

 5. Emerald Jade Vine Flowers handing from the vine

 6. Another photo of the Emerald Jade Vine flowers

7. Plant with pod-like fruits

 8. Orange Angel Trumpet flowers

 9. Anyone knows the name of this one?

10. Two photos of these beautiful flowers (don't know the name)

11. Something pod-like plant (could almost be from alien)

12. A close up of the pod from the same creeper above.
 

 13. A huge melon hanging from the vine

14. Another variety of melon hanging from the vine

15. Capsicums

16. Daun Pegaga

17 Tomatoes 

18 Rosemary Bush

19. A yellow beauty (don't know the name)

20. A red beauty (don't know the name)

21. A white beauty (don't know the name)

22. A sunflower that seems to have a heart.

23. Violet Hydrangea 

24. Light blue hydrangea

A visit to the flower nurseries at Sungei Buluh in January 2017

The following are just a few of the photos from a visit to the Sungei Buluh 

flower nurseries just before the Chinese New Year celebrations in 2017. 

Located in Selangor, Malaysia, this place used to be the 
old leprosy centre a few decades back. Some of the original residents are still around tending the nurseries but their children (mostly grown up) have migrated to the cities to pursue a more comfortable life.

The nurseries have not changed much although the surrounding development 
(which includes the Sungei Buluh Hospital and 
other University College clinics) has encroached on it.

It was a hive of activity on the day of my visit and 
many beautiful flowers were there to be seen and purchased.
 I consider this spot a little paradise on earth, visited by many locals 
who want to purchase plants and trees for their gardens. 

It could potentially be a tourist attraction.

1. Two photos of the orchids from one of the nurseries at Sungei Buluh.

2. Decorative chili plants in the foreground. 

3. Hanging bougainvilleas and other hanging potted plants.

4. Chrysanthemums in a riot of colour.

5. Staghorn ferns a plenty.

6. Chrysanthemums to beautify the home.

7. Chrysanthemums of various colour and variety.

8. Petunias - nice to behold.

9. Lillies of various hues.

 

10. A must-have item for the traditional Chinese (the pussy willow).

11. More flowers to brighten your day.

12. A variety of chrysanthemum I've not seen before.

13. One of the better nurseries at Sungei Buluh.

Blooms from my Garden

BLOOMS FROM MY GARDEN

Pot of Morning Glory with its gorgeous blooms

Yellow hibiscus with white centre

Don't know the name of this flowering plant but like its blooms

Same comment as above.

Ginger Lily

Yellow hibiscus with red centre

Close up of the morning glory that is now growing wild 

Another photo of the Ginger Lily

A pinkish hibiscus

A bunch of morning glory that has crept around a pillar and up a screen.

A bright red hibiscus that I got in December 2016

These lilies happened to bloom all at the same time 

a few months back when we had a lot of sun.

Another yellow hibiscus with a red centre

An orange hibiscus with a red centre and ruffled petals

A multi-petaled orange hibiscus

Deleafing my FicusTree

Deleafing my Ficus tree

There is this big Ficus tree which I inherited from my father-in-law, who is responsible for my developing an interest in bonsai cultivation. This tree was barely 1.5 feet across when he passed on almost 20 years ago. The tree is now a huge thing more than 4 feet across. I have left it growing without any wiring as the that was done earlier by my father-in-law. Over the years I have simply pruned it and trimmed it to have a fairly symmetrical shape. Every couple of years I try to deleaf it as the leaves get attacked by some kind of leaf miners or have some kind of brownish spots under them. After deleafing the tree, new leaves start to grow within a couple of weeks and the whole tree looks lovely with a fresh coat of leaves.

Figure 1: Ficus tree in the garden.

Figure 2: Close up of the Ficus tree in the garden.

Figure 3: after a few hours, all I could manage 

was remove this amount of leaves by hand.

Figure 4: After a couple more hours, this was the progress.

Figure 5: After some 4-5 hours, slightly more than half of the tree was deleafed. 

That's the dog in the foreground to the right hand side of the photo.

Figure 6: A closer view of the partially deleafed Ficus tree with the dog underneath.

Figure 7: A slightly different angle of the tree.

Figure 8: The Ficus tree completely devoid of all its leaves. 

The whole job took almost a full day from 

somewhere in the mid-morning to late evening. 

It was lucky I had the shade of the mango tree 

for the most part to stop me from melting in the sun.

Figure 9: The Ficus tree compared to the mango tree 

on the right of the photo and the other bonsai in the background

(note those under the mango tree.)

Figure 10: Close up of the Ficus tree in its naked glory. 

You could not lift the pot with the tree by yourself. 

The only way I can repot this tree (which I have done a few times) 

is to remove all the soil from the pot (and that will take 2-3 hours if you are lucky)

 and then lift the tree out with all your might 

(and hope you don't get a hernia or faint from sheer exhaustion).

Happy deleafing.