NATIONAL DAY PART 2

There were tons of people gathered in the Marina Bay area to watch the fireworks to celebrate the National Day and it came on around 7:53 pm. I could almost hear Katy Perry's song "Fireworks" resonating with brilliance in the sky.

The sky came alive for a few minutes but about ten minutes later, the last burst of massive fireworks exploded in the night sky before it resumed its darkness once again for the months to come. 

The next time such a spectacle would happen would be the end of the year 2012 and the beginning of next year 2013.

Anyway, I was overseas recently and realized once again that there is no place better than home. I might be physically at a different geographical region, but my heart was bound to home. Throughout the trip, I had 3 episodes of chest pains. Call me dramatic, but when the plane encountered any turbulence over the 12 hour flight and when I had my chest pains, my first thoughts were always whether I would be able to see my loved ones again. So you see, home is where love is.

HOUSE PLANTS

This is an update of my small little home garden. There are drastic changes if one compares these photos to my earlier ones.

For one, my Brugmansia in the right planter is no longer visible here. I uprooted and discarded the old one because it was rotting, dying and no longer growing actively. Thankfully, I took numerous cuttings that are now growing well. Hopefully with time, I can see the beautiful blooms again.

Then I transplanted the Quisqualis indica from the right to the left planter where the Lonicera was removed. Initially, it shed all its leaves but new leaves can be seen growing on the almost bare branches. To my own surprise, I found that I did not post anything about these two plants partly because they never looked too good here although the Lonicera did flower rather regularly and gave out a nice fragrance. The Mirabilis jalapa, the seeds which I collected from the neighbourhood garden, is growing kind of big but has not produced any flowers yet.

Strangely, the variegated Aptenia cordifolia is growing so well that it is scrambling down the wall but I do not see the red flowers. I wonder why I have never posted about this plant before. When it does flower, I will give it some attention and post it here. The Dissotis rotundifolia that I grew for months now is finally sprawling over the edge and I can see lots of flower buds on the plant, so I can expect to see the open flowers soon. On the left, the Lantana montevidensis that I bought about 2 months back has rewarded me with nice purplish inflorescences and I am pretty sure it is just a matter of time before it drapes over the parapet too. The pink Impatiens walleriana that I bought from Nex is also showing off its pinkish flowers.

In the right planter, the Antigonon leptopus was pruned back to the base and now the new green heart-shaped leaves are growing down once again. On the far right, my Petraeovitex wolfei vine looked so yellow and miserable, unlike the photos posted earlier. I realised it is suffering from a serious case of nutrient deficiency and lack of water and I am now trying to revive it. The over-zealous Lantana camara growing all over it does not help, but I decided to leave the beautiful blooms intact as they are just so pretty. The Hamelia patens is growing much bigger now.

There would be more updates as my little garden changes.

HOME

With this huge saga seed sculpture at Terminal 3, I knew I was back on homeground in Singapore once again. It was the wee hours on 18 Apr 10.

It was good to be home but when would I be going to Australia again?

HOME GARDEN

The Home Garden is one of my favourite theme gardens in HortPark because I literally packed quite a number of exotic plants in this intimate garden.

I have seen lots of people sitting under this trellis covered by the Mexican Flame Vine to take photos.

And I just love the purple Persian Shield in the bottom left hand corner of the top photo. These photos were taken on 17 Feb 10.

EPIPHYLLUM OXYPETALUM

This photo of the Epiphyllum flower was taken at HortPark's Home Garden on 4 Dec 08.

This particular cultivar was rather free flowering and frequently rewarded us with multiple blossoms on the same plant. As with all Epiphyllum, the flowers are ephemeral and last only a day but are lightly fragrant.

Unfortunately since my colleague took over this corner, I don't see this plant anymore.

This photo reminds me that I need to find this plant and hopefully plant it back at the Home Garden so that others can have the opportunity to admire and appreciate its beauty.