步步惊心, 宫 AND 宫锁珠帘

Of late, I have been listening to the songs from the China TV serials 步步惊心 (Scarlet Heart), 宫 (Palace) and 宫锁珠帘 (Palace I and II) over and over again because I love them. I posted about the song from the former before and just realized I didn't put up anything from the latter serial. The serials are eye catching, lyrics of both songs are so beautiful and coupled with the music, they make very good songs. Although they may not be everyone's cup of tea, they do appeal greatly to me. I attach the few songs below for reference:

LOTUS

I am just happy that I took photos of this pot of Lotus this morning because by evening time, the petals were all gone and was told that some kid pulled them all out. 

The Zephyranthes in front of the pot were trampled flat because of curious visitors who stood right in front of the pot to take the photos. How sad!

STERCULIA AND BIRDS

When I saw this interesting tree at the base of the Malay Garden slope, from the bridge between the Colonial Garden and Malay Garden, that started to flower recently, I made a mental note to share this with everyone.

In fact, there was a recent post just days ago and I have been taking photos of this particular seemingly nondescript looking Sterculia macrophylla (Common Name: Broad-Leafed Sterculia; Family: Malvaceae), which is critically endangered and found in fresh water swamp forests or along streams, for the last 10 days or so because I was tracking the development of the new leaf flushes and red flowers following the shedding of its large hairy leaves before that. What really struck me was how amazing the new leaves and inflorescences developed over the days. From small leaf and flower buds grew clusters of coloured leaves and creamy inflorescences that I somehow imagined as jellyfish floating in the sky. Day after day, I stood at the bridge and observed how the jellyfish took on a different look as the leaves grew larger and flowers began to mature.

This morning, I was prepared to take the final series of photos of this tree to post about it, when I was suddenly attracted by a familiar call that caught my attention, which was later confirmed to be from that of a beautiful woodpecker species.

As I made a quick glance at this Sterculia tree and the adjacent Pandanus tectorius, I was excited by the sight of a pair of Sunda Pygmy Woodpeckers, a pair of Peaceful Doves and three Common Goldenback Woodpeckers (1 male with red crest and 2 females). The pair of Sunda Pygmy Woodpeckers appeared to be feeding on the insects from the discoloured trunk of the Sterculia tree while the other pair of Peaceful Doves was busy snuggling up with each other on the same tree. It was just so cool to watch this pair of doves displaying such affection. The trio of Common Goldenback Woodpeckers, on the other hand, were pecking up and down the trunk of the Pandanus and uttering the unique call.

HIBISCUS AND NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES

The first set of photos were taken on 15 Oct 2012 and these two Hibiscus were displaying the symptoms of severe nutrient deficiency. They were in a very bad state and the younger and older leaves were all showing interveinal chlorosis and possessed yellowish leaves. There were barely any flowers.

Now, after months of treatment to incorporate straight fertilizers in Nitrogen, chelated Iron and Magnesium as well as organic fertilizers to the soil, the two Hibiscus have recovered significantly and are now spotting lots of flowers, at least when compared to before. 

Nutrient deficiencies in Iron are commonly seen in acid loving plants such as Wrightia religiosa and Gardenia etc.