Multiplying Hoya Kerrii, the lucky heart plant

Honestly I did not know what this plant called until I searched it out from Mr Google by typing "heart shape cactus" wahahaha.  Now I know it is call Hoya Kerrii, Hoya Heart or Lucky Heart among many other names given to it.  Anyway, I prefer to called it Lucky Heart plant from now on.

This Lucky Heart plant with 2 leaves was given to us by my SIL last year who is very passionate in plants and flowers, she has got a garden full of greens and flowers and also vegetables too. She puts a lot of afford in maintaining her garden. 

from 2 leaves last year (forgot the date).....I gave auspicious names "吉祥, 如意" to the leaves, simply means "Good Fortune and Abundance of all that you love"

and today, it has multiplied with an additional of 3 leaves with minimal care.  I just have to water it 2-3 times a week.

In order for it to multiple more, I will have to transfer my Lucky Heart plant to a bigger pot.  Will do that soon.

 

A compilation of plants & flowers at front yard

These are some of the photos of my plants & flowers that I managed to capture when they are flowering or I would say in good condition.  Post them here to record their blooming glory.

Desert roses are the only flowering plants that I have.  As you can see they are of common varieties.  I experienced down times with them, seeing all the leaves turned yellow, brown and dropped off completely.  I have to spray them with soap water when they are infected with fungal.  At times, I have no choice but to trim the branches.  They will grow back amazingly.  That's what I love about Desert Roses.

This plant is given to us by my sister in law who has green figures.  

Aroid & Orchid Exhibition, Rafflesia & wild life of Borneo

One of the weekday after sending our girls to the Uni and school in the morning, we went to the city to check out the Art Attic shop near City Hall but the shop only opens at 10 a.m., since we are just near the City Hall and there is Aroid & Orchid Exhibition going on, I was curious what Aroid is, we went in to have a look.

     

A search from Google :

What is considered an aroid plant? Aroids are from the family Araceae and include many common houseplants like aglaonemas, monsteras, philodendrons, pothos and ZZ plants. While these plants tend to be “low light” indoor plants, they're often understory plants in the wild.

Planting from cuttings and seeds - Fig & Avocado

We have been busy doing some fig planting project at our home for the past one month.  I ordered some hybrid fig tree cuttings from the local planter, put them in the soil and after 2 weeks or so of tender nurturing care, the cuttings have produced new shoots coming out like these..

 

fast forward yesterday, they have grown a bit more like the photo below.  Since their roots are still not stable yet, it is not advisable to place them outdoor.  Oh yes, the little one at the bottom right is a cutting from Spain, Don Juan, we are so glad to see its new shoots.

 

I ordered yet another batch of cuttings from the same planter last week.  They are now in the "incubator" waiting for the new roots and shoots to come out.  Hopefully all our cuttings will live.

 

 Being ambitious, I am also trying to grow avocado tree from seeds after we ate the fruits.  So far no sign of root or shoot after 1 week...

 

Desert Rose plant under attacked

I was very surprise to see the condition of our Desert Rose plants on last weekend, My lovely Desert Rose plant 富贵花树 has been under attacked.  It was a well bloomed plant like this in my earlier post but I was devastated to see how it became overnight.  I took a closer look and I found the culprit..   , 

can you see it?? and the condition of the leaves :(..

The culprit is just right there.....The caterpillar has obviously tired and full after chewing on the leaves, it's resting on the tiny branch.

It also caused much destruction to our other pot of Desert Rose.

My better half took it off the plant and placed it at the back of the house, but another (not sure whether it is the same one) caterpillar appeared again on the same plant the next morning.  This time he put it outside our fencing in front of our house.  It came back again on the next day, unbelievable, it's not a butterfly yet couldn't fly, we still wonder how it could find the way back to the same plant again....???

we have to put it inside a container with air holes and a piece of leave to avoid it from causing further damage to our Desert Rose and other plants.

what would you do to these caterpillars when they come visit your garden ??

Desert Roses are blooming 灿烂富贵花开

In the hot and dry weather that we are experiencing here in KK now, our desert rose start to bloom, Desert Rose also called Adenium.  The desert rose plants love the sun..

photos taken under the shade

under the sun

Pottery In Telipok

After our walk about at the Tamu at Giant Kolombong last Sunday, we drove to the outskirt Telipok town to find some flower pots to transplant our overgrown palm tree and we also need pots for our desert roses that we bought at the Tamu. 

Choices of pots are more here and prices are cheaper as compare to down town.  I believe they do mass production in their own factory. 

variety of pots in different sizes

this pot is the right size for the dessert rose plant

they sell black soil and fertiliser too

while we were looking for the suitable pots, our girls prefer to sit inside the aircon room reading her novel and play game on the phone, confirmed they are not interested in gardening.

a big and healthy cactus

smaller sizes cactus for sell

a small nursery selling desert roses and other plants

They sell buns too ??? haaa...No they don't.  On our way home, we stopped by another outskirt town, Menggatal to have a drink, the buns in Menggatal is one of the famous in Sabah, the texture is soft & chewy. 

Overnight Trip to Mesilau Kundasang -Day 2

The next day, we woke up early in the chill morning.  Everyone were excited to find the majestic view of Mount Kinabalu, it is so close as if we are almost reach the mountain top.  My youngest daughter was so excited, she was the one who woke us up in the morning.  Our hand phones worked very hard to capture the best view.  

Me with the Mountain view at the back

It was so cold that I have a bowl of rice wine chicken soup to warm up my body

On the way back,  we stop by Kundasang market place to buy some local vegetables and for the 1st time, I shopped at the flowers stalls

small pots of chillies, I did not buy any

spread of flowers

Cactus, these are the ones I was looking for

I bought 3 pots of flowers.  The red one is meant for my mum for Mother's Day but she asked me to take care of it.  She said this flower is very common.

and I also bought 3 small pots of cactus.  Now I will have to take care of my plants which I have never done before.  The weather is so hot,  I have been watering my plants for the last 2 days when I reach home after work.  

Bird Flower Plant / Little Sparrow Plant

It's an eye opening for us to see birds grow from plant.  

This is a Bird Flower Plant given by my SIL, Catherine sometimes early this year.  It was planted by her mum and brought all the way from Lahad Datu.  

We transferred this bird plant to a slightly bigger pot. It is basically grows by itself with sunlight and rain showers.  Occasionally we water it during hot and dry weather.

the shape of the flower is just like a bird, with pretty tail

three little bird flowers on a single branch

This Bird Flower Plant is said to bring good lucks to the owner.  ;D  Hope this plant will bring us plenty of wealth and good health to my family.