Gojiberry or Wolfberry ...

i have been neglecting this little blog of mine... have not visited...thus have not updated for some time...though several new plants have been added to the garden...there is some free time at the moment so i thought i would post about one of the new plants i managed to acquire.... my gojiberry or wolfberry.

i am not sure if this plant i have is a Lycium barbarum or Lycium chinense... most probably the latter.... seems that it is more heat tolerant ..while the former need more cooler temps....

i had in the past tried sowing gojiberry seeds....it was a total failure...none germinated...and this is my third attempt at trying to root gojiberry.... two past attempts also  failed... alhamdullillah this third try is finally a success....thanx zillions to Dmitri Matievski...my trusted supplier of US plants...

Wonder of wonders...my little gojiberry plant is so impatient to fruit... it has produced two little flower buds.... i do not have the heart to pinch off the tiny buds and decide to leave them be..... 

6th June 2014 Update

My Buddleia 3-in-1 arrived last week....hopefully my attempt at planting Buddleia will be a success this time around. the last attempt was a Buddleia Blue Nanho which came from the UK...i have since given up on trying plants from the UK...i do not think they can acclimate well.... plants from the US, especially from the southern parts of the US, seem to have a better survival rate.....

Buddleia 3-in-1 courtesy of  Google

Well...the above picture was downloaded from Google.... and here are mine... got three of them..and up to date all three seem to be doing fine....

Some Freesia bulbs also arrived together with them....all planted a few days ago...and waiting to see some signs of growth.....another attempt...a last try after several failures in the past...hope there will be some success this time.

Another new arrival is Helianthus Maximilliani ...only the bare root... i am not sure whether it will grow...also planted some time ago...no signs of growth yet up to date.

A little more encoraging update...my blueberry plants...all three seem to be showing encouraging development...Alhamdullillah...

...and my poor Wisteria seems to be perking up now that the weather has cooled down a bit.... the previous weeks have been very hot and really stressing on my poor poor wisteria....

Another Google pic...siigghh i know i'll never see my Wisteria bloom like this...but i still harbour hopes that one day it will reward me with at least a few blooms....inshaaAllah.

My Asclepia incarnata

Alhamdullillah my Asclepia incarnata has begun 'shooting out' new growth.... new shoots are out....

Actually i am rather impatient to see it bloom. It is claimed to be fragrant...vanilla scented... could not wait to smell it....hopefully it will grow fast and bloom soon.... but for now i just have to be satisfied with this picture from google  :

 I was really worried when i saw even the stems were gobbled up....after all leaves were gone....gone into the making of new butterflies...and today the first butterfly emerged .... i see that the colour scheme of this butterfly is the same as the colour scheme of the Monarch butterflies... they have the same white spotted black head....but the body is not so ... still it is very pretty... welcome dear...

Monarchs or not...???

Siiggghhh... i surely do not have the heart to kill them.... but i do hope my Ascepia incarnata..which has only been planted a few months and yet to bloom as such...will survive this attack.  Google informed that Asclepias are food for Monarch Butterfly caterpillars.... and will be able to survive despite having been gobbled up by the caterpillars.... i really really do hope that will be the case here... but am not sure whether these are really Monarch Butterfly caterpillars or the caterpillars of some other butterfly....????

Gifts From Dear Friends....

On Tuesday 6th May 2014.... i went up to Kota Bharu to meet a dear friend...Experimental Garden Blogger...we went to meet another friend of mine ...a Facebooker... Din Kelate...primarily to get some Lemon Myrtle cuttings which Din Kelate has just brought back from a plantation in Sekinchan, Selangor....we spent some time with Din listening to his explanations about the benefits and commercial value of Lemon Myrtle.... made me wish i have some acres of land to start a plantation...!! (He also shared with us his upcoming project of starting an Islamic Cooperative Body of Sukuk.... which both Experimental Gardener and I hope to join... ) Din also offered several opportunities for Contact Farming of Lemon Myrtle... unfortunately i do not have land.... and my Father-in-law's land has just been replanted with rubber trees.... while CMS's ....err hubby's ..has been planted with coconuts... which he said are Kelapa Mantop... well ...dear hubby has high hopes for his 'coconut plantation'.... :))

Lemon Myrtle/Backhousia citriodora courtesy of google...

Lemon Myrtle/Backhousia citriodora in bloom courtesy of google..unfortunately according to Din Klate....Lemon Myrtle will not bloom in our climate...aaahh very sad news to both Experimental Gardener and I... we really like the blooms....

Serai Pedas/Lemon Myrtle cuttings from Din Kelate.....being rooted....hopefully successfully...!!
Again...Thanx zillions Din Klate...Jazakallahukhairan kathiiran...!!!

On the way home, I made a stop in Bachok... had a lovely dinner of Mee Kuah at Experimental Gardener's house....cooked by Experimental Gardener herself.. errmmm yummy...!!  It was about 9.30 pm when i pushed off from Experimental Gardener's house that night. Drove off with a Rosemary baby to replace the one i have lost...some Cherry Tomato babies and a full grown Black/Mysore Raspberry.... was sooo very happy...thanx zillions to my dear friend Experimental Gardener...!!  Jazakillahukhairan kathiiran...may He reward you well for your kind generosity dear friend.... 

Cherry tomato babies.... hoping they will grow fast and be productive soon....

My new Rosemary/Rosmarinus officinalis...courtesy of a dear dear friend...

My Mysore raspberry/Rubus albescens from Experimental Gardener.... hoping it will be productive very very soon...am impatiently waiting for some fruits...!!

The fruits i am impatiently waiting for...courtesy of google...

 

10th April New Arrivals....

Both the long awaited Panache Fig and Blueberry Summer Sunset from Claire arrived yesterday 10th April 2014.... they arrived simultaneously with Dmitri's package...no words can describe my happiness...as i now have all...err almost all the plants i have been yearning to have....

Panache Fig from Claire of  Finer Fruits

My Blueberries....Summer Sunset from Claire of  Finer Fruits is right at the back.... Pink Lemonade from ebay...and in the front is Blueberry Sunshine from Wellspring Gardens (ebay)...Sunshine has actually started to flower...!!
Both Pink Lemonade and Sunshine are low chill varieties...but Summer Sunset is a high chill....still i harbour hopes of seeing fruits ...!!

Blueberry Sunshine...

Other plants that arrived are.....

A Tangerine /Citrus tangerina  from Wayside Gardens...

Chocolate Cosmos.....this is the third time i am trying to plant this Cosmos... hopefully this third attempt will be successful... the first was sent by Sheila...

Vanilla Butterfly Flower from Wayside Gardens...

...and  Tahiti Sunrise Dahlia bulbs.... Dmitri also sent the seed of an unusual plant...a plant that i do not know the name of ....

Everbearing Yellow Raspberry....a sad update... :(

On Sunday afternoon i noticed my EYR was wilting.... curiosity led me to pull it up...and what a shock i got....the roots were full of white ants/termites.... i quickly washed them off and planted it in another pot....praying it will survive....

Come Monday April 8th ...my good spirits returned with the arrival of Quinalt Strawberry and Sweet Cherry bareroot plants.... planted them the same day...hope they will thrive well...inshaa Allah

Yellow Fig from Dmitri

Planted January 12th, 2014....has started budding...Alhamdullillah...may the fruits form and mature ....in shaa Allah

Giant Granadilla/Passiflora quadrangularis....

Alhamdullillah.... I finally got this long coveted plant....arrived on Thursday 13th March 2014 and planted on the morning of Friday 14th March.... after buying it twice online ...from a seller located in Hawaii... once DOA and another dead after a few days of transplanting.... i got it from a local nursery in Kuantan..... a Facebook member EM Nursery owner..Norasiah.

GG in its temporary 'house'....hoping it will grow well and strong enough to be transplanted  to its 'permanent house'...

Blueberry (n ect. ) news update...

Sometime ago received an email from Claire telling me that she has not posted my Blueberry Summer Sunset and Panache Fig.... aahhh what a great great relief... i was feeling jubilantly happy knowing that i have not really lost them.....!!

The recent addition to the garden...the Blueberry Pink Lemonade has started to green up....

 But the Everbearing Yellow Raspberry has yet to 'wake up' from dormancy.... well may be in a few more days it will.....

Blueberry Pink Lemonade and Yellow Raspberry

Yesterday was a very happy day...went to sleep last night with a  big big smile on my face...i am proudly announcing to the whole wide world that i am now the proud owner of a blueberry Pink Lemonade plant and an Everbearing Yellow Raspberry...thanks to Dmitri!

They were posted on the 17th February and reached my hands on 27th. Despite having arrived home very late, i made the time to plant them both. Not immediately...had to visit Ton's nursery in Kg Raja after Isya prayer to get 2 big pots and some gardening soil for my new plants.....

Blueberry Pink Lemonade from an ebay seller that Dmitri 'forwarded' to me.

Everbearing Yellow Raspberry from Dmitri.

win some ...lose some... siiggghhh...(for the 'losses from the losing..')

...yes i have lost a lot...seeds bought not germinating...but still stubbornly buying ...wrong technique possibly...pacifying self... DOAs...dead on arrival... well there are always risks in every venture one decides to undertake...still pacifying self...and i stubbornly go on buying...

Up to date am still  waiting for my Panache Fig and Summer Sunset Blueberry from Claire/Harvest-Clinic...which according to an eBay notice was posted on 31st January... i have begun to lose hope that they might still be alive upon arrival...if they do arrive soon....siiggghh am feeling rather sad now...

Panache Fig - offered by Harvest-Clinic at USD29.95

Summer Sunset Blueberry from Harvest-Clinic offered for  USD6.95

So the total payment made was....

Subtotal	$36.90 USD
Shipping and handling	$28.95 USD
Insurance - not offered	----
Total	$65.85 USD
Payment	$65.85 USD
This charge will appear on your credit card statement as "PAYPAL *ERMA GIEM" Payment sent to marieclaire0911@gmail.com
From amount	RM228.85 MYR
To amount	$65.85 USD
Exchange rate: 1 Malaysian Ringgit = 0.287743 U.S. Dollars

Navel Orange and some new plants

Have been too preoccupied with FB lately...to the extent that this little blog has been rather neglected... despite some new arrivals in the garden....this delay made me forget the exact dates the new plants arrived.... first was Red Libya and BTM6 figs from a FB friend... Redland-FigCarica Pokok Tin ...Red Libya was in exchange for one of my 'Yellow' figs..while BTM6 was a purchase...this exchange and purchase was made on Tuesday 11th February....

Then came another  fig B110 Hybrid with a grape  Yellow Belgy....both purchased from another FB friend ...Fauzan Adenan....aah i forgot the exact arrival date...think it was on a Wednesday 12th February....the grape is growing fine green leaves...thus i have transferred into a pot...but the B110 fig...has not shown any encouraging growth yet up to date....

Next came a Miss Alice rose...a purchase together with rose food and a rose spray....from FB friend RoHani Bee...Rosa Miss Alice...a David Austin.. arrived on a Saturday..15th February 2014...planted on the same day... there are some buds on...hope will grow and bloom well....

Rosa Miss Alice...bought from RoHani Bee.

Then..only 2 days ago..16th February ...a macadamia nut sapling arrived...it arrived very dried up...but still i planted it in a pot...praying it will survive.....only He determines whether this poor sapling will survive and grow up into a productive tree....

Finally a little update on the Navel Orange from Dmitri.... it is showing a lot of new growth...  i suppose this because spring has arrived in its 'kampong'....

Priscilla and Parson's Choice...

...are finally blooming this overcast Monday morning of 27th January 2014...there is a very very light drizzle ...did not stop me from going out into the garden to snap some pics....

Sorry Priscilla dear...my poor camera was not able to capture your true beauty....!

This pair of Hemerocallis Parson's Choice blooms.....i think are smaller than should be.... i think....geographical and climatic reasons i suppose....but at least Parson's Choice did produce some flowers for me...the first ever Hemerocallis blooms in my little garden...!!