My Long Awaited Lousiana Iris....

i have had it for years...err them i should say...as the one rhizome i was given by a faraway friend...from the US...years ago has produced several others...but none have produced any flowers up to date. Yesterday while sitting at the window facing the pond, i noticed that my old Lousiana Iris looks like as if it was about to produce a flower stalk.... aahhh could it be true...can i believe my eyes....??! But it was very late afternoon... approaching evening and maghrib was near...i promised myself that i will check her out the next day....and this morning i went to the back of the house 'armed' with my 'mobilephone-camera'.....n here she is... a sight making me deliriously happy....

..and i wonder if the others will follow suit in the near future....i really really hope so....

Damselfly Gymnasts.....

while going around feeding the fish i came across a pair of damselflies ...errrmmm wonder what they were doing in that 'gymnastical-position'. i ran up to get my mobile phone hoping they would still be there.  They were. It was as if they were meditating....and apart from little movements now and then made by the one below....they refused to budge.  Thus, i was able to get very close to them to snap some pics with my poor-quality-mobile-phone-camera.....  i wonder...could they be meditating...or praying and offering thanks and deep gratitude to the One and Only Creator..??? Errmmm...that must be what they are doing...!!

An immigrant blooming in my garden....

...yep...the newcomer Crinum has finally bloomed....!  However...the fragrance is not strong enough for me...find it too soft... too subtle... errmmm...wonder if it will get stronger towards afternoon...or evening...??

Flowers for Ramadhan...Ramadhan almubarak is here....

and what's in the garden this first day of Ramadhan 1434/10 July 2013...?  Apart from some regular bloomers....like the purple Vanda orchid which i refrained from capturing yet another of its photo....


the angelonia still has a few blooms to cheer me...

..but the Cattleya are spent....hopefully i do not have too long a wait for the next batch of beauties....

However, a newcomer is budding...all ready to flaunt its blooms.... it is one of a few Crinums i have in the garden.....this seems like a great looker!

...the white Crinum is still making its presence very much noticeable.... though some blooms are spent and have fallen into a mass of weeds...yep m not a diligent gardener here...especially where weeding is concerned...more are ready to show off their fragrant beauty.....

...and there are a lot of these pretty-ones-which-i-have-forgotten-the-name-of undemandingly waiting for a little attention swaying gently whenever the capricious breeze comes visiting.......

Kept forgetting the name of this plant...had to google...and found out...it is Eucrosia bicolor...(24Jan2014)

Not to forget my Clerodendrum thomsoniae....a Malaysian version of the Bleeding Heart....a Dicentra this stubborn gardener tried to plant....despite knowing that plants are usually very fussy creatures...and would rarely succumb to human whims and fancies....Dicentra goes dormant and refuses to grow when the temperatures are high...and in my garden it refused to emerge from the ground and in the end rotted away....

Clerodendrum thomsoniae

a Dicentra.....a heart tugging beauty that never stopped teasing me...how i itch to get a hold  of it..to have and to hold...siiighh wishful thinking!

But...well... in the spirit of Qanaah... Alhamdullillah i am grateful for all that i do have....Syukur Thank You God O most Generous...a Creator none can compete with....!

On certain times of the day....sitting at the window facing our fish pond while watching the fishes...some flitting by...some lazily swimming by...(nope..the pond is not visible in this pic) i can get a waft of Zodia fragrance softly tantalising my sense of smell.....(though there is but only one plant here...a few others are planted elsewhere in the garden)....and my heart swells with happiness and gratefulness to You....my ONE and ONLY God.....!! May You have mercy on me and may You give me the strength and Guide me to fulfill all my duties to You my Lord...!!

My Citrus hystrix or Limau Purut/ Kaffir Lime....

This is a newer plant in the garden.... the old one...which had given me lots of fragrant fruits in the past ....has long gone... so i bought another to replace it.... this is the first time it is going to bloom... hopefully eventually fruit...

...for i really love the refreshing fragrance of the Limau purut.....

The more suitable vs the less suitable.....

This is my  Ruellia brittoniana or Mexican petunia....

Though not a great favourite of mine... i do admit Mexican petunia in bloom is pretty..... it does cheer up the garden with its simple pretty face and strong colour...... the blooms only last a day....but there are always more to replace the spent  ones.... on top of that it is a very easy care-free plant.... !!

and this is my Vitex agnus-castus.....

As my poor wisteria...this poor darling is also perking up....producing new growth now that the temperatures are less hot... but i do not know if it will ever achieve the state of  the  luckier plants below.....siighhh... God gives me strenth to accept what i cannot change.... well at least i can smell the fragrant leaves....!!!

Source :  http://www.herbs-hands-healing.co.uk/lifestages/menses.html  

SOURCE :
http://www.tree-land.com/trees_vitex_shoal_creek.asp  

Vitex agnus is a medicinal plant. It is used to alleviate symptoms of various gynecological problems. All evidence is limited to standardised controlled extracts such as used in Germany, different extracts or herbal mixes may have significantly different properties and safety issues. Some of the modern uses include premenstrual syndrome, abnormal uterine bleeding disorders and mastodynia. (Source :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitex_agnus-castus)     

My poor wisteria....

....is perking up...n picking up....it was so totally bare without any leaves before this.... as  the heat of day has relented somewhat... Alhamdullillah for the rain ....