Saturday, June 25, 2011

Is this a honeysuckle?

I have this plant growing in my garden for a few months and now it has started to bloom.


I checked its leaves and blossom against photos on the net and believe it's a honeysuckle. However, I'm not sure. The blooms give off a sweet scent.



I'd appreciate if any readers can help me confirm.

Friday, June 10, 2011

A new Dahlia

I obtained a tuber of this dahlia last fall. After dormancy during the dry months, it has waken up and is now blooming in my garden.




So far this season, I have three dahlias bloom already.



I always love dahlia and am looking to increase my collection.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

The day after

Today, the scadoxus has actually become a fire ball. Beautiful!



Saturday, June 4, 2011

Scadoxus bloom

I have this scadoxus bulb for about 3 years now. The year before last it bloomed beautifully but last year it didn't due to my neglect. However, it continued to grow and multiply so much that it cracked the plastic pot it was in. I had to change the pot and divide its bulblets to share with friends. I just keep the mother bulb.


At the beginning of this week, I spotted a scape on the bulb.

Yesterday, the scape opened to reveal many healthy looking buds inside.


And finally, this morning, the "fireworks" exploded! 

Scadoxus is said to be a tropical bulb; it blooms on a yearly cycle and requires a dormancy period to do so. If grown in a hot country, like Vietnam, it will continue to grow throughout the year without going into dormancy and sometime bloom at its will when the rain season starts.
In my experience, when I disturb its roots, like up-rooting and re-planting, it will surely bloom for me provided that it hasn't bloomed previous to being disturbed. A blogger friend in Malaysia, James Missier, once tried to force scadoxus. Unfortunately, the process didn't work for him. Guess scadoxus doesn't like to be put into a refrigerator!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Change for the better

In a wish to make my blog look more interesting to you, I have changed the template and hope you like it.
Please give me some feedback on this.
Thank you very much for your comments.