creatures in my garden

My garden have many visitors all the time. Some make this place as their home here too.

Some of the creatures are not welcomed but they are very resistant to leave. Finally I give up and learn to live and share with them.

Some I'm not sure if they still around or have make a move

Some have make family too like the below iguana!

Star fruit blooms

Star fruits are producing a lot of blooms now. They are all so pretty in pink colour. Little flowers which look promising to me.

I'm not sure how many of them will become fruits. The heavy rain always drench the delicate little flowers.

Lemon grass

I learn from pass experience about lemon grass. They do not like wet/soggy soil. I have once very lush lemon grass bush. I lost them during monsoon season where we get so much rain. Previously I planted them at low area where water pool when heavy rain for few days!

I transfer the plant to higher place and they are growing well now!

Lemon grass usually used in making curries. Any meat taste really good when you add lemon grass! I read somewhere that it can reduce cholesterol too!

Hibiscus update

Most of blogger who read my blog know about my fallen red hibiscus tree few weeks ago! It's written here

It was very beautiful shrub loved by the birds and the bees!

The Hibiscus shrub is putting up a lot of young shoots now! I'm happy to see them!

I guess the birds and the bees will be happy to the progress too! ;)

GBBD - April 2014

Flowers, flowers, flowers everywhere I see! It's a joy to see a bloom! It will brighten up anyone's day!

It's raining and equally sun is shining here!

Bogainvilla is sending out alot of flowers!

Hibiscus bloom is great in my garden now!

Wrightia white flowers look so awesome!

 Cape honeysuckle have over taken a portion of my garden! I don't mind them as they look so pretty in orange!

Euphorbia Milii is sending out flowers now after being dormant for long time!

Adenium flowers all in red!

Ginger plant is sending out a lot of shoots too!

This is my favorite plant which sent out bloom so much! I'm not so sure of the name but the flowers are long lasting!

To see more bloom around the world go to maydreamsgardens.com

Tamil New Year wishes

Today is Tamil New Year. The Tamil New Year follows the Nirayanam vernal equinox and generally falls on 14 April of the Gregorian year. 14 April marks the first day of the traditional Tamil calendar .

I still remember when I was young, my mother use to cook many delicious vegetarian menu for new year. The dessert shall be paal payasam ( milk dessert) and Vadai. We will have family lunch or dinner in case the new year fall on working / schooling day. The meal shall be served on banana leaves and we will be waiting forward for this kind of celebration! 

Now things have change so much. I didn't get the chance to go back home town to celebrate with my parents. I'm working today. Anyway hope for prosperous and happy year ahead for all of us!

Lemon

During hot weather lemon juice is very good beverages! It's believe to reduce body cholesterol level too!

My only lemon plant is producing a lot of flowers and fruits at the moment!

The lemon bush has grown big. The "bunga telang" vine has estrange them. 

bitter gourd

Bitter gourd or peria katak is my favourite especially when it's fried with salt, turmeric and chilli powder. I remember learning to eat them while young. My mum will fry them to minimize the bitter taste . It's good way of eating bitter gourd for children!

Health benefits of Bitter gourd ( from nutrition-and-you.com)

The vegetable is very low in calories, providing just 17 calories per 100g. Nevertheless, its pods are rich in phytonutrients like dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants.

Bitter melon notably contains phyto-nutrient, polypeptide-P; a plant insulin known to lower blood sugar levels. In addition, it composes hypoglycemic agent called charantin. Charantin increases glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis in the cells of liver, muscle and adipose tissue. Together, these compounds are thought to be responsible for reduction of blood sugar levels in the treatment of type-2 diabetes.

Fresh pods are an excellent source of folates, contain about 72 µg/100g (Provides 18% of RDA). Folate helps reduce the incidence of neural tube defects in the newborns when taken by mothers during early pregnancy.

Fresh bitter melon is an excellent source of vitamin-C (100 g of raw pod provides 84 mg or about 140% of RDI). Vitamin-C, one of the powerful natural antioxidants, helps the body scavenge deleterious free radicals one of the reasons for cancer development.

It is an excellent source of health benefiting flavonoids such as ß-carotene, α-carotene, lutein, and zea-xanthin. It also contains a good amount of vitamin A. Together; these compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging, cancers and various disease processes.

Bitter melon stimulates easy digestion and peristalsis of food through the bowel until it is excreted from the body. Thus, helps in relieving indigestion and constipation problems.

In addition, the vegetable is an also good source of niacin (vitamin B-3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) and minerals such as iron, zinc, potassium, manganese and magnesium.

Hibiscus after rain!

The red Hibiscus had grown so tall. It has wide spread the branches and stand big in front of other small plants! The plant produce so much of flowers that many birds use to drink the nectar of the flowers and play on the branches. Every morning this area of my garden will be noisy with birds.

The heavy rain and strong wind the other day ended all of them. The hibiscus topple down. The strong wind and the loose soil after heavy rain make the whole plant uprooted so easily.

Last weekend I chop them down and re-planted the tree. This area has become quiet again now. No more busy bees or birds.They have choose to stay at the mulberry tree.....