The colourful folliage

Very often the foliage plants are ignored as many look for blooming plants!

However some foliage plants are really colourful and beautiful too. Dracaena is one of those which have beautiful foliage. The leaves are striking in green and red.

Croton in striking red , yellow and green!

Spider plants are beautiful too in green and white! At the moment I have many sucker plants. All are welcome in the garden. They add colour to the garden!

Some of foliage plants can be used to filter the air too.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

what kind of beautiful foliage you have planted in your garden?

Mealy bug attack

I realize gardening is not all beautiful. There will be time that we face the failure. Some are due to our ignorance and some because of pest. It's strange that pest seems to know which plant we concentrate less.

Aglaonema is my favorite colourful houseplant. It's quiet easy growing plant and strive well even though we neglect them. I just water them and fertilize 2-3 months once and it's so happy with it. I like them...... beside me the mealy bug love them! It's constantly attacked by this pest all year around. Look at my poor Aglaonema plant. I just realize today morning that mealy bug already attack them quiet badly....sigh....

What is mealy bug? Here I found some information on it ( from wiki). I have a killing mission today! I mean kill the pest.....

Mealybugs are sexually dimorphic, meaning that the sexes have distinct morphological differences. Females are nymphal, exhibit reduced morphology, and are wingless, though unlike many female scale insects, they often retain legs and can move. The females do not change completely and are likely to be neotenic (exhibiting nymphal characteristics). Males are winged and do change completely during their lives. Since mealybugs (as well as all other Hemiptera) are hemimetabolous insects, they do not undergo complete metamorphosis in the true sense of the word, i.e. there are no clear larval, pupal and adult stages, and the wings do not develop internally. However, male mealybugs do exhibit a radical change during their life cycle, changing from wingless, ovoid nymphs to "wasp-like" flying adults.

Mealybug females feed on plant sap, normally in roots or other crevices. They attach themselves to the plant and secrete a powdery wax layer (therefore the name mealybug) used for protection while they suck the plant juices. The males on the other hand, are short-lived as they do not feed at all as adults and only live to fertilize the females. Male citrus mealy bugs fly to the females and resemble fluffy gnats.

Some species of mealybug lay their eggs in the same waxy layer used for protection in quantities of 50–100; other species are born directly from the female.

The most serious pests are mealybugs that feed on citrus; other species damage sugarcane, grapes, pineapple (Jahn et al. 2003), coffee trees, cassava, ferns, cacti, gardenias, papaya, Mulberry, sunflower and orchids. Mealybugs only tend to be serious pests in the presence of ants because the ants protect them from predators and parasites. Mealybugs also infest some species of carnivorous plant such as Sarracenia (pitcher plants), in such cases it is difficult to eradicate them without repeated applications of insecticide such as diazinon. Small infestations may not inflict significant damage. In larger amounts though, they can induce leaf drop.

Fossil specimens of Acropyga genus ants have been recovered from the Burdigalian stage Dominican amber deposits and several individuals are preserved carrying the extinct mealybug genus Electromyrmococcus.[3] These fossils represent the oldest recorded record of the symbiosis between mealybugs and Acropyga species ants.[3]

Ferns

I don't really fancy around with the ferns. Last time I use to think that they are just so green and plain.

I changed my perception after buying a pot of fern. It's called Asparagus fern which you can usually find it in the flower bouquets. They have charm in them! I'm totally wrong!

after a good hair cut. The new branches.....

Last week I bought another pot of fern. It's called maidenhair fern. It's really Unique!

Ferns are easy growing. Just place them under the shade or filtered sun and provide them enough water and little fertilizer. They will grow lush and green!

A row of House Plant

Aglaonema

Aglaonema is also known as Chinese evergreen. It's a great house plant which add vibrant colour and have the capability to purify the air! It's native to the tropical swamps and rain forests of southeastern Asia and north to southern China.

They prefer indirect sun light and should be kept moist but not soggy. They should not be exposed to temperatures below 10°C (50°F), with optimal growing conditions between 20°C (68°F) and 30°C (86°F). High humidity is also important in growing them. In cold country they plant this beauty in greenhouse. It's easy to propagate from cuttings, which will root in a glass of water, or from divisions however be careful of the sap as it contain poison.

It's all new area ....again....!

I have told about the Heliconia which i chop down due to it's invasive character and about the place which became ideal place for snake. Once all the Heliconia goes......the area become a bare area. After sometimes Torenia, Zinnia and Periwinkles started to self seeds that area. I throw some sunflower seeds which i thought not healthy but one of it emerge!

I planted 2 of my Euphorbia Milii cuttings and shifted my potted Thuja Platcycladus to the ground. There are still a lot of space available and the weeds are growing happily. I'm planning to put more Euphorbia Milii cuttings to make this place very un-inviting to poisonous reptile but I haven't start any..... I'm having to much to handle at the garden now since i have neglected them so long.....sigh...!

Someone told me that Heliconia is a plant which is very hard to get rid off and I think it's very true! Can you see the  baby Heliconia plant at the end corner?!

Croton

Does Croton produce flowers? All i know is that Croton produce beautiful and colourful leaves! I'm a bit surprise to see some flower bud spikes on my Croton. What are they?

They do look good. Will it bloom to become flowers?

What are you trying to reach?

Plant do entangle themselves! My Aspargus fern have put up long stem. It's going somewhere!

 Passing by Costus....

 Have reach the Heliconia.....

What's your name?

I have this beautiful indoor plant. I think it's Aglaonema species but I'm not so sure. The leaves are in Maroon and green with Maroon lines. Such a pretty plant. Their growth is so slow that i almost don't realize it. Require minimum watering and so far is pest free!

Anyone can identify this species?

House Plants

Most of us have House plants in the house for decoration purposes. They can be colourful foliage plants or flowering plants. Some of house plants do purify the air too! That's double the benefits to us!





These are some of my house plant collection. How about you?

Lipstick Palm

I have 2 Lipstick Palms in my house. Those are my husband's favorite actually. I seldom care for them but they are care free plant!

Lipstick Palm is from Arecaceae family. They are also commonly known as Red Sealing Wax Palm. Some belief this is good feng shui plant.

There are many types of palm around but lipstick palms are outstanding due to their vibrant red crownshaft and leaf arrangement! They really do add colour to a green garden.

The best part of this plant is that , they love water. Their origin is coastal swamp area. therefore they can tolerate flooding and can be grown in standing water! I know who are happy during Monsoon now......

Ornamental Shrub

I have another ornamental shrub that i just bought in Sg.Buluh nursery. The leaves looks so lush and green. If I'm not mistaken, this leaves are used in flower bouquet preparation! Now i can prepare my own flower bouquet!

I do not know how to care for this plant. Anyone have idea?

the leaves

don't they resemble Christmas tree? I wish for snow now....

 To tell the truth i went to Sg.Buluh due to the temptation arising from the juiciness of mulberry that i saw in  p3chandan blog. I thought i can get a seedling there. Unfortunately i could not find any. In fact the nursery guys do not know what mulberry is....... may be it has some other name that i do not know.....sigh!

Anyway i end up buying so many other plants! This is my first trip to Sg.Buluh nursery and i was really crazy looking at the plants! I wish I'm rich enough to buy all! ;-)

Dracaena Marginata Tricolour

Dracaena Marginata Tricolour is also known as rainbow tree. This plant is popular ornamantal shrub believed to be originated from Japan. Dracaena is air filtering plant.

I have a pot of this plant. Look at the leaf. It's colourful! It look sharp but actually it's very soft and does not cause any injury.

Miniature coconut tree?

I call this plant as miniature coconut tree! I don't know the real name but they do look like coconut a bit! Another plant who like hot sun but not wet leg! It's at my car porch at the moment due to rain season!



The leaves



top view

Christmas Tree

I'm very poor in identifying the plants name or their origin. I call this plant Christmas Tree. We can see this tree along the road side. Huge and nice! At the moment it's growing in the pot.



close up look with kangkung




The sharp leaves



variegated leaves

I have a pot of variegated leave plant. It's green with pink marking. They sit quietly at the car porch. I think it can be a great indoor plant!