Planters/Pots

You may decorate with some figurines

I have always liked planters or pots, as they relate to both of my interests - home decor and gardening. 

Some times ago, I received a flower basket (in ramie material) from my sister. I love the ramie box bag written " ROYAL POST , ENGLAND". So I keep it in view that I could reuse it one day. I have this habit of keeping wrapping papers, ribbons and trays from floral arrangements that I received as gifts. 

A simple way to add something new into your house is to change the look of the vase or pot. There are many ways to do this, such as wrapping the post with sheer cloths and ribbons, changing the outer planter or pot, or simply add some small figurines to the plants.

Happy Weekend!

How to grow potted rose plant bought from nursery shop?

First day brought back from Cameron Highlands

Have you ever bought some potted rose plants or other plants when visiting Cameron Highlands, or from any other floral nursery shop? How many of you have successfully grow the plants you brought back home since then?

I was so excited that my friend bought me 4 pots of rose plants from Cameron Highlands. Each pot has at least 10-15 flowers and buds. I treat these plants like my babies, I nurture them with lots of efforts and love. I make sure I'm the only one who does the watering but not my helper nor my children. For the first few days, I left these plants indoor to avoid "transplanting shock" as these plants have just came from a rather cooling climate.  Every morning, I would take them out for morning sun. With my diligent care and unconditioned love, I expect the roses will grow and eventually more flowering to come.

However, after the first week, 2 pots started to show wilting instead of growing :(

After 1 week, leaves and flower buds started to wilt, cut out the dried leaves and stems to prevent further
dehydrating process

The wilting process was too fast that within 3-5 days, one pot almost considered dead. The change of climate has made the plants to dry out and dehydrate. I know I have to stop the dehydration in order to save the plant.

What I did to the remaining 3 pots was, I cut out all the dried leaves and stems as well as the wilting flowers and buds. As you know, the dehydrating process is like a disease, it spreads so fast to the other part of the plants. 

I managed to save the plants, at 2nd week, new leaves started forming.

2nd week - plants show sign of growing

6th week - new healthy plant and buds established after transferred to ground

How to make cut flowers last longer

Love the light pastel colour of these roses, the combination of light pink, orange and peach.

I was asked about tips on how to make cut flowers last longer. I did some research and here I summarise the 5 most practical ways to preserve cut flowers so that they could last longer.

I learned that the secret to keeping cut flowers looking good as long as possible is to minimise the growth of bacteria in the water and to provide nourishment to replace what the flower would have gotten had it not been cut. 

Miniature Roses

Full bloom

Amongst many flower plants, miniature rose has a special place in my heart.

Miniature roses are true roses, bred to stay small in size. They have smaller flowers than standard rose bushes, but they come in a variety of types and colors just like the standard rose plants. 

"Miniature roses are perfectly scaled, smaller versions of larger roses, with all the colors, forms, substance, and often, fragrance of full-sized roses. Like other types of roses, each variety of miniature rose has different characteristics, with plant size ranging between 6 inches and 4 feet or more and plant shapes that include bushy, compact, climbing, and cascading."  ~ source : Gardening All-in-One for Dummies

I have a special pot consists of 3 miniature rose plants (pink, orange and yellow). I bought it from a local nursery. It was a tiny pot placed at the corner of the shop.  It din't attract much attention as it wasn't flower that time. I spotted her and took her home without knowing there are actually 3 plants in it (as it look rather a tiny plant). 

I gave it to my daughter as a gift. We both take care of the plant with due diligence and much of love. My daughter would water the plant and took her out for morning sun everyday. 

Not until one fine day, we saw rose buds started coming out. It was pink buds, then we found yellow buds, what not, there was orange buds too! Me and my daughter were overly happy. 

The roses remained planted in small pot for 1.5 years! One fine day I decided to give my miniature roses a new life. hahaha.... I decided to transfer them to ground instead of planting in pot. I managed to clear a small corner for them, a spot where I think will be suitable for roses as it gets direct morning till noon sunlight. I water the roses everyday and perform fertilisation once a week.

After two weeks of transfer, new buds are forming. There were not 3, not 5, there were about 10 buds! 

My humble Miniature Roses is about the size of 12x12  inches

Full bloomed miniature rose is about 1.2x1.2 inches

To give you a better picture for the comparative sizes, the one on the right is the miniature rose, the one in the middle is the common normal size rose. Yah!!!! That's my miniature...how cute it is, I know :)

Simple Orchid in Glass Vase Arrangement

Fresh flower is the fastest way to freshen up a living space. A simple cut flowers in a glass or ceramic vase instantly change the look of a room.  

Today, I bought some fresh orchids and just cut few long green leafs from my garden to make this simple and classic arrangement in unused coffee glass.

Splitting, Combining and Repotting Miniature Caladium

Are you too bored with your garden? The fix positioning of the pots and the same old plants look similar and bring no excitement to you.  Well, you can make a difference just with some simple twists to the existing plants.

Greeting from A Red Rose

A red rose bloomed just after a morning rain, greeting everybody Good Morning.

Oregano

Herbs Garden!!!

Ok,  I want to grow a tropical herbs garden. Meanwhile I could only think of these few: oregano, basil and mint leaves. These are pretty easy to grow in tropical weather. 

I have this beautiful shape green leafy plant for many years. My mother in law likes to cut some brunches to put in vase in her room. She likes the fresh smell of this plant. 

Not until recently that my Philippine helper told me this is Oregano!!! Now I can cook nuggets and pasta with this fresh herbs in my garden :p

Wish you a happy weekend..

Rose Floral Arrangement with Candle in Bowl

Today is my DH's birthday, I made this rose arrangement for him. 

Materials : 12 Roses, 3 Ginger flowers and some side green leaves
Remarks: the green fillers and the ginger flowers are from my garden

Ginger flowers

Murraya - Natural fragrance for my veranda

"Mummy, come and see, the plant in our garden is blooming, its really a lot of flowers"

One of the reason I planted Murraya near my veranda area is I love the light scented smell of its flowers. When the plant is full blooming, I like sitting at my veranda, I need only three things : a cuppa coffee, my iThing, and music. Let the soothing light fragrance of the flowers do the rest. 

The Story of Cotton Tree

Before I set up "Mummy's into Gardening", I used to post my floral arrangement pictures in my other blog - " The Story of Cotton Tree".  I find it too much time consuming and troublesome to maintain to blogs which are inter-related. Therefore, with effective of today, all my floral arrangement posts will be posted under "Mummy's Into Gardening". "The Story of Cotton Tree" will be discontinued. Once again, thanks for your support all these while.

The Story of Cotton Tree