My Garden Blooms

This is just my 89th post after three years of blogging. But I have always been updated with my main blog. You can find the link here on the right corner of the blog.

I’ve recently took shots of our garden blooms. Summer is here and more blooms  could be seen.

My Ruellias used to be in purple shade only but lately, there are pnk and white blooms too.

 

My Adenium is beginning to show those lovely flowers in deep pink.

 

My orange Bougainvillea. I’ve never been successful in replanting such plant. We have one in pink at the corner outside our perimeter wall but since it was cut by the subdivision maintenance, it hasn’t flowered yet.

 

Vinca – planted from seeds a few months ago.

 

 

A more robust Vinca flowers. They self-propagate.

 

My Crossandra blooms are everywhere in the garden.

 

Hydrangea flowers are so lovely. The blooms are in a lovely shade of blue when I bought the pot.

 

Additional flowers turned into soft pink.

 

Did you know that the color of the hydrangea flowers change depending on the pH of the soil used?
In strongly acid soil (pH below 6), flowers turn blue. In alkaline soil (pH above 7), flowers turn pink or even red.

 

I started planting Zinnia again. this is a mini-Zinnia planted from seeds.

 

Msarigold is one of the loveliest colors in the garden but it has to be in partial shade, otherwise, the leaves would dry out under the heat of the sun.

 

You can find Mayanas in so many arresting colors but this one is just green. I wish I could find other colors again. Put them in a shaded area and they will thrive and give you those lovely blooms.

 

 

When The Sea Speaks

I want first of all, to be at peace with myself.

I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life

that will enable me to carry out….obligations and activities as well as I can.

I want in fact – to borrow from the language of the Saints – to live “in grace”

as much of the time as possible.

-Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I must admit, the name of her husband Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. was more familiar to me  than she was. She was the first licensed woman glider pilot in the US. And I didn’t know  that she writes until I encountered her  inspirational and probably her best-known work,  The Gift From The Sea, a small and hardbound volume  which I enjoyed reading tremendously. It’s a book of essays which was first published in 1955.  I was born a year after its publication and yet her book speaks for women of all ages – about life, love and marriage, peaceful solitude,  and  soul-searching.  She writes with a poetic style that makes you savor every page because she is telling the world what you can’t verbalize yourself,  that sort that gets into you and you can relate to  it like it was your story too.  And you wish that you would be brave enough to do the same, just waiting, waiting for a gift from the sea.

 

 

Glimpse Of Heaven

Oh my goodness, I was busy keeping my main site updated that I clearly forgot to visit this blog for quite a while.  Shame on me.

I miss those times we used to go on road trips  and discover places. I miss those days just  driving around and seeing those beautiful and lovely views of the countryside. Since I got sick, my immunity has become a little low that I was afraid to go out in far places with so many people. I only go the malls when we do some grocery shopping and when I need to buy something for the family and for my grandson.  I have to always wear a face mask when I go out because of pollution outside.

I miss places like this, rice fields as far as the eyes can see.  It’s like a glimpse of heaven.

My Gardenia Blooms

 

These flowers used to be permanent fixtures in my small garden. I had the lone shrub for years and it produces such lovely white flowers  every year. Some months ago, the leaves slowly turned yellow then they dried up to brittle brown ones. This afternoon, my son and I decided to finally put it to rest so what is left now is a small stump  of the trunk.

My gardenia is gone. All I have left are random photos  of its flowers. Funny but I still could smell their heady scents from here.

 

Foliage

I have always been fascinated by the different colors of greens in our small garden.  I sometimes make it a point to take some shot of them when they are at their best. It’s been a while though since I took photos, my camera is not working well. I rely  on my camera phone and tab  for quick shots. Here are some foliage shots I took over the years.

My Eugenia plant

Every tip is colored orange when the leaf is young. I so love this. You can shape Eugenia anything you want.

San Francisco or Croton plant

San Francisco comes in a variety of colors and shapes. They are easy to propagate shrubs but you need to trim them so they won’t grow too tall.

An ornamental
pineapple plant.

I have this for quite sometime and I am still waiting for it to produce those lovely fruits to no avail.

I forgot the name of this water plant.  It grows as vine and so easy to propagate. You can even use it inside for vases.

This belongs to the family of those Taro plants you commonly see in gardens.

A mosquito repellent plant.  I  use it as grown covers too. When you want lovely foliage in your garden, this is it.

Regina Rosarii RICA

One of the best places we visited in  our road trips is Regina RICA in Tanay, Rizal. It is a place of prayer and worship and that 71-foot tall image of Mama Mary is one sure attraction of the place.

I love going on road trips. One learns a lot of things  when one visits religious sites like this.  Aside from the peace and quiet that it brings, it makes you think of your Maker and the wonderful life you have. Life is precious and it is more felt in those places where the lush green of the countryside abounds.

Regina Rosarii RICA

Another Day In Paradise

Go ahead –

Find some quiet place and listen

to the silence

Feel the sun on your face

Savour the sound of the wind

See the distant roar of the sea

Absorb the beauty of another day.

Today’s Quote

 

Punta de Uian

I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets. It has
given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me – I am happy.
~Hamlin Garland, McClure’s, February 1899

Misty

 

This reminds me of those cold mornings I used to spend in the province.  Seeing the beauty of nature, pondering what life is all about, discovering things that evoke lovely memories of old.

It was a misty morning alright.

 

One More Day

Every time I see cloud formations like these, I am reminded of this wonderful quote from Rabindranath Tagore:

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”

Then I begin to sing;

♫♪♫♪See the clouds adrift so far below
Ever changing as they come and go;
Makes me wonder why I’m up so high
When really I am down so low
Of all the wonders I was one allowed
I think that I would always choose a cloud,
Always bring my feelings right out loud,
Whether I’m ashamed or proud.♪♫♫♫

It makes me wonder what life is all about. Took this shot in front of our house. You can view it in large format.