Wednesday 19 November 2014

Hydrangea

One of my most beloved non-fragrant flowers is none other than hydrangea. I first cultivated it more than twenty years ago when I was still studying in college. Then it was all forgotten and neglected at my parents' place until I moved into my current house. When I failed twice to propagate it from cuttings, I decided to move the one and only remaining plant to my place. Shown some TLC after years of neglect, it bloomed again. However, a kind of pest eventually killed my very old plant and what I managed to save are just cuttings of the shoots which surprisingly seem to grow after being planted in the soil. So, the lesson learnt is hydrangea is propagated by taking the new stems and not old ones.
Only a hint of blue is seen here although years ago at my parents' place it used to be all blue.
A lovely pink cluster....


Now that I have pink hydrangea, I miss the blue one.

Monday 3 November 2014

Pink Pentas @ Egyptian Star

Thanks to my Facebook gardening buddies, I learn that the flower posted here is called Pentas. Armed with the name, I went googling and found more information in Autumn Belle's blog www.mynicegarden.com. Actually the specimen displayed here isn't mine but my SIL's. It is a perennial in the tropics and supposed to flower most of the time. There are a few other colours available too. Beautiful clusters of petals it has but without any fragrance.