Screwed

Back in the fourth quarter of 2009 when we began the process of "greening" the farm, Mom bought some seedlings she thought were agave plants. But when I saw the picture (see below), I thought they were not agaves but maybe were related to the pineapple family.

As much as I can, I try to identify and record the names of the plants we collect and plant in the farm. Since I could not identify the common and botanical name of these plants I couldn't add it to my list.

In 2011, the last time I visited the farm, I didn't even remember seeing these plants. In fact I've completely forgotten about them. This year however, I've been noticing them very prominent in some of the e-mailed pictures I regularly receive from my mother. How couldn't I, they're big yet look very nice.

Now that they've grown big and bushy, I remember seeing pictures of plants that look  like these in  the internet. They are palm-like with stout trunks and prop roots near the base. They use these roots to support the main trunk as they grow top heavy with leaves, branches and sometimes fruits. They are called "screw pines" (Pandanus spp.) or "pandanus palms" although they are not related to the palm trees.

Screw pines are dioecious, meaning they have separate male and female flowers, hence male and female plants. Only the females will produce fruits. Our pandanus are not yet mature enough to bear flowers so we may need a few more years to know their sexes.

Now I know the genus where they belong. There are several species under the Pandanus genus. It may take more hours of reading and surfing the net before I could get lucky enough to identify the species of the pandanus we have growing in the farm.

At least, now I could include this in my plant list.

Hold the torch

I hold the torch for a certain ginger-head. I showered her with care, tender touch and kindness. But alas, the attentions I gave were all left unrequited.

But years of persistent waiting, though truly exasperating, has finally bore its fruit. Our Torch Ginger (Etlingera elatior) has blossomed!

Just like the Bird of Paradise, this plant has kept me waiting for so many years to see it bloom. Last year, after three years plus of waiting, the former granted my wish. With that, I thought the latter's turn will come very soon.

With almost four years of no luck I was inclined to conclude I'm waiting for a flower to sprout from the wrong plant. Whenever I see posts of the Torch Ginger from other bloggers I can't help myself but be envious. One blogger friend, Africanaussie, suggested I send her pictures of our ginger so she can help verify if it is really a Torch Ginger. Immediately I asked my mother to take a picture of the said plant, but since we now have different species of gingers in the garden, she's already confused as to which plant is which.

Then one January morning, as mother was going around the garden to check on the plants, lo and behold, two Torch Gingers are in bloom. They may only have one flower each but that is more than enough for me, I'm happy!

A royal treatment

The seven new Royal palms.

Whenever I go to the farm, two things never escape my notice: that I always sleep in my brother's bedroom and those four imposing palm trees across our house.

On my every visit I temporarily use my brother's vacant room. That's because I have no room of my own; it has long been converted into a storage room...sigh! Somehow I understand how the "Holy Family" felt when they were told "there's no room in the inn." Maybe next time I'll bunk with the goats, or better yet, with the sheep. Talk about royal treatment!

Now when it comes to royal, those four imposing palm trees across the house aptly fit the title. I was told they are called Cuban Royal palms, Florida Royal palms or simply Royal palms (Roystonea regia). Although it's now a very common landscaping plant, I never really cared until I saw them in our own place. They are impressive in size, height and stature, fitting to be called 'royals.'

The trunks of the original four Royal palms. Picture taken on my visit last February, 2011

Since we only have four Cuban Royals in the farm, I thought of getting some more and randomly plant them in the 'upper' garden. In the future as they grow tall, these should help this struggling garden look more like a true garden and not just an open field with scattered plants here and there.

With the money left from the botched purchase of bamboo seedlings and the purchase of two Labrador puppies they were able to buy seven Royal palms. The palms they bought aren't very tall yet. That's fine since the really tall ones with visible trunks I'm pretty sure would cost thousands and thousands of pesos, if not more.

Except for the second picture, the rest were taken on a very dreary day. It has been raining almost daily for the past three months. Taking advantage of those hours without rain they immediately planted the Royal palms in random locations.

Seven is still not enough. There should be more of them in the farm. But with no budget yet, the rest would have to wait... until I win big in the lotto.

The forbidden fruit

The forbidden fruit is not exclusively found in the garden of Eden anymore, it is also found in our garden (and maybe in yours too).

Just outside our humble house in the farm, growing close to the patio are trees that bear a type of fruit that I so love to eat, the pomelo (Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis). And these particular trees produce an excellent quality of pomelos. But now this is a fruit that I could only touch but could no longer eat. How come?

My doctor cautioned me to refrain from consuming grapefruit (Citrus × paradisi) products (fruit, juice, etc.) because it may interact with my prescription medication to lower my blood cholesterol level. There's something in the chemical make up of this fruit that affects the metabolism of some medications rendering them dangerous. This culprit has not been pinpointed to a certainty yet but one suspect is the chemical furanocoumarins. And what has grapefruit got to do with pomelo?

The grapefruit is a hybrid which came into existence by crossing a pomelo with an orange. Since some chemical compounds in grapefruits like furanocoumarins are also found in high amounts in pomelos, it can be assumed that consuming pomelo is also a big NO, and this assumption is supported by some online literatures. So rather than second guess and endanger my earthly existence, I would rather err on the side of caution.

For several years now, every time I go on vacation to the farm our pomelo trees beckon me to come and partake of their fruits, especially those that are hanging low and at an arm's reach. Weak as I am, their seduction draws me to touch and admire their fruits only to turn back and slowly walk away from these luscious temptations.
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Not my Iris

I was told it's an Iris but it sure doesn't look like the Iris I had in mind.

The flowers of our Walking Irises (Neomarica gracilis).

It all started when I asked Mom a year or so ago to buy some Iris plants so we could start propagating them. My plan was to use these Irises as bog or marginal plants in the future Koi pond and water garden. That way when the pond and water garden are built there would be plenty of Irises ready to use without the need to buy more.

Our Walking Irises in bloom in the nursery.

So that's how these Irises came to exist in the farm. But the flowers don't resemble the ones I've seen in some online pictures growing near bodies of water so my only conclusion is that this is not the Iris I wanted. However, since they look good just the same they are a very welcome addition in the garden.

The flower of our Giant Apostle's Iris (Neomarica caerulea).

But once again I was at a loss as to what type of Iris these are. I've been wanting to write about them but I don't exactly know their actual names. But the wonders of the internet never cease to amaze. I wasn't even googling for this type of plant when lo and behold there it was staring at me on my monitor, a flower that looks exactly like the blooms of our no-name Irises.

Our Giant Apostle's Irises temporarily placed in front of the front porch of our humble house.

Now I know. Our mysterious Iris is called the "Walking Iris" or the "Apostle's Iris" from the genus Neomarica with sixteen different species. It is native to Central and South America as well as the tropical regions of western Africa. This plant belongs to the family Iridaceae so technically it's still an Iris but quite different from its true Iris cousin which is from the genus Iris. To be specific ours is the Neomarica gracilis and the other is the Neomarica caerulea.

More young Walking Irises in the nursery.

I could only blame myself for not getting the plant I was looking for. It could have helped a lot if I had been more specific when I asked Mom to buy some Irises. I should have said 'Water Iris', now that would have been clearer. The ones we have don't even like wet soil so they'll definitely feel miserable in the future Koi pond and water garden. Anyway, there are plenty of spaces waiting for them in the upper garden where they can thrive in peace and multiply as they desire.

And so the search for the Water Iris is still on. But wait! I have no budget left for more plants.....grrrr!tropical garden Tropical Garden tropical garden Tropical Garden

Waiting for the Bamboo Orchids to grow

The flower of a Bamboo Orchid. (image source: Wikipedia)

The spaces on both sides of the entrance to the farm is still sparsely planted. And I have not completely forgotten about it. From the very moment the first Triangle palm was installed, I have been thinking of what to put underneath and in between the rows of palms.

My blogger friend Africanaussie suggested that I use Ixora, a plant that doesn't mind aggressive trimming to keep it maintained. I so much appreciate the suggestion and I pondered about using it as well. My only problem with Ixora is that it's a very common plant in the country. Almost every garden, large or small has at least one to a point that almost nobody cares about it anymore.

Young Bamboo Orchids with other young plants in the nursery.

So I thought what else can I use? Then I remembered this one particular plant that happened to be blooming when I visited the farm last February. I was attracted by its unusual looks and the flowers resemble that of an orchid. But I didn't know its name then. It was only after reading Autumn Belle's entry that I got to know that plant.

The Bamboo Orchid (Arundina graminifolia) is not a native to the country. It was an introduced species and although it's quite popular it's not yet widely cultivated.

This ground orchid's reedy stems and grass-like leaves give its bamboo-like structure. It has a clumping habit so growing out of control or invading other spaces is not a big problem. The significant sized flowers develop at the top of the stem. This, I thought would be a good candidate plant to put in between the Triangle palms at the entrance to the farm.

More young Arundinas in the nursery.

Since we're on a very tight budget these days, buying is not a good option. So, I asked Mom if she could try to propagate them from our one and only clump of Bamboo Orchid. And off she went separating some of the offsets from the mother plant, individually putting each on separate black plastic bags. Those with significant roots she planted directly to the ground.

Mom thought these two are old enough to be planted to the ground.

The young plants shown on the three pictures above are either just two or three weeks old. And judging from their appearance they seem to be doing well. However, it might take several months (or years) before they grow to a significant height and volume and produce flowers. But as I have been slowly and painfully learning the hard way, all I can do (again) is wait. And waiting is torture to an impatient person like me.
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Not a calla nor a lily

Boy, this plant has some serious identity problem.

The Calla lily is not a true calla and neither is a true lily. It is also commonly referred to as 'Arum' and yet is not a true arum either. So what is it?

Calla lilies belong to the genus Zantedeschia with several recognized species including aethiopica, elliottiana and rehmannii, the three most common. This plant is native to the southern region of Africa and was named after the Italian botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi. As beautiful as it is, this plant is poisonous when ingested raw due to the presence of calcium oxalate in all its parts.

Now that's my short introduction to this plant.

When it comes to plants, I've had many "love at first sight" moments. And this is definitely one of them. This is one of those "must haves" in my long list of plants. I just don't know if they will survive in our farm's local climate. I know they do in the cooler regions like Baguio.

Last February I went home with two packets of the yellow Calla lily, each packet contains two tubers. I gave one packet to my Aunt, who's now helping us propagate some plants in her own garden. And I must say she is having more luck than us. Anyway... The other packet is left in the farm for my Mom. Aside from the tubers we also visited the Manila Seedling Bank and bought several Calla plants.

Seven pots of Calla lilies we bought last February the day before I flew back to the U.S.

From what I've read the white Calla lily thrives in the sun and likes having wet feet. The colored species prefer the opposite, part shady and more dry soil. So I told Mom their contrasting behaviors so she can properly take care of them.

A few weeks after I returned to the U.S., I was informed that the colored ones rotted after they were left exposed to several days of continuous rain. Sigh... The white ones survived. Just this month I learned that of the four whites, only two are still alive. Sigh again...

Now these plants aren't in the farm yet. Currently they are in our small house in one suburb of Metro Manila which is several hundreds of kilometers away from the farm. My mother goes there only when she needs to. Since she cannot bring them all to the farm by herself, with a heavy heart she had to leave them there.

If you must know about our house near the capital, most of the time the house sits empty and in a dilapidated state. The plants there rely on mother nature for nourishment or the infrequent visit of a trusted neighbor to check the place. Just recently it has been burglarized three consecutive times. So now it looks more like a prison, with high walls ringed with rows of barbed wires and bars on all the windows.

So what happened to the two packets of Calla lily I gave to Mom and my aunt?

Last month, Mom said one of the two tubers she planted started to sprout. First a leaf came out (above, left) then a flower but it's not pure yellow though (above, right). Then the other tuber sprouted, flower first and this one's yellow. Those I gave to my aunt also sprouted flowers first and both are yellow.

From these four mother plants, I hope Calla lilies will have a continued presence in the farm. Calla lilies can be propagated by dividing the tubers or by letting the flowers produce seeds. There is no guarantee that they will have the same color of flowers as the mother plant if they were grown from seeds.

A day will come when I'll be moving to the farm for good, if not, then more frequent and longer stays. And I will try my luck with the 'must have' plants that did not survive due to mismanagement or neglect. I hope my vision of a garden full of white and colored Calla lilies will come true someday.
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A glimpse of paradise

For most of April and on into May our very first Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae) has been gracing the garden with its exotic yet stunningly beautiful flowers.

Third flower in early bloom.

Second flower in full bloom.

Very first flower past its prime.

To me, this is a wonderful milestone in the garden since we've been waiting for so long for this moment to arrive. At last it's here! And there are still young flower buds waiting for their time to shine.

Then another promising development. I recently received a text message that it looks like the second Bird of Paradise is forming a flower bud. It's too early to tell if it's indeed a flower bud or just another leaf, but Mom believes its going to be a bud. So here we are, looking forward to another glimpse of paradise in late May or early June.

Visit Hope Grows Day: May 2011 meme to meet other hopeful gardeners.
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Astonishing!

"Katakataka" is the local name of this plant. It means astonishing, remarkable or puzzling. According to Wikipedia, its other names are Air Plant, Life Plant, Miracle Leaf, Goethe Plant.

The Kalanchoe pinnata is a succulent and a native of Madagascar. It's widely cultivated in temperate regions because of ease of propagation. In other areas, it can be grown as an indoor plant.

What's astonishing about this plant is its method of reproduction. Tiny plantlets begin to grow on the notches along the margins of its leaves. As soon as the plantlets develop roots they can be severed from the mother leaf and transplanted as individual plants.

The "Katakataka" (try pronouncing it fast if you don't speak Filipino) has become so common in the Philippines that almost nobody cares about this plant anymore. Even I was not a fan of this plant.

As I was walking around the garden last February, I was drawn to this curious profusion of chandelier-like clusters of upside-down flowers that are bell-shaped, reddish in color and dangling like pendants. In my several decades of existence it was my first time to see such a bloom. "How beautiful!" was all that I could say.

Upon closer inspection, it was a revelation. Surprise, surprise! The lowly "Katakataka" does not only reproduce in a remarkable way, its flowers are even more remarkable. This drew out a renewed interest in me. I will no longer ignore or dismiss this plant.

Because of its unusual but easy way of reproduction it has become an invasive plant in other parts of the world, especially in Hawaii. It's so easy to grow and as a succulent it even thrives on neglect. One leaf alone can produce several plantlets in no time.

In a sparsely populated garden like ours, plant invasion is still a welcome event.
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Waiting for paradise...

Three very long years. At last our first Bird of Paradise has shown us that truly, good things come to those who wait.

Our very first Bird of Paradise is about to shower us with gifts.

The first flower bud is almost ready to open.

Three more flower buds in various stages of development.

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If you need ears...

"If you need ears go and borrow them from the elephant."African proverb

"Maganda din pala syang pang-landscape" (It's also good for landscaping).

That was what my mother commented when she saw the Giant Upright Elephant Ears (Alocasia macrorrhiza) gallantly growing as accent plants in one corner of the Sky Garden (SM Mall - North EDSA) sometime last year. After shopping for some necessities, Mom and Dad visited the open garden just to get some landscaping ideas. Dad said he knows where to get some.

Cool! So that's how this plant got introduced in the garden. There are other clumps of this Giant Upright Elephant Ear somewhere else, which somehow I failed to notice during my last visit despite their evident size. I'll just rely on my mother's assurance that there are indeed others elsewhere.

Although in fact a common plant, it's not a practical choice for those who have gardens that are space constrained. After all it's not called "giant" for no reason.

For size comparison: a Blood Banana on the left and a Giant Upright Elephant Ear on the right.

There are also other plants called "Elephant Ears" in the genera Caladium, Colocasia and Xanthosoma. Along with Alocasia they all belong to the family Araceae. All these other so-called Elephant Ears, whether giant or not, have leaves pointing downward, this one stands out because theirs point up.

Another so-called Elephant Ear, the Giant Taro, locally known as "Biga" ("Bira" in the north), is both an ornamental and an edible plant. But in our corner of the country, i.e. the rural area, it is valued more for its edible parts than for its aesthetic purposes. Maybe that's the reason why although we have plenty of "Biga" which we could incorporate into the garden they were still left out. I have no idea where to classify this Giant Taro though. Is it Colocasia or Xanthosoma?

A giant "Biga" growing somewhere in the currently unused and weedy side of the farm pretty much untended and ignored.

I'm glad that we have the Upright Giant Elephant Ear in the farm/garden. I've been wanting to get one since I first saw it in some garden photos. And I didn't even have to bother my parents to look for it. They too found it interesting after seeing its aesthetic beauty in a tropical garden setting. Best of all we got it for free.
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The traveler sees what he sees...

The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see."
Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

In my previous entry, "Another unplanned project", an ardent garden blogger and my cyberspace friend Andrea asked if I don't like the Traveler's Palm. Now who wouldn't like a gorgeous plant like the one below?

The Traveler's Palm. Photo courtesy of www.toptropicals.com

If there is a mad scientist who has successfully crossbred two unrelated plants, the Ravenala madagascariensis, commonly known as Traveler's (or Traveller's) Palm would be a good example of his sinister work. At first glance one would think it's a banana and a palm tree spliced together. The leaves resemble that of the banana and the trunk looks like that of a palm tree.

Three young Traveler's Palm in different stages of growth in the garden.

The banana-like leaves and petioles are symmetrically lined on a plane which extend out from a single trunk. This leaf and stalk arrangement gives it a very beautiful hand fan appearance. Like a palm tree, the Traveler's palm has a single sturdy trunk. The trunk of the young plant is hidden below ground level but as the plant grows it sheds its dead leaf, slowly revealing the trunk with its distinctive leaf scar rings, another characteristic of true palms.

Three more young Traveler's Palm in the garden.

We have several of the Traveler's palm in the garden. None are as big and beautiful as the one in the first picture above, but given time and proper care they too will look the same.

One of our Traveler's palm with most of its leaves chopped off due to severe damage caused by a strong typhoon.

The last big storm to hit the farm last year has been brutal to these plants as demonstrated by their tattered leaves. But new leaves have sprouted since then. Our biggest Traveler's palm which is at the entrance to the farm (right picture) suffered the most lashing. It successfully held its ground but got severely beaten in the process. Most of its older leaves have been lopped off as they have been completely damaged. Now it faces a new trial since it will be dug up and transplanted inside to make way for the Triangle palms. I hope it will survive this impending transplant.

Because of its unique appearance the Traveler's palm has indeed traveled from its native place of Madagascar to see and conquer other parts of the world and will not fail to catch the eye of anyone who visits a garden with a tropical landscape theme.

She's a shrimp

Almost two years ago, while looking for my way out of a huge mall in the Philippines, I heard a group of young men describe someone as a "hipon" (local word for "shrimp"). Their eyes were fixated on a young lady who was standing a few meters away. Poor girl, if only she knew that at that very moment she was being complimented and insulted at the same time.

I guess having a gorgeous body and a not-so pleasing-to-look-at face is both a blessing and a curse.

But such unpleasant description does not apply to the Pachystachys lutea, also known by its several common names of Golden Shrimp Plant, Golden Candle Plant, Yellow Shrimp Plant, Shrimp Plant and Lollipop Plant. Originally from Peru, this evergreen plant produces a  bright yellow overlapping bracts which appear year-round in its native habitat, but only during the warmer months elsewhere. The bright yellow bracts form a shape of a four-sided cone. From behind the bracts grow two-lipped white flowers

As to how it got the name "shrimp plant", it must have been due to the bracts that resemble a shrimp's overlapping scales, or it might also be because of the white flowers that look like cooked and shelled shrimps.

We have several of these Shrimps scattered in the upper garden. It's not included in my list of "must have" plants but it's one of those plants that found its way to my mother's heart and that's how it got to the garden.

Wax on, wax off

The flower of our Indonesian Wax Ginger.

This is one of the entries that was scheduled to be posted around the time the strong typhoon drastically rearranged the plants in our farm and garden. Although this plant survived, I'm quite certain it doesn't look pretty today.

The Indonesian Wax Ginger (Tapeinochilus ananassae) is another of those exotic tropical plants that for me is a "must have" in our garden.

Another ginger in the Costus family, its native locale ranges from Southeast Asia to north-eastern part of Australia.

Typical of a Costus, its smooth and lance-shaped leaves grow in spiral arrangement around a bamboo-like stem. The showy and red "flower", which is actually a collection of bracts, sprouts directly from the ground. The small and yellow flowers emerge in between the bracts.

Because the waxy and stiff bracts are beautiful and long-lasting, the Indonesian Wax ginger is an excellent cutflower. It is suitable for floral arrangements with a tropical flair.

The pictures above are of our Indonesian Wax Gingers growing in the nursery area. There are also other clumps of this plant scattered in the upper garden which are still young and are yet to bloom.