Green Springcleaning. I am 2 today !!

Today I'm 2 years old. Yes, all of  730 days to date since I decided to create this pastime for myself. Guess what, writing is good for through it I've found so many friends the world over. Simply this blog is to share life's precious little pleasures with you in the manner I can. Also, these tales which I relate will allow me to remember them myself, not forgetting your shared thoughts when the grey matter fails me.

Thanks for staying with me friends. Fingers crossed, I'll be blogging much longer. How does one celebrate this day - March 12, 2011? It's springcleaning time. Not only my fuzzy mind needs it, My garden too!

I need a dusun ! Out of the confines of my garden proper -  hibiscus, mango, banana, mulberry, plumbago ,herbs -  curry leaf, daun kesum, pandan, aloe vera, cinnamon.  On the other end of the perimeter wall  - ixora, brazilian firecrackers, 2 jacaranda, Pride of India , flame of the forest and a couple of plants .
I bought a Pride of India (lagerstroemia speciosa) sapling in December, can't wait to enjoy the flourish of the pink/purple flowers. The Flame of the Forest has not shown its beauty yet - more fertiliser !

A couple of medium to tall trees flank one end of the garden. The  costus curvibracteatus adds some colour sandwiched between the phyllanthus and the misai kuching on the ground.  I started with  9 weak misai kuching plants and have been faithfully cutting and multiplying them. It does not look  a great plot yet but  it will in time.


Standing tall behind are  palm trees with their berries, few eugenia plants, the handkerchief ( maniltoa) tree and the rukam. I love the handkerchief  tree when there is a flush of new leaves.  It is like a story unfolding. As they dangle in a spear like form the colour and shape changes . Finally, they appear like the rest of the mature leaves on the the tree, quite undistinguishable. As for the rukam, the birds hop over for refuge. The berries are plentiful and they are raining on my garden! What do I do with them??  

The workers were heaving the spiky trunk of the hura  onto the truck. My cinnamon tree with a nice canopy was a gift from a friend in Penang. Though  scraggy, the mulberry plant beside it has fruits appearing. 

Safe in their yellow bucket, the workers loped off the spindly branches of the neem.  It has overshadowed  the erythrina glauca and bougainvillae in my garden proper . 

How the neem has grown from a small plant given to me in a milo tin by my sis in law's mil. Her name is Mrs Selvadurai, a dear old, sweet natured lady who came for our house blessing  20 years ago. The neem  popularly known as ' Heal All' in India  is a major component in Ayurvedic medicine.  

A day when the grass cutters and the DBKL guys came calling. Reluctantly I allowed the gardener to trim the grass of this patch as during the previous cutting months ago,the earth was exposed here and there. I resurrected it and got the cover back by regular watering.

Up with the birds and clouds. After the neem, it was the turn of the hura crepitans ( sandbox tree) trees. Hura in normal  circumstances has an erect trunk witk a lovely canopy. They were looking like crooked stairway to heaven  before the cutting. White sap (toxic)  flowed quite freely from the remaining trunk . I went with my friend, Uncle Foo to Sungai Buloh to get  a few plants upon his recommendation.  During storms, the branches have fallen. They are fast growing . It's time to get them down to size.

Finally, when the job was done, it more than filled the truck. Thanks DBKL, we await the regrowth.