Fly… fly… fly… the butterfly

Lantana camara
[Lantana, Yellow Sage, Shrub Verbena, 马缨丹，物色梅]

"Fly… fly… fly… the butterfly. In the garden, flying high. In the meadow, flying low.
Fly… fly… fly… the butterfly…"

Reputed to be one of the 10 most toxic weeds in the world, Lantana camara has become a popular ornamental shrub. It emits a pungent smell from its simple leaves which are ovate with serrated edges. The folwers come i nvariety of colours like orange, purple and pink. These colours darken as the folwer matures. The fruits also occur in clusters turning from green to dark blue. Ingesting the leaf, stem and berries could cause vomitting, diarrhoea, lethargic feeling. Victims are known to fall into a coma or suffer from liver damage. Lantana poisoning occurs comonly in sheep and cattle in North Eastern Australia and India. [A Guide to Toxic Plants of Singapore]

Balsam Red

Impatiens balsamina
[Balsam, Touch-Me-Not,凤仙花 , 指甲花, 急信子]

Something dumb make me itch so much...

Dieffenbachia 'Exotica Camilla' / D. 'Tropic Mariane'
[Dumb Cane]

This is a common indoor plant which is an erect herb with a stout green stem bearing large fleshy leaves. The oblong leaves are either entirely green or variegated with the veins ususally dark green and the spaces between them white. Reddening and irritation of he oral cavity followed by burning pain, salivating, diffculty in swallowing and loss of speech for several days after ingesting it. Poisonous when taken in the soluble form causing paralysis of the nevous system. It is corrosive to the skin and precipitates blood calcium. The sharp ends produce injuries which can cause death in humans, especially in children. [A Guide to Toxic Plants in Singapore]

Warning: See what it did to my hand in January...

Red tops

Costus woodsonii

[Red Button Ginger, Spiral Ginger, Scarlet Spiral Flag]
Origin: Central America

First saw this at SisL's garden. Failed to propagate it, so I bought it.

The Spiral Ginger is of no-relation to the ginger that we use for our culinary dishes. The plant is also commonly known as Red Button Ginger, Panamian Candle Ginger, Dwarf French Kiss or by any other names. Botanically, the plant is call Costus Woodsonii from the Costaceae family, sister family of the true gingers, the Zingiberaceae.

The Spiral Ginger is an all year blooming plant. Native to Central America, it is an attractive small plant that can reach to the height of approximately 3ft tall (approx 1 metre). The brightly red heads that looks like cones do create a very nice contrast to the green shiny foliage on spiral stems. Flowers will emerge from between the bracts of the cone from colours of yellow to orange.

Propagation is by stem cuttings or plantlets that appeared from the matured dried-up flower cones onto well-drained medium. The plant is a fast grower and loves rich moist medium but not wet. To produce thick healthy plant stems,it's best to fertlise the medium once every 2 or 3 weeks. The Spiral Ginger plant prefers shade with indirect sunlight and grows well in containers

Love the following picture I took at SisL's during CNY.

Balsam Purple

Impatiens balsamina
[Balsam, Touch-Me-Not,凤仙花 , 指甲花, 急信子]

Balsam Pink

Impatiens balsamina
[Balsam, Touch-Me-Not,凤仙花 , 指甲花, 急信子]

Delivered by wind... pretty interesting

Crassocephalum crepidioides
[Redflower Ragleaf,昭和草 , 野茼蒿]

Updated 28 March 09:
Guess that's how it ended up in my little garden.

Updated 5 April 09:
Properties of wildflowers - no tender loving care required for them to multiply....

Bring all of us prosperity

Adenium obesum 'Pink'
[Desert Rose]

Desert Rose is a succulent bush with thick fleshy branches. The 'obesum' name refers to the large fat base of the plant. If left without added water and no rain for a long time or after a cold night, your desert rose can lose most or all of its leaves. Never fear, they will re-grow after watering or after warm weather returns. Position Desert Rose in full sun or some afternoon shade for best flowering, but use even less water in partial shade conditions. Select an acid soil mix with plenty of peat moss and organic elements and coarse sand. Be certain the soil mix and the pot drain very well.

Freshy leaves that simply love the sun

Sedum mexicanum
[Mexican Sedum]

Managed to catch them at their best!

Purplish Leaves with white flowers

Hemigraphis alternata
[Red Flame Ivy, Red Ivy,灰姑娘 , 紫叶半插花 , 假紫苏]

Spread and reach out to the sky

Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens
[Areca Palm, Butterfly Palm]

Small to Big, Green to Red

Raindrops

Nothing beats glancing at my little garden on a rainy day...

Hymenocallis speciosa
[Spider Lily, White Spice]

Colocasia esculenta
[Elephant's Ear, Wild Taro, Yam]

Caladium bicolor
[Fancy Leaf Caladium, Angel Wings, Heart of Jesus, Elephant's ears, Mother-in-law plant]
Origin: Tropical South America & the Caribbean

Beautiful Whites Flowers

Murraya paniculata
[Orange Jasmine, Chinese Box, Mock Orange, 九里香]

Orange Jasmine is a small, tropical, evergreen tree or shrub.

The plant flowers throughout the years and produces small, fragrant flower clusters which attract bees, while the fruits attract small fructivorous birds.

The Orange Jasmine is sexually propagated by its seeds.

The fruit of is fleshy, oblong-ovoid, coloured from green to red or orange. The fruits are eaten by birds, who then pass the seeds out in their stool. It may also be artificially propagated by softwood cuttings.