Preparing For 5th Chemo Treatment

It is Monday again. Wishing everyone a happy new week. Yesterday (Sunday), we celebrated Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all fathers.

I was awake and I wanted to walk out to check if there was any sunrise for me to snap photos.

Sunrise photo.

Sunrise photo.

~~~~~

Below are some of my surviving plants in my garden after I delegated the garden to my hubby.

Croton: yellow and green coloured leaves croton.

Aglaonema pink lady: placed in semi shade.

Coleus, placed in semi shade.

Bauhinia Kockiana.

This cat has been a nuisance to the neighbourhood. It climbs and left footprints on our car, scratch the seat of hubby's motorcycle and poo in our garden.

Mural.

Photo credited to Julie Chong.

Linking to Skywatch Friday, Saturday's Critters & Monday Mural.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children;

instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

(Ephesians 6:4, New International Version-NIV)

My Croton Plant Finally Flowered!

I read somewhere in the internet that Croton plants have flowers but so far, I have not seen my Croton plants bearing flowers before. Since then, on and off I have been keeping a look out for any sign of flowers on my Croton plants.

Last month while I was watering my plants, I was standing very near to my Croton plants and something caught my eyes. I bent closer to check. To my surprise and excitement this was what I saw!

For the first time my Croton plant was flowering! These were flower buds. The buds were not big and may go unnoticed.

The flowers stalk is only between 2 to 3 inches long from the main stem.

These must be the seeds? It was raining heavily and I didn't get to see the flowers.

I saw 2 flowers stalks from the same plant. I needed to trim another plant as the branches were getting out of shape. I propagated using the stem cuttings and I had another surprise. About 2 to 3 weeks later I saw flowers on one of the newly planted stem cuttings.

The flowers may be tiny but they are so pretty!

What a joy to have the opportunity to see these tiny flowers!

The flowers lasted about a week or more. The joy and reward of gardening is to get to see and enjoy the flowers, especially the rare ones.

After the flowers, I saw this.

Then the flower stalk dropped and could these be seeds? Anyway, I placed these "seeds" back onto the soil in the pot and let nature takes its course. If anything comes out of it, I will post about it in the future.

Linking to Good Fences.

Tell the righteous it will be well with them,

for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

(Isaiah 3:10, New International Version-NIV)

Growing More Variegated Croton Plants (Pictum, Sunny Star) In My Garden

Two days ago on 3rd March 2015, I wrote about growing Croton plants (Pokok Puding) in my garden. Today, I want to share with you my other Croton plants in my garden. There are three more variety. All these were bought by my hubby as contribution to my garden. He wanted to add more colours, especially yellow to brighten up the garden.

Croton - Codiaeum Variegatum cv. 'Chrysophylla'

The leaves are in shades of bright yellow and green.

This beautiful plant had grown to a height of almost 122 cm (approx. 4 feet). This busy plant had attracted birds to build their nest among the branches and hatched their eggs there. We only came to know when we heard the baby bird's chirping for food. What joy it was to see the baby birds with their mouth wide open, chirping for food. Everyday, I have been watering the plants and yet did not even know that the nest was there. The nest was very well hidden. From then on, after watering the plants, we will stay away from the garden so as not to disturb the mother bird feeding her babies.

During the recent rainy season, the strong wind bent the branches of this plant out of shape. So I cut back on the branches and shorten the height of the plant. After a few weeks, new shoots started to grow.

The rainy season is now over and the leaves are once again showing off its bright shades of striking yellow and green.

Once again, my Croton plant is growing beautifully and adding colours to my garden.

Croton Pictum Spot

The leaves are long, narrow and green with yellow spots. This plant has been growing very well and healthy.

During the recent rainy season, this plant was over soaked with water and very soon, all the leaves started to droop and drop off until it was totally bald.

The weather is fine once again. Since all the leaves had dropped, I might as well cut back the branches. A few weeks later, I could see sign of new growth appearing on the branches.

The leaves are now growing well and healthy. Not only is the Croton doing well, I noticed a Curry leaves baby plant and a Dwarf Mexican Petunia baby plant growing in the same pot.

Croton Sunny Star or Croton Banana

The leaves are long with rounded end. The colour of the leaves change as the leaves matured and the leaves are in shades of yellow and green.

This is also potted and the plant is bushy. It is placed under the side porch but is exposed to full light.

Even though Croton is said to be toxic, as long as we take precaution when handling the plant during pruning, re-potting, etc. the sap will not come into contact with our body. Or we can wear gloves as a safety precaution when working with this plant.

And these signs will accompany those who believe:

In my name they will drive out demons;

they will speak in new tongue; they will pick up snakes with their hands;

and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all;

they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.

(Mark 16:17-18, New Internation Version-NIV)

Growing Croton Plants (Pokok Puding) In My Garden

Croton plant is also known as Common Croton, Garden Croton or Variegated Croton (Pokok Puding, Puding Mas or Puding Merah in Malay). Its scientific name is Codiaeum Variegatum.

Croton is an evergreen shrub and is a tropical plant. It likes warm climate and the sunlight. It grows well in fertile soil with good drainage. Bad drainage or water logged soil will cause root rot and the leaves will drop. If the problem is not rectified, the plant will die. Croton needs regular watering but must have good drainage. It also needs light, regular fertilizer.

Croton has glossy variegated leaves with shades of red, orange, yellow, green, purple, pink and white. The more exposure to the sun, the more bright and striking the colours of the leaves.

As the plant matures, the leaves will change colour.

It can be grown as garden landscaping plant. In this case, space out the plants to give room for growth. Croton can be grown in pots as ornamental indoor or outdoor plant. If placed indoor, place it where it can get bright light because light affects the colour of the leaves. Croton is suitable as indoor plant for office and home.

If the plant grows too tall, it can be cut back or trimmed. The cutting can be used for propagation of new plants. For propagation, I will cut the cuttings to about 12 cm (4 to 5 inches), then remove the leaves near the base and stick the cuttings into garden soil in a small pot. I will then water the cuttings and keep them in a shady place till new growth appear. Then it can be moved to partial shade. After that when it is growing well, it can be re-potted into a bigger pot.

I have 2 pots of Croton. These were bought by my hubby because he likes the bright, variegated leaves. He said that these plants will add colours to my garden. I prefer to grow them in pots to make it easier for me to rearrange the plants around my garden and also for easier control of growth of the plant.

I was told that Croton bears flowers but so far I have not noticed any flowers yet. It could be that my Crotons are grown in pot but I will be watching out for the flowers.

Caution:

Croton plant is toxic. Keep Croton away from children and pets. the sap of the plant may cause irritation to skin. If the sap touches your hands, quickly wash the affected part. Another name for this plant is the Bush On Fire Crotons.

"... with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness

and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.

Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince among his brothers."

(Deuteronomy 33:16, New International Version-NIV)