A few more photos from Beijing

We stayed in China for 4 weeks – one week in Hainan Island and 3 weeks in Beijing.

One of the gardens we went to was called the Purple Bamboo Garden. 

There were no purple bamboo, but there were lots of green ones. It was a beautiful place.

There were many groups singing and playing music. People in these groups (and other community groups in parks) tend to be older – retirement must be a really fun time in Beijing :)

And an area for foot reflexology… It can be quite painful where the stones are sharp.

Last day in China….

On our last day, we decided to find a garden to just sit and read. We found this quiet place with these lovely elevated planters.

  

Plants I can recognise and remember are dusty miller on the top planter and ferns on the side

 

Lovely and colourful border

Bromeliads on the top planter

I will be back with photos taken in Japan in the next post.

For small spaces

As I wonder around Hong Kong, I see many design ideas for small spaces that inspire me; one of them is the few vertical gardens I came across.

Really lush and neat

The above two photos were taken along a pedestrian walkway to a subway station. The plants add some greenery to a closed-up area and provide comfort to the seating area of a busy place.

  Lovely patches of green on the wall of a department store

A close-up of the vertical garden

Have a happy weekend.

Indoor Rainforest

This rainforest in inside a shopping centre in Malaysia. It felt like l had stumbled onto an oasis in the midst of the busy place. It was a weekday, and there were not many people about.

 

You can see a little bit of the shopping centre in the top right corner of the above photo; otherwise it felt like being in a secluded garden. The pond in the foreground is full of fishes. A wooden bridge is suspended over the water.

 

Hopefully the people in the photo gives you a sense of scale of the plants, especially the one on the right – it is taller than me. The wall at the back (top left corner) is shown in the next photo.

This vertical wall goes up a few stories

Finally, a photo of some fishes in the pond, with the roof structure and sky reflected on the water…

Cactus and Succulent Basket/Topiary

Happy Cactus Monday!

One single cactus

This cactus photo was taken when I visited the Melbourne Botanical Garden on Saturday. I went a bit crazy taking photographs at the cacti/succulent sections. There were so many varieties that I have not seen before. I have yet to sort out all the photos so for now, I only have this to share…

I am enjoying taking Cactus photos in black and white.

Topiary

I put this together a few months ago. It is an easy and cheap project. Here are the few easy steps:

• Buy a shallow basket (this one was $1 from a charity shop)
• Line with plastic, then make a few drainage holes
• Place the basket horizontally, fill with soil.
• Line the top with sphagnum moss
• Secure the moss to the basket tightly using wire. Ensure that nothing falls out when it’s vertical or upside down…
• Add a hook at the back (*)
• Plant succulents : make holes using a chopstick and insert succulents.
• Leave the basket in a horizontal position until the succulents have taken root

I have not hung this basket until recently, because I have been contemplating replacing/rearranging the succulents. But it has been growing well, which is why I have left it alone for a while.

(*Note:  Add 2 or more hooks, if you are intending to turn the basket around to encourage even growth)

Lesson learnt

This works better than my last topiary (shown on the left), when I had used only sphagnum moss and no soil at all. The topiary dried up too quickly with the moss alone on my balcony, and I had to water it daily. It may also be due to the shape of the topiary that had a lot of exposed surface area.

On the other hand, the topiary in the basket above, with soil and sphagnum moss only requires watering once a week. I am much happier with this one.

Visit Teri’s Painted Daisies for more Cactus Monday links.

5 things about me… (plus succulent photos)

OK, so you are thinking why I’d think anyone would be interested to know about me… this post is responding to being tagged by fellow blogger, Deepa of Deepaz World of Artz. I am answering only 5 of 40 questions (sorry Deepa, I am taking the easy way out!).

Hopefully, this won’t send you to sleep. Here goes…

1. What are your current obsessions?

Succulents! At the moment, I am thinking about gardening vertically.

My last effort was the topiary in a basket on the left (more on this in another post…). I am thinking of making 2 more.

I have been reading about yoga recently. I am not obsessed with it, but with a better understanding on yoga, I am enjoying the practise better. I attend group sessions a few times a week, and have a private lesson at home with a teacher every week.

2. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?

An apartment in New York City, with a balcony overlooking Central Park, please! 

When I visited NYC 9 years ago, I stayed with with my friend, Monique. Her home was a few blocks away from the Empire State Building. I enjoyed being in the heart of the city very much. My stay was just over a week. I would love to be in NYC for a while, to get to know the place and the people (but not as a tourist).

3. What is your dream job?

I have always wanted to be in the arts. It took me a long time to get here (this is a 2nd career), and I love my current job as a graphic designer.

4. If I come to your house now, what would you cook for me?

How about this meal which I put together the last time we had friends over… I made marinated chicken and lamb tandoori style, cooked on the barbeque stove. The meat were served with cardamom and saffron rice. On the side, I had sliced cucumber dressed with tzatziki (Lebanese cucumber dip). My friend brought Perry (pear cider) and that complemented the meal very well. It was summer and we had the perfect dinner party on my   balcony.

5. When was the last time you did something nice?

I went to a figure drawing session this morning. Here’s my final piece superimposed on a photo of succulents (above).

As you can see, I have included a couple of succulent photos, so hopefully you are still awake :). Have a nice weekend.

Succulents, this n that

Jelly beans… love them!

Did you know I love jelly beans? The succulent that is, not the candy. These lovely blue-green ones make me happy because they grow and grow. But they grew over the pot way too far, and got in the way of a visitor.  Some fell to a heap of dismembered jelly beans on my deck – I was horrified!

 

I had cut them back a little, so these ones below need a new home… Maybe it is a good excuse to buy a pot, but I am determined not to buy more pots. You see, I’ve only got balcony space.

 

 

Love hate relationship

These 2 babies have no where to go, so here they are in my chocolate tins.

The agave (on the left) looks nice now, but I suspect I am going to hate it when it grows up (don’t have to worry about that – it will take a looooong time). It is already annoying me by grabbing my gloves every time I’m too close, or poking me with its evil sharp leaves.

 
Succulents in chocolate tins

But the little baby below is quite a gem (love that green) but still, it has no place to live, except in an old tin.

 

 

Vertical garden – an update

It has been 4 months since I made my vertical garden, and I have to report that things are moving quite slowly in that area…

For this vertical garden, I love plants that spill over the pots. I am happy with the Sedum Gold Mound below. Most succulents take a while to grow and I am rather impatient. So recently I added some herbs (scroll down for a picture).

 
Sedum Gold Mound

Here are my 2 pots of herbs, mint and thyme.

Mint and thyme

The Crassula Diane below needs work. Red on red – not my intention! It was green when I planted it (as shown in the photo below the red crassula) but it turned red a few months ago, perhaps because the weather changed.

 
Red Crassula Diane

The Crassula Diane was green…

 
Green Crassula Diane

Going, going, gone

Plants come and go on my balcony.

I have had my run with bok choys. We have been eating so much bok choys that I don’t think we will be eating more of it in the near future. So at the moment, I have a dish full of bok choys in my kitchen, and a couple of  empty pots in the garden…

 
Bok Choy from the top

 
Dish full of Bok Choys

 

Happy Cactus Monday.

Don’t forget to visit Teri’s Painted Daisies for Cactus Monday links.

A vertical garden and a succulent skirt

What have they in common? Nothing really… except that they are both going to be in this post.

Happy Cactus Monday.

A vertical garden

Luckily I had my camera with me when I saw this vertical garden today. I love the painted texture a lot, and with some care and the right plants, this vertical garden could be a stunning feature.

The second photo below is a close-up.

Girl with a Succulent Skirt

I saw a girl with a skirt like the one below a few days ago. I thought such a skirt would make a nice canvas for my succulents. So here it is; her skirt is made up of 2 photos (ice plant and crassula) below.

And finally, I will leave you with a couple of photos of lovely Agaves basking in the sun, in front of an office block in Melbourne.

Happy a wonderful week.

Please visit Teri’s Painted Daisies for more Cactus Monday links.

Seeing RED – my vertical garden (Part 2)

Read Seeing RED – my vertical garden (Part 1)

Further to my previous post, here are more details on how the fittings work in my version of vertical garden (above).

The 105 brackets on the board are spaced 2 ins/5cm apart. They are screwed into the board using self tapping screws.

2 brackets are fixed onto the sides of the food can, also 2 ins/5cm apart(I think 2 is better than 1 in this case, as the can will be more secure). With brackets the same distance apart, the can can be fixed or moved to any part of the board.

A photo of the inside of the pot, with holes made at the bottom for water to flow out. I have used rather long screws, but you may want to use shorter ones that will not get in the way.

Some of my design considerations are aesthetic. For example, I have used 105 brackets on the board (LOL because I’m obsessive, and I like the look of them all lined up on the board) but fewer brackets will still be effective. My brackets are also 2 ins/5cm apart horizontally, but you may want to vary this based on the size of your pots.

Thanks for reading.

Seeing RED - my vertical garden (Part 1)

I’ve been busy lately working on a solution for more planting space. Since I already have got a number of pots on the balcony, I wanted to use the wall, and made my version of a vertical garden. But I’ve been seeing (still am) a lot of

R E D .

That much red was not planned for. It was an accident really. I bought a small tin of red enamel paint, and had accidentally poured the entire tin onto my wood. I thought that it would be ok, since it was a small tin. That was when I found out that this small tin was not really so small after all. So I had all this lovely gooey thick shiny but very very very red layer on my piece of wood. I contemplated throwing it away, and starting again. But in the end, I decided to stick with it and make it work, so here it is!

I have used a number of food cans, lots of fittings (metal brackets, screws, etc.) and a piece of pine wood, plus (obviously) lots of RED paint.

The concept for this vertical garden is similar to that of my earlier blog post. But instead of using “S” hooks as suggested in the previous post, I have opted for fittings for the pots that are more suited to my windy balcony.

There are 105 brackets (thank God for my good friend, the mighty electric drill) spaced 2 inches/5 cm apart on the wood. They give me the flexibility to move the cans around or to add more cans when required.

I’d love for the pots to be full of lush, green leaves spilling over the edge of the pots (which also translates to: More green = Less red).

At the moment, I have got another 5 cans/pots in my studio and I haven’t got enough plants. That is good news, because I will have to go shopping for some succulent plants soon (hurrah!).

Read Seeing RED – my vertical garden (Part 2)

Thinking out loud – flexible vertical gardening solution

I’m inspired by the many articles I’ve read and images I’ve seen regarding vertical gardening. It’s a fantastic idea to save space – especially for an apartment dweller like me, who has a small balcony space to play with.

This is an idea that have been brewing in the last few days – it is inexpensive, flexible and effective. This vertical garden solution uses a wooden fence, which hangs on a wall. A number of pots hangs on this wooden fence vertically, using no floor space at all.

How?
Get a wooden fence and use plastic pots that come with new plants – they already have holes on the top for information tags. Discard the tag, then put one end of an “S” hook into the hole and simply hook onto your wooden fence! Voila!

You can let loose and paint the wooden fence all sort of colours and patterns, and use colourful pots. However, for those of us who are not so brave with colours, or prefer a more natural look, use the wood as it or apply a wood stain for a warmer finish. Pots of the same colour or same size will provide unity to your vertical garden. More illustrations later…

Inexpensive

What is required:

• a wooden fence (measured to fit your wall size), from which to hang the pots
• plastic pots – they are perfect for your vertical garden because they are so light. The number of pots you require will depend on the size of your wood. You may not to purchase these if you save them up when you buy new plants.
• “S” hooks, which can be found in hardware stores

Flexible and Effective

This solution enables you to:

• move your pots and plants around. Perhaps one section of the wood/vertical garden gets more sun than the other. Or perhaps you may want to place trailing plants on the top…
• add your pots as you need them. There is no need to purchase all the pots outright if you do not want to, but add them slowly as required.
• vary the arrangement, and have a new design everyday (as shown in the illustrations below) – what fun!
• obviously save space (and add interest to your wall), and
• have many small pots without any clutter! (The succulent collector in me says “yeah!” – lots of small pots for my collection of interesting succulents, since I can only afford small plants).

Here are some photos of my experiment with a few pots and “S” hooks:

You many want to consider the wind condition in your area. The pots may need to be more securely attached if there is a chance that the wind will throw them around!