John&Jacq~s Garden

January 2012 in our tropical garden

Jacqueline — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:40:01 +0000

Haha! Showing off some of our garden plants at our front yard, especially the inner garden plot that had some make-up done recently. Plants are growing splendidly to cheer our grieving hearts. Gardening is so rewarding! Really uplift our spirits and put smiles on our faces when we see our plants looking luscious and happy! [...]

2012 Chinese New Year Greetings and Decor at Pavilion KL

Jacqueline — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:13:28 +0000

Wishing All Friends, Relatives & Visitors A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS CHINESE NEW YEAR 2012 2012 LUNAR NEW YEAR OR THE YEAR OF THE WATER DRAGON will start from 23 January 2012 and end on 9 February 2013. To kick-start the Chinese New Year, the Chinese communities around the world will have a grand celebration [...]

Euphorbia bracteata with quaint bird-like flowers

Jacqueline — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:02:08 +0000

Euphorbia bracteata (Little Bird Flower, Slipper Plant, Candelilla) An attractively beautiful shrub, Euphorbia bracteata is home to numerous quaint-looking birds when it blooms. Figuratively speaking, of course! They’re not our feathered friends, the chirpy and lively birds in the real sense but flowers that appear so similar to birds that make them as desirable to [...]

December 2011 – our tropical garden update

Jacqueline — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:46:09 +0000

Some new plants were added to our little garden paradise in December. Not perfectly timed though as we purchased them three days too early, just before our dearly beloved mother’s (John’s mom, my mother-in-law) unexpected sudden demise on December 12th. She’s much loved and missed by us all but God loves her more. Inadvertently, the [...]

Christmas 2011 & New Year 2012 Greetings

Jacqueline — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:50:35 +0000

WISHING ALL DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS : HAPPY HOLIDAYS, MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND A VERY BLESSED NEW YEAR 2012 May your hearts be filled with God’s pure joy and perfect peace, Your gathering with laughter…. May your home be warmed with His enduring love at Christmas and long after. Have a wonderful celebration of God’s gift [...]

Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema) hybrids in diverse forms and colours

Jacqueline — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:58:10 +0000

Chrysanthemum hybrids (Mums, Chrysanths) In the blink of an eye, it’ll be Christmastime and will be followed closely by the Chinese Lunar Year in January 2012! Hence, Florist’s Chrysanthemum and the brilliant red Poinsetta (Euphorbia pulcherrima), besides other popular holiday plants, are being displayed on a grand scale at garden centers and stores. Festive seasons [...]

November 2011 in our tropical garden

Jacqueline — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:50:39 +0000

Somehow there are always some surprises in our tropical garden every month and November 2011 is no different! That’s the beauty of gardening and enjoying its rewards. Abelmoschus esculentus (Okra, Lady’s Fingers) It took about 4.5 months for this beautiful soft yellow Okra flower to emerge for the first time since seeds were sown in [...]

Propagating Aglaonema Plants

Jacqueline — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:54:22 +0000

Aglaonema or popularly known as Chinese Evergreen, being first cultivated in China, is one of the most decorative indoor plant with attractive variegated foliage for homes and offices. With much hybridizing over the many decades, especially in Thailand and Indonesia in Southeast Asia, the newer cultivars are now available in explosive colours with many variations [...]

Clitoria ternatea (Butterfly Pea), a striking and versatile vine!

Jacqueline — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:14:07 +0000

Clitoria ternatea (Butterfly Pea, Blue Pea Vine, Asian Pigeonwings) Clitoria ternatea is another of the many captivating twining climbers that are popularly used for covering the fence or train on a trellis, arbor or archway. A perennial vine that is free flowering all year round, with an abundance of attractive deep blue blossoms dotting its [...]

October 2011 in our tropical garden

Jacqueline — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:44:59 +0000

Orchids and Celosia Shopping for orchid plants had never been that quick and easy for us before this! We got some last month, not from the garden nurseries where one would usually procure them but from the church that we usually attend, after the Eucharistic Mass Celebration. Strange, huh? Well, the Church of St Francis [...]

Costus woodsonii (Red Button Ginger) with exotic torpedo-shaped blooms

Jacqueline — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:27:23 +0000

Costus woodsonii (Red Button Ginger, Scarlet Spiral Flag, Red Cane, Panamanian Candle Ginger, Dwarf French Kiss) This stunning and colourful plant that displays exotic and vibrant red torpedo-shaped inflorescences, rising above a sea of lush green foliage as if ready to be launched into space, is definitely an attention grabber and demands notice. No wonder [...]

Calathea lutea (Cuban Cigar), an exotic tropical stunner!

Jacqueline — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:43:16 +0000

Calathea lutea (Cigar Calathea, Cuban/Havana Cigar, Pampano) Weren’t you surprised that these majestically tall plants, up to 3 meters in height, with green and unpatterned foliage bears the name, Calathea lutea? We definitely were as most calatheas not only have beautifully patterned and variegated leaves but are rather dwarfish (about 60 cm) in stature, unlike [...]

Our site has surpassed the 1 Million Pageviews mark

Jacqueline — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:15:41 +0000

Jaycjayc.com has finally surpassed the 1 MILLION PAGEVIEWS mark on October 9 2011 Whoopee! We’re extremely happy and overwhelmed, yet humbled. No big deal for the big guns but for my beloved John and I, it’s a major milestone that took us about 5 years to achieve, having started this blog since 28 September 2006. [...]

Cheilocostus speciosus (Costus speciosus) with crepe-like flowers

Jacqueline — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:30:50 +0000

Cheilocostus speciosus; syn: Costus speciosus (Spiral Ginger, Crepe Ginger, White costus, Cane Reed) Free-flowering Cheilocostus speciosus (its current accepted name) is one of the most attractive and well-known cultivated species of the genus Cheilocostus. A lovely clustering plant with tall reed-like stems that are topped with large snowy-white and crepe-textured flowers on terminal cones. These [...]

September 2011: our tropical garden update

Jacqueline — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:34:27 +0000

We’ve been growing Spider Plants (Chlorophytum comosum) for umpteen years, so long that we won’t give them a second look when we visit garden centers – or so we thought. Recently though, we were spellbound by their presence at a nearby garden center that we dropped by early last month. With outstretched limbs and crying [...]