Within the adenium pod

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Pretty adenium flowers!

Pretty adenium flowers!

Our poor adenium or desert rose plants are usually lost in the background of things. A decade ago, I was interested in them because I was in my propagation phase of gardening, and they were among my experiments.

Yes, they do grow from cuttings, which is why we have several sets of plants now.

The adenium pods. I don't know why, but they seem to grow in pairs.

The adenium pods. I don’t know why, but they seem to grow in pairs.

Well, one of the things about this plant that has piqued my interest is that once in a very rare while, the plant manages to develop seed pods. It’s so rare that this is only the third time I’ve seen the pods.

The first time we saw them, we unfortunately neglected the plants, and the pods shriveled up and dropped off.

The second time we saw pods, a caterpillar ate them when it stripped the plant of every leaf.

The third time we saw the pods…

Well, let’s just say, I almost lost my opportunity to talk about it now…

You see, the plant seems to grow a pair of pods at a time. They remind me of steer horns. You can see why, from the picture.

Anyway, I wasn’t sure when to investigate the pods, so as usual, I waited while I also watched for caterpillars. This dragged on until the other day when I remembered to check on them, and found that one of the pods had already split open and had dispersed its seeds. I looked around the vicinity but didn’t find any scattering of seeds – not that I was certain of what to look for. The other pod was still intact, so I waited again.

Peek-a-boo... I see seeds inside the pod!

Peek-a-boo… I see seeds inside the pod!

The next day, the pod had split a little, and looked occupied. So, I gingerly opened it a little more and found lots of silky threads surrounding little short, tubular seeds. Actually, the seeds had these tufts of silky threads on both ends, making me suspect that the first set of seeds had been dispersed by wind. I wonder where they will end up and if they manage to grow?

So I have collected the seeds and finally decided to look online about adenium seeds.

Yes, that is how the Curious Gardener works – I observe and guess, and then go find out why it really happened.

A closer look at the adenium seeds

A closer look at the adenium seeds.

I’ve discovered that it is supposed to be easy to grow these plants from seeds, and that they should be planted when fresh. So, that had better be pushed higher on my to-do list for gardening. I’d say stay tuned for developments, but then, I don’t always get to things fast enough at times…

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Growing chilli in pots

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The latest chilli plant to bear fruit while growing in a recycled PET bottle.

The latest chilli plant to bear fruit while growing in a recycled PET bottle.

After the first chilli plant growing in a recycled PET bottle surprised me with a fruit, I have been keeping an eye on the second plant to see if it would follow suit. Unlike the first plant that was quite scraggly, this one was a little more robust, and finally began to bud. Of the flowers that bloomed, one fruit has resulted, and is growing steadily.

Just in case you couldn't make out the chilli fruit in the first photo, here it is, closer up.

Just in case you couldn’t make out the chilli fruit in the first photo, here it is, closer up.

The hot weather we’ve been having due to the haze from up north has put more stress on the plants, and I’ve been trying to be more conscientious with watering the important plants. Since the the chilli plant is growing in a restricted sized pot that also has drainage holes, I’ve had to be extra careful with this plant. Even though I may water the plant heavily today, it will be pretty dry the next day, and if I forget to water it for two or more days, the plant will start wilting.

…and you know what they say about plants with wilting leaves – don’t use the sight of wilting leaves as the sign to water plants, because by then, the roots may be too dehydrated to recover.

So, because this is the dry monsoon season, and coupled with the haze that has raised temperatures, I’m doing my best to keep the plants – especially the fruiting ones – hydrated.

The nice thing is, you can grow productive plants in little containers. However, the first chilli plant that bore fruit has died out. I think the plants much prefer it when they have more space to spread out.

…like these two growing in a pot. I know it looks like just one plant, but there are two of them. One is in a small pot that I sat in the bigger pot that also had a chilli seedling in it.

You may have to squint to tell from this photo, but there are two plants here. Interestingly enough, the bigger plant is growing in a small pot that the plant managed to sneak its roots out of, and is now rooted in the bigger pot. Both plants are the same age.

You may have to squint to tell from this photo, but there are two plants here. Interestingly enough, the bigger plant is growing in a small pot that the plant managed to sneak its roots out of, and is now rooted in the bigger pot. Both plants are the same age.

Oddly enough, the one in the small pot is the bigger of the two. It was planted at the same time as the one in the big pot, but grew faster in the smaller pot, then took root in the pot below and started growing like crazy. I don’t know why that always happens. Nevertheless, compared to the plants in the recycled PET bottles, this just shows how the size of the growing container affects the size and health of a plant. I am going to experiment further by planting one of these two directly in the ground to see just how much of a difference it makes!

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Taking the reins in the garden

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The new mower works pretty well

The new mower works pretty well

When we were growing up, my dad used to get our help in maintaining the garden. Sometimes it was fun, other times we wanted to be doing something else – as kids usually feel.

I did enjoy some of those tasks, though, like mowing the lawn with the motorised lawn mower. It was somehow fulfilling to see how nice and neat the lawn looked after the grass had been trimmed. Besides that, the mynahs amused me while I was cutting the grass because they followed in the wake of the mower, watching for insects and worms that were scared to the surface by the roaring motor. However, somewhere in my teens, my dad decided it wasn’t a “ladylike” thing for me to do, and we eventually hired contract gardeners, who came in once a month.

Time has passed since then, during which I regained my interest in gardening, and my dad got too old to do much work any more. Our current contract gardeners, too, have been getting on in years, and finally gave us notice.

Not so good at trimming the edge - the blades are within the housing, and the wheel on the outside widen the gap. I don't blame this mower, though - all of them have this issue.

Not so good at trimming the edge – the blades are within the housing, and the wheel on the outside widens the gap. I don’t blame this mower, though – all mowers have this issue.

Now, I may be a little crazy here, but I’ve happily decided to try maintaining the garden myself, until I find it’s not such a good idea after all. If our gardeners came once a month and pruned, cut and cleaned within a couple of hours, why shouldn’t I be able to spread out the tasks over the weekends? Yes, those words will likely come and bite me in the butt sooner or later…

Thankfully, we have most of the tools we need to garden. My dad, like all men, loved to get things that could be useful, but of course he hardly used them himself. One of his last purchases was a rechargeable hand trimmer – he bought it and I got to use it…

The most important thing we didn’t have, though, was a working lawn mower. Our motorised one died long ago. So I went in search of a new one and was thrilled to discover that they still manufacture manual grass trimmers. You know, the ones with the twisted blades that rotate when you push the mower forward? I haven’t seen one of those since I was a child!

I was doubly happy with it because it’s another way to reduce our footprint (no petrol or electricity needed) and I get some exercise as well!

The new mower is thankfully not too heavy, but it’s tricky to maneuver. It gets bogged in soft sand, which we have here and there, and gets stuck when twigs, stones or dry pods get between the blades. It also doesn’t cut all the way to raised edges, but thanks to my dad, we already have the solution with the hand trimmer. :)

One of the curious mynahs that followed me around. It eventually caught a centipede, I think, and flew off with its prize in its beak.

One of the curious mynahs that followed me around. It eventually caught a centipede, I think, and flew off with its prize in its beak.

So far, the self-gardening seems to be working fine. The lawn is nice and neat – and I’ve found that the mynahs still follow me despite not having a noisy motor – and I’m quite happy not to have other people interfering with my plants. Did I mention that the last casualty of our contract gardeners was my last winter melon vine? They accidentally cut the stem about two feet from where it was rooted, and it didn’t recover from that. I guess this is also my chance to look at the layout of the garden with fresh eyes and rearrange things to accommodate the needs of the new mower. Maybe I’ll even finally start employing some proper permaculture principles, too. Whatever the case, I hope I’ve learned enough from my dad to be able to do a good job of looking after the garden.

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Spotted: Young common wolf snake

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The young Lycodon Capucinus slowly unfurling and starting to look for a darker place to hide, when we lifted the box to look at it.

The young Lycodon Capucinus slowly unfurling and starting to look for a darker place to hide, when we lifted the box to look at it.

We had some rain over the weekend, and I noticed that one of my temporary growing boxes – a short recycled styrofoam box – had flooded. I have it just next to the house, over the drain, which has cement covers. Since it’s on the edge of the garden, I decided to tip the water out onto the earth. I certainly did not expect to see a young snake curled up beneath the box when I did that!

No I didn’t drop the box and run screaming – I drained the water as I’d planned to. Once I’d accomplished that, I went in search of my brother, who’s a little more comfortable with the idea of snakes than I am.

A slightly different angle to show the patterns of the snake. It already had its head hidden as it headed into the drain.

A slightly different angle to show the patterns of the snake. It already had its head hidden as it headed into the drain.

It certainly didn’t comfort me when he looked at the snake and opined that it was rather small and had probably been born recently, and in our garden. And after he mentioned that, I realized that the dogs had been up to quite a bit of mischief in that area in recent weeks, digging holes and killing half my canna plants in the process. Could they have caught the scent of the snake or snakes? Possibly. I’m just a little uncomfortable with the idea that these snakes, although non-venomous, are so close to the house, so I went scattering sulphur flakes around the outside of the house again, and hope that they keep the slithering creatures outside where they belong.

Eek.

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