Lonely spot of colour, originally uploaded by malyousif.

My lawn is looking like the Serengeti in winter, burnt. That makes the garden a bit dull, especially that most plants didn’t start flowering again. Like me, they’re desperately waiting for the Spring again.

Yet, the birds we feed (parakeets, mynahs, sparrows, bulbuls, pigeons, doves, etc.) spread the seed which sometimes seem to be purposefully placed to add some interest and colour where it is most needed!

Have a wonderful day my friends.

Reclaiming the pool deck, originally uploaded by malyousif.

The far side of the pool deck, by the changing and pump rooms, was neglected since we moved in really. I used that area exclusively to BBQs but when we’re not firing that thing up, the area remained rather dull and uninviting. I look at it every single meal time (you can’t miss it! it’s just opposite the kitchen and breakfast nook) I promise myself that I’ve got to do something with it but never get around to do it.

This morning, finally, I decided to install the hanging baskets bracks, put up the baskets and also remove the pile of wood I’d saved from a fallen tree. Those branches were cut in lengths of 40, 45, 50 and 60cms and created a patch of them lying next to each other demarkating the areas between the dry river bed by the frangipani and the oriental patch (with Mr. Buddha) it looked rather nice. But when I was done I was surprised to note the amount of space those logs were taking!

Anyway, I got that area cleaned up and just moved back and had a look at the "new" wall. I wasn’t satisfied. I thought I still needed some stuff there to bring out the whole area. Looking around, I saw that I had quite a number of pots on Arif’s (my son) basketball court which I had commandeered to be my nursery, so I started just moving pots and trying out different arrangements until I arrived at what you see in this picture. I think the balance now is really quite nice and am rather pleased with my efforts!

Have a wonderful Friday my friends.

unidentified internal plant, originally uploaded by malyousif.

I bought this lovely plant from the Sultan Garden Centre in Khobar a couple of days ago. The very helpful employee there unfortunately mislabeled it and I am at a loss as to what it actually is called.

If you do know what it is do be a dear and let me know!

I am not very happy with the baskets I’ve put up so far, probably because I am impatient and couldn’t wait for the plants to actually develop from seed; which some of them admittedly are doing pretty well so far, and as I was on a quick business trip this morning to Saudi, I thought I would pass by the Sultan Centre on the way back.

I did.

I came back with two new big wire baskets, felt inserts, 20 pansies and 10 dianthus as well as a beautiful huge indoor plant that the guy unfortunately mislabelled. I shall have to post its picture soon and elicit your help in identifying it.

I asked my gardener to deal with them this afternoon with strict instructions on what to do, as I had to come back to the office. They should look pretty nice I think. I’ll post a picture when I get a chance.

I’ve never been real big about corn. In Bahrain the only thing we get is the frozen kind and as for “fresh”, well, the closest is the KFC supplied ears! But after reading about how luscious they can be cut fresh from the stalk and boiled in this post in the Backyard Gardening Blog I was determined to get some seeds and plant try my luck with them in the vegetable patch. I know it is quite crowded there at the moment, but a space exists in front of the 2nd row of tomatos, so why not?

I know that Al-Khair nursery on the Budaiya Highway have good quality seeds and apart from Jassim Garden Centre, they have the most variety of vegetable seeds there at reasonable price, so stopping there at some point was a done deal. Imagine my surprise then when I found out that they have done most of the world for me! There, in one of their beds sat in a corner were about 25 or so pots with young corn seedlings offered for sale! Brilliant. That saves me a lot of time. I selected 5 and planted them 2 feet apart in their chosen place. What is left now is just to wait for them to grow ears and the water will be boiled in preparation to enjoying freshly cut corn on the cob.