The Poinciana has flowered

Penelope is on fire!

Only a couple of weeks ago this majestic tree adorning our front garden was bare. Naked. Unclothed. But within just a few days it has sprouted all of its leaves and buds which have now started to open up and, typical of this tree, started to shed the flowers all around it, sometimes making the lawn turn blood red with its lovely flowers.

Some would consider this tree very messy, we don’t mind at all. It’s a lovely sight and humans, animals and birds love it.

Mohammedi Rose

Gallery, Gardening

I think this is a “single” Sultani or as they’re called locally “Mohammedi” Rose. It has a very nice scent. Unforutnately some bugs have taken a shine to these and other bushes in my garden and they’re chomping at the leaves and damaging flowers. I’ll take some advice from the botanists in the Budaiya experimental farms and hope that they’ll identify what needs to be done, if anything.

Do you have any idea what’s chomping at my plants?

Through the eyes of a lens

Gallery, Garden Design

It’s really strange that when you observe a garden, or any other space for that matter, and you are used to that particular view, you not only get to take it for granted but your mind disappears some detail and you never really appreciate it. However, I found that if you do frame it through the camera and take a picture, more often than not you would be pleasantly (or otherwise!) surprised. It’s almost as if the two-dimensional view – especially if done well – would make you see it for what it actually is, in all of it’s glory.

Consider this for instance. It’s a view I pass several times a day without giving it much thought. In fact, I didn’t think it as “lovely” as it obviously appears here:

Isn’t this a picture fit for a gardening magazine?

Looking at it now and noticing the beauty of the “tear drop” in the middle; the depth that the Ixora on the left leads to the lovely purple Datura flowers and then onto the bed of Calendulas and onward to the rose bushes below the French windows. Then we notice the gorgeous framing offered by the two plumerias, going through to the two Cassia Fistulas and then at the very back, at the wall, we see the passion fruit climber in the middle and the plentiful flowering of the Oleander is just.. well, beautiful!

And then just imagine this space a few weeks from now once the plumerias are fully clothed and the fistulas have shed theirs leaves and replaced them with new growth, and you will be once again pleasantly surprised.

All of this in the arid climate of Bahrain? Yes, indeed it is. As I’ve said in the previous article you can indeed grow just about anything in this lovely country, but for a short while until the scorching sun put an end to this particular enjoyment and forcibly transfer your attention to the most heat tolerant plants; namely the palms, plumerias and the cacti.

But let’s not dwell on that. Here. Enjoy this view as well, taken a minutes of the one above and is what is available opposite. The one on top I call the Southern Garden; while the one you see below, obviously, is the Front, or even Northern garden.

I do love my garden!

Have a pleasant day.

Microclimates

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One would be forgiven to think that in a garden as small as mine that distinct climates exist in its different parts. I know the pictures make it look big, but trust me on this, it’s less than 700 square meters in total area. The garden is divided in three parts; here, you see the Southern part of the garden and it has traditionally been the warmer part. This is due to the neighbour’s high perimeter wall and its sheltered nature too.

Here, the warm-climate loving plants thrive. The two plumerias you see here framing the path grew from almost mere sticks to be the giants they are today. And it is only six or so years since I planted the two Cassia Fistulas you see in the background. The ixoras particularly like this part of the garden, as do the passion fruit climber in the background. The rest, well, they’re annuals of all sorts, the one you see behind the ixora is the lovely purple variety of datura.

Forgive the length of the grass in this picture. It is done on purpose as I have recently sanded and re-seeded the whole lawn with bermuda grass seed and it’s coming along quite nicely. I’ve cut the grass once about ten days ago and don’t want to disturb the young shoots again for another few days. The lawn was quite tired after eight years and was about to give up, which required this drastic intervention. I’m glad that the bermuda grass is taking hold now and I hope that it will bring back the lawn to its full former glory.

How are you keeping your lawn pristine and lush in Bahrain? Do you have any particular tricks you employ to keep it good? I’d love to hear from you.

Have a lovely May Day holiday.

The Shy Plant

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The Shy Plant, originally uploaded by malyousif.

It seeded itself from another that unfortunately died. But I’m really glad that it took matters into its own hands. It’s still a very small bush by the front door but I look forward to it filling that space.

Have a wonderful Friday my friends.

Euphorbia Milli Hybrid – yet another kind!

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Euphorbia Milli Hybrid – yet another kind!, originally uploaded by malyousif.

I must confess that I have a very soft spot for Euphorbia Millis, with this that I picked up from Jawad’s – of all places – it brings the total types that I have of this fabulous plant to 4. Look through my Flickr stream to see the others. This one is quite cute, the red flowers as you can see are deep red, but enclosed in them are pretty yellow ones. Very pretty.

With this my friends, I wish you a very happy a peaceful Friday.

The Olive Tree

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The Olive Tree, originally uploaded by malyousif.

The garden this morning.

Have a wonderful and safe weekend my friends.

Is this my hydrangea?

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Is this my hydrangea?, originally uploaded by malyousif.

I’ve tried several times to cultivate hydrangeas in Bahrain but all attempts resulted in failure unfortunately. I fell upon this plant in one of the garden centres here but have no idea what it’s actually called (they didn’t have a label on it and couldn’t find it in the book) but just described it as “it brings clumps of small flowers”. That was enough of a trigger for me to get it and this, my friends, is the first time it flowers.

If you know what it is, please let me know.

Have a wonderful New Year.

Overflowing Cauldron

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Overflowing Cauldron, originally uploaded by malyousif.

The portulaca has truly overtaken the pot!

This particular portulacas (the yellow and red) were just a couple of small cuttings only a few weeks ago, their growth rate never ceases to amaze me.

Regardless, I think they make the whole area look much nicer and fill in the pot quite nicely.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends.

Reclaiming the pool deck

Gallery, Garden Design, Gardening

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.