Fourth of July: An Early Celebration in Malaysia

Though it would be nice to introduce this rose in July, I can't seem to wait that long. Fourth of July (FOJ) is finally in my collection and I must share this jubilation with the world.

FOJ is a well-known rose, a climber (mawar memanjat) with blooms stripy white and red. 

FLORIA 2011: Putrajaya Flower & Garden Festival 2011

Can you believe it's May already? What's good in May besides celebrating Mother's Day? Well, we got to see more roses blooming since rain is less and sun is more.

Roses may bloom aplenty in May but roses are for forever, aren't they?

How to pack and send rose cuttings through mail

Let me show you how you can share your roses with others.

The joy of having roses in the garden doesn't stop when the blooms age and petals fall on the ground. It is beyond these events. When blooms are spent and dead-heading begins, this is a good opportunity to save some cuttings for friends and neighbors.

Green apple in the garden?

A white rose (bunga ros putih) like no other! This is a white rose I personally recommend for any gardens. 

I wish I had grown an apple tree in my garden for its delicious fruits. But for flowers, all my nickels and dimes go to Green Apple! Know more about the habits of this remarkable rose.

If roses can speak the words of my heart...They'd tell you...

When I was a little girl, I saw a rose being drawn starting with a heart/love symbol as the center of the flower. Then more petals were added around it one by one forming a complete rose.

Roses are always associated with love. That drawing was with no exception.

The 'V'...

There's only 2 type of Vs (visitors) in any gardens. The good ones and the bad ones. 

Cuckoo Spit

Yesterday I discovered what I think a cuckoo spit on one of my roses (pls let me know if it's not it).

A bouquet for a day - 2

Bunga mawarku basah lagi! We had a thunderstorm yesterday. 5 minutes before the pour, I took the pruner and headed out to cut whatever blooms I have in the garden, especially the ones blooming full. TIP 1: These aged blooms won't last. Bring them indoors can extend their lives.

I'm walkin' on sunshine, woh-oh... and don't it feel good?

View 3 new roses from the yellow range and of different classes  - a shrub, a miniflora and a hybrid tea. The color varies with first being lemon yellow, second golden yellow and third yellow blend.

Finally, sunshine in the garden!

Trading off the long peduncle!

I look at the long peduncle of this one rose of mine. It’s long and sturdy for that single blooming rose, indicating all the care (fertilizers, watering, etc) had been right.

Instead of feeling happy about this little achievement, I kind of feel sad.

Basal breaks and new shoots - definitions and care tips

The year end is here and new year is just around the corner. Roses in my garden are producing lots of new shoots - a mark to a brand new start and whole lot more blooms. I always feel happy at this time of year - for an obvious reason!

Learn what basal breaks and new shoots are and how to take care of them.

To Ranau with love: Making ‘Bunga Rampai’ from home grown roses

From a humble garden to glorious ‘hantaran’ platter, my roses boarded the plane and travelled far to Ranau, Sabah; a town famous for its majestic Mount Kinabalu, for my brother’s in law wedding. The roses were made as bunga rampai or Malay fresh potpourri (assortment of fresh flowers).

Rose changing color? Garden fairy has come to visit.

Color speaks to us like no other reflection can. It has a way of changing how we perceive and feel about things around us. When colors change, we change.

Some of us know this better. When the golden shade of fall outside the window is here, we feel we change a little too. It's time to thank for what the year has brought and begin looking forward to new beginnings.

Cameron roses: Differentiating minis from non-minis

To a novice eyes, it’s very hard to determine which rose is a mini and which isn’t. Buyers of Cameron roses always are misled by the look of the plants at the time of purchase.

The same roses that once looked bushy and tall with flowers are in moderate size blooming pretty turned out to be mini roses after all; shrink in size and blooms are now open to no larger than a 20 or 50 cents coin.

Roses for kids?

Roses can be for curious little mind. I finally found a kids-friendly rose and a garden-worthy at the same time. This rose is thorn-less but not in anyway less in other attributes. In fact, it surpasses many of my expectations in terms of growth/vigor, number of blooms, beauty, fragrant and bloom durability. I have grown many roses but this came to me, as almost perfect so far.

Texas vs Cameron roses? The answer to 'bare-root' roses riddle!

Q: I am reading the articles about hardening roses, if bought from cameron highlands... 5 of my roses were purchased bareroot from Texas spring this year. All are doing well. I did not go through a "hardening process". Are cameronian roses different? - Peter Goh, Subang Jaya.

Friday in Frames: Today's harvest

Garden harvests. Inedible but enough to make me sing a happy tune this week.

The science behind pruning - Part 1

Gardening is both art and science combined but I always try to approach gardening as science first. It gives me comfort that I would be able to understand a great deal about plants to respect their habits, growth and needs. Arts I believe will come in knocking, invited, naturally.

Pruning 101: A look at Malaysia rose pruning

You can find hundreds of pruning articles on the net. What I could offer here that is unique is my Malaysian pruning experience, which I am delightful to share. It is not cool to repeat what rosarians have already said brilliantly about pruning. What I am hopeful is my writing to at least bring you some added values. 

Top heavy? The answer to prune hard or prune light.

I promise to let my decision be known on whether to prune my SN Almost Lover rose hard or prune it light. A week after my earlier post on this, I decided to just leave the tree alone.

How it all began...

I was asked by a forumer on how I became interested in growing roses. I thought I share my answer here.

I love roses and fancy English garden. To realize a garden as such, I knew I had to at least successfully grown some roses first.