Macro Flowers Saturday - The Stately Camellia

I've been seeing a lot of Camellia lately...and mind you, she's a busy lady!


In the province of Yunnan in China, the camellia is the flower that  has been selected as the provincial flower. You can see her everywhere...in the streets and tourist areas, in posh hotels where she steals the limelight, in her natural environment, under the sky where she holds her head up high.










What an elegant lady!



Macro Flowers Saturday can be accessed here at this link Macro Flower Saturday

Skywatch Friday - Sky Above Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Hey friends, I'm back after a week's absence! I've been chasing clouds and last week, the chase ended in China! Yes, I flew to Kunming, China on the 18th of February, and arrived back in Mygardenhaven this evening. As you can see, I couldn't wait to share with you the photographs I took while in Kunming, Dali and Lijiang in the province of Yunnan. As it is a Friday today, I'll start with these spectacular sky views above Yu Long Xue Shan, translated as Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, in LIjiang.





The name of the mountain is inspired by its shape - that of a gigantic dragon which is snow-clad all the year round. Looking at the white clouds above me, I imagined that they were the spirit of the dragons guarding the mountain.





The skies here are a deep azure, a perfect colour for the background canvas for Nature to paint the  mountains, glaciers and of course, the white clouds.





From the vantage point of Spruce Meadow, you can see how it feels for the clouds to have allies in the form of the tall spruce trees standing guard at the foot of the mountain.





There are so many more skyscapes I would be sharing on Skywatch Fridays in the coming weeks. In the meantime, let's go watch more skies by clicking on the Skywatch Friday link at the bottom of this page.

A Haphazard Arrangement of Happy Flowers

I couldn't forego a week of  Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, or Mosaic Monday, or Today's Flowers, or Fertilizer Friday,or ABC Wednesday so no matter how busy I was, I stole some time to present this collage of what is in my garden today. With this collage count me in for all the memes I mentioned above.

Mosaic Monday
This happy mix of photos taken in my garden is as busy as the photographer-gardener-blogger they belong to.  However, there's great harmony in this thematic presentation of a happy garden.


Today's Flowers
For you, I offer my pale petunias, my pink and red dianthus, my deep red hydrangeas, my vermillion gerberas, my creamy yellow water-lilies, my lilac hydrangeas, my ripe, orange kumquats, and my deep purple water-lilies. I an not doing justice to each of these flowers I have mentioned, but I promise to feature them one at a time in the following weeks.

Fertilizer Friday
A tribute to the magic of fertilizing our plants...all of these flowers are in peak performance mode, thanks to the tender loving care provided by the mulching, the organic fertilizers and the watering...brought to you by yours truly, the galloping gardener. I practically had to pick up speed to Mach 5 to get all these chores done for the garden to look great for the festive season.

ABC Wednesday
Now how am I going to convert my happy mix of flowers for the letter D? With disdain for the game, and not dutifully sticking to the rules? No, that would be disgaceful. D it is for this Wednesday. D for the apparent disorder of  my photographs. Yes, let's debate on this...is a collage representative of  Disorder or Delight? I speak for Delight! This collage is definitely a delight for the beholder. When the eyes get tired of the details of macro images, they can turn to a collage . Let our sense of sight drift in delectable delight over the pictures. There's a surprising discovery at every turn, never a dull moment  when we study a collage. Do not be deceived, there is design in the apparent disorder.


Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
Here in Malaysia, around this time of the year, there are more blooms than ever because it is the festive season. I have new plants which provide more gaiety to the Lunar New Year celebrations, and old plants that have felt obliged to put on a grand show...so that is why my garden is really abundant with blooms now.Hope you enjoy the collage of festive blooms.

So there, I've done it...I have made it, all with one collage. 
Do click on the links of ABC Wednesday, Today's Flowers,  Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, Fertilizer Friday, Mosaic Monday...you know where to find them-at the bottom of the page, of course.
Happy travels from blog to blog, everyone.

Picture this - Gardening Gone Wild Contest

This is my favourite shot when I was on holiday in Beautiful New Zealand. Of all the fabulous photographs I had taken of majestic mountains, gushing geysers, lovely lakes and stupendous spring flowers, I choose this image to submit to this Gardening Gone Wild Contest. We happened upon this orchard where we could just leave our money and buy fresh, crunchy jazz apples on our journey down South Island. It was pure happiness for me, someone from the tropics who had never seen an apple tree, to be at this peaceful, serene orchard. Here, I offer a shot that captures the genius loci, the special atmosphere of the place; you can sense it, without it being intrusive, but it is there in the blurred background. The half-eaten apple in the foreground is of course expressive of this photographer's delirious first  bites of the (un)forbidden fruit. I shall always cherish the memory of that moment of exhilaration, of having a simple but real pleasure for me .

Stylish Blogger Award

My very first award. Wow! My thanks goes to p3chandan (http://gorightinmygarden.blogspot.com/)and Malar (http://mypottedgarden.blogspot.com) for presenting this award to me. I am deliriously happy that you think I deserve it. I would also like to thank the person who created this award!Great idea. 


                                                                         


In accepting this award, these are the things I have to do:

1.Post linking back to the person who gave me the award.


2.Share 7 random thngs about myself.


3.Award 15 recently discovered bloggers.


4.Drop them a note and tell them about it.


Here we go, then. I am trying to keep to the rules by selecting new bloggers, and by that I assume those who started blogging at about the same time I did...last year. I am also trying to scan whether they have already received this award. If indeed I have made the mistake of bestowing them the same award, then take it as an added honour. The following (in no particular order) are the stylish bloggers whose blogs I have had the pleasure of getting to know:


Donna from Garden's Eye View
Fer from My Little Garden In Japan
Rebecca from The Garden Roof Coop
Betty from Great Arquitect
Donna from Garden Walk, Garden Talk
Bonnie from Here A Garden, There A Garden
TS from Casa Mariposa
Cat from The Whimsical Gardener
Laura from Patio Patch
Carolyn from This Grandmother's Garden
skchris from Garden Sense
Lily from The Suburban Gardener
Beth from Plant Postings
Larry from Conrad Art and Gardens
William Wallace from London Is Cool
Tracie from D.O.M.O.






As requested, here are 7 random things ( really random) about myself:


1. I love ballroom dancing, and enjoy the cha-cha and rhumba most.


2. I won't swim in a pool unless it has no deep end!


3. I love swing and standards and light jazz, so among my favourite singers are Sinatra, 
    Laura Fygi, Diana Krall, Michael Buble, Patrizio Buane...and many more singers from 
    the genres I like.


4. I would love to be able to sing in French, Spanish and Italian perfectly, but this is a 
   dream that is probably going to remain a dream forever, as my singing skills are 
   laughable and I don't speak those languages.(Sigh) 


5. I truly relish my cup of coffee, and relish even more having coffee and cake with 
    friends.
   (Two more to go...hmmm, what can be considered random...?)


6. I have a pair of slippers which have sparkly, golden sequins.


7. And wait for this - this is my favourite thing to share with others about myself - I just 
   adore anything hot and spicy- hot curries, spicy Thai food, chilli-laden Hunan (a province
   in China) food, Malay food with aromatic chilli-paste, wasabi...you name it, as long as it
   is hot, that's my kind of comfort-food!


I had great fun putting together these images of what I like to have around me...to share with you: