A Bandung Garden Style

I have just got home from Bandung, Indonesia, where I was looking out for garden designs, and I found one that can be said to be typical of an Indonesian garden landscape.I was quite pleased to have found it.

Bandung is in West Java, Indonesia. It is on  a slightly elevated location, about 2,500 ft above sea level, and the cool temperature there produces luxuriant vegetation all year round!


Apart from the green plants, the Bandung garden design would often incorporate the stone art which is crafted in Indonesia. There are wall relief statues, stone statues, figure statues and animal statues which are displayed among the trees and borders. 

This is such a pleasant, calming statue to have in a Balinese garden.

Strange that the designer had added a Roman fusion (in the background) to the Balinese theme! 

For Macro Monday, here's a close up of the face of a stone figure statue:

A guardian spirit?

A popular feature is to incorporate epiphytes of all sorts onto huge trees.

A close up of the attractive red succulents and air plants (which look like roots ).

An orangutan and child 

This is for Mellow Yellow Monday:

Sprays of orchids like sparklers in the noon day sun.

See what I mean by luxuriant? Such well-fed foliage!

A variety of textures, patterns, shapes and shades of tropical greens and ferns.

This unusual flower is from a tall tree...unknown species (to me, that is).

And for Mosaic Monday, two animal statues:







Please visit Macro Monday, Mosaic Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday and Yard Art Thursday for more garden delights.

Let's Fall In Love

I have decided to share with you for GBBD a personal video I made for my friends when we were having the time of our lives enjoying the gardens of New Zealand. This is a departure from my usual format of presenting my posts on botanic gardens, but it was such fun making the video and we had such wonderful memories of those beautiful gardens that I think you might also like to view how we were falling in love...with the spectacular blooms and trees and garden features...have a giggle at our antics.

Let's fall in love

Why shouldn't we fall in love?

Our hearts are made of it

Let's take a chance

Why be afraid of it

Let's close our eyes and make our own paradise

Little we know of it 

Still we can try

to make a go of it

This song is dedicated to all garden lovers...to make our own paradise of our gardens!

Thank you Carol for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, and thank you Anni for Thursday Theme Song. Do take a walk over there at Carol's and Anni's to see  what you're missing over there.

Eye Candy from Cambodia

I have not been able to visit your blogs lately as I was on a mission, away from home. My mission from Roses and Stuff for Blooming Friday was to get eye candy for the week's theme. I went far and wide, searching for some truly exotic eye candy, and so I travelled to a land that takes you back to ancient times. My destination was Cambodia. I have just returned today from the city of Siem Reap, where the ancient temple of Angkor Wat is situated, and although it was easier looking for ancient ruins than floral eye candy there, I have managed to capture some rather strange-looking flowers.


This is the strangest lotus I have ever seen.

These cascading flowers come from a tree. I was told that this tree is actually a jungle plant, but we see them planted along the streets for landscaping. Tootsie at Fertilizer Friday might find this a lovely bunch to flaunt this week.

This last eye candy is the frangipani which is very popular in Siem Reap.The trees are used for landscaping. This bunch was photographed in the morning after a heavy shower.  Laura at Macro Friday might appreciate this.

Do visit the highlighted memes to enjoy more eye candy.

Yellow Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair

I sort of vaguely remember that there's a song with such a title. Is there? It is just that when I look at the spray of yellow orchids that I am posting today, the lyrics keep popping into my head...














These photographs above were taken when I was in Auckland in the Winter Garden conservatory. Presented here for Mellow Yellow.

  

The two macros are orchids from my own garden, served up for Macro Monday.







These two plants have been faithfully blooming for years...they certainly understand the art of aging gracefully!The mosaic above showing the plants from way back , when they were younger, is made for Mosaic Monday.


    

My Cherie Amour

Today's flowers are from my  collection of Unforgetttable Blossoms from my New Zealand Springtime Romance. These are my favourite pink blossoms from the previous spring. These pink beauties were encountered in different parts of New Zealand. Yes like the proverbial sailor, I had left behind a blushing flower in every port!


Oh I was lucky enough to see my cherie amour, Cherry Blossoms in the North Island and down in the South Island as well.

It makes my heart flutter just to see this beauty!

Just love that pattern of print on the ground...even the shadows cast are beautiful.

I'll miss this a lot !

We'll meet again, my cherie amour, in another spring, maybe in another country, but till then, I'll see you in my dreams.

 Dark sighs of  yearning 

 printed patches on the ground

  pink petals drift in dreams

Go on and have a good time at Today's Flowers, Shadow Shot, Pink Saturday, Haiku My Heart