Mulberries already?

Just a month ago, I planted four mulberry cuttings in a pot. Two didn't quite make it and died soon after. Of the other two, one seems to be doing really well, so well that it produced a small bunch of fruits.

Today, I discovered that the fruits are ready for eating. This is awesome for a small plant that is not even a foot tall.

3 days later...

Riot of colours

My son is also into gardening and has shoved his collection of bromeliads, orchids and nepenthes into my patio. It's getting crowded but I'm not complaining because when everything starts to flower all at once, the garden is no longer just green but peppered with bits of yellow, purple, pink and orange all over.

Stumped

Recently I bought a cute succulent because I was attracted to the curly leaves. The plant came with long limpy flowers which weren't attractive by any stretch of the imagination.

After the flowers were gone, I was intrigued to see small red ball-like fruits forming at the tip of the leaves. The fruits look succulent, almost like you could eat them.They are small though, like the size of grapes.

While watering the plant today, I noticed that some of the ripe ones have indeed been eaten, likely by birds visiting the window sill. The flesh inside is white with lots of tiny black seeds, almost like miniature dragon fruits. I am curious to know what this plant is. If you can help me identify, that would be great.

We've had dragon fruits growing at my parent's farm for years, so there is indeed some similarity except that the real dragon fruit plants tower over me and they produce really large fruits. (below)

Little red cuties

These babies are so cute, I can't stop raving about them! I know I sound like a gardening idiot but when I sowed the cherry radish seeds along with carrot and lavender seeds, I wasn't expecting anything to germinate.

In a way, I was quite right because there are still no signs of carrot or lavender seedlings to date. The only thing that worked are the radish seeds. I have grown the long white tropical ones before but these red round ones are my first. I always thought they can only do well in cooler climates.

Granted, the weather has been very cool lately, I'm still surprised at how well these babies are doing in this humidity.

I've also had lots of success growing arugula (rocket), so it only goes to show that you'll never know unless you try.

Radishes

I have been away for a week and how quickly the radish seedlings have grown.

Strangely enough, this succulent growing right next to the planter box has started producing little fruits that resemble red radishes. I wonder if they can be eaten though.

Growing radish outside the bedroom

I have such limited space for growing that every inch of usable space around the house counts. Even the bay window outside my bedroom is not spared.

Can you spot the rubber plant (which I had grown from seed), an orchid and cactus-like plant with curly leaves below? There is also a hoya plant hanging from above.

Since the bay window is starting to receive some sunlight at this time of the year, I sowed some radish seeds to try my luck.

And guess what? The seeds germinated in 3 days! They should be ready for eating in 60 days.

I hope to see some cute, red radish in my salad bowl soon!

Starting over

One year ago, I blogged about how my mulberry plant was fruiting like crazy. Then I must have neglected it because one fine day, the plant had turned into a stick. I didn't even realise it was dead until someone asked me for a cutting. I couldn't even recognise the plant anymore.

So for months, I pined for another mulberry plant, yet I refused to buy one in case it suffers the same fate. The main problem in my patio is the lack of sunlight for the first half of the year. Thankfully it receives full sunlight during this time of the year, so I've been taking full advantage of the sunlight.

When my son brought back some mulberry cuttings, I quickly planted them in a sunny spot. Most of them are doing very well. If I am lucky, I might be able to enjoy mulberry fruits again next year.