A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME ... tuberose

 Salam and good day. 

It's the end of July/ early August, and my tuberose is blooming. Go figure. Despite its name, tuberose is not actually a rose. I just felt like quoting Shakespeare, that's all.

I'm a tiny bit confused with the flowering season of this flower. Last year, it bloomed sometime in November/ December, this year, it's July/ August. Next year... March/April?

Regardless of when they decide to show up, I'm glad they did at all. I simply love the smell ... so soft and slightly musky, a bit similar to Jasmine and the Bakawali / Queen of the Night

And, like the Bakawali, The scent of the tuberose is also often associated with the presence of spirits and ghosts... yea... I don't know about that. However, if you suddenly get a whiff of a tuberose scent while walking in a dark deserted alley, in the middle of the night ... you should run, love... even if you don't believe in ghosts ... just run.

SUCCULENTS ... and the rainy season

Salam and good day

These are some succulents that I planted (more like transferred) into my small front yard recently. 

I planted them in mid September. Then I realised, mid September is not the best time to plant succulents in the yard, because it was so close to the rainy season.

 

Well, it is October now and the rain has already started, and will get wetter come November and December. I hope they will survive the monsoon. If not, I will have to replant them, after the rain, probably in February or March.

We'll just have to wait and see. 

PLANTS MAKE ME HAPPY ... update 4 minit

photo from Pinterest

 

IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS ... there is peace and serenity

 Salam and good day,

Here I am again, ready to begin another semester. Seems like just yesterday I finished teaching the third semester. 

This semester, instead of online teaching, (which I have sort of gotten used to by now), the university wants us to do hybrid lesson. Hybrid, meaning, a combination of online and face to face lesson., ie: 50% of each. Sounds simple enough. Well, it is anything but simple. 

The 50% face to face and online only applies to students' learning time, 

For the lecturers, its actually 100% face to face, but in the face to face class, only 50% of the students will be physically present and the remaining will have it as an online lesson. That's one scenario. I know. It's complicated.

Anyway, the hybrid lesson consists of six different scenarios based to the actual number of students who are physically on campus and those who are not. Therefore, if I have six sections to teach, and unluckily, have six different scenarios, well... chaos would be an understatement. I'm literally heading into a storm. 

The bright side is this coming semester would be my second last before I'm off to my retirement. Sooo looking forward to it. I'm  just too old for this mode of teaching.

Speaking of storm, it's October now, and we can expect a visit from our dear friend, the North East monsoon in a few weeks. Yes, Mr Monsoon will come with abundance of rain, leaving a trail of destruction in its path. That gives me an idea for a November poem. Hopefully, I will have the time to think about it, you know, with all the chaos.

But, for now, I need something soothing... here it is...

Despite, the title, My Melancholy Blues, This song is not at all depressing. It is the most peaceful and serene song ever.

related post : death-on-two-legs-dedicated-to.

QUEEN OF THE NIGHT ... bakawali

 Salam and good day,

I walked into my yard early one morning, around 6.30 am and I was greeted by a glorious sight. Glorious because it was such a rare sight to behold. 

Yes. I was greeted by the still blooming Bakawali flower or its not so exotic scientific name Epiphyllum Oxytpetallum.  Mind you, I was lucky to be able to catch it still blooming as it was already daylight and the flower was already wilting, never to bloom again. 

also known as Queen of the night

, Gul-e-Bakavali, Kadupul, Brahma Kamalam, Beauty below the moon

Blooming only once a year, the blooming period is said to be from the end of June till early July, which was around the time I took these pictures. Being a night blooming cactus, they start to open after dusk, around 8 or nine pm and start to fade after dawn. hence the name Queen of the night. Not only that, each flower will only bloom once and only for a few hours. 

That is why we will never see this flower being sold in flower shops and florist or blooming in the nursery. They could never make it to the shops. so, they can never be bought in all their entirety, which renders them priceless, ergo, the most expensive flower in the world.

Luckily, there were a few more buds that hasn't bloomed. I waited 2 days for them to bloom.

so here it is, the Queen of the night in all its glory, captured on 21.06.2021 at 11.35 pm

Oh, did I tell you about the scent? How would I describe the scent. It is soft, warm and sweet, and it perfumed my whole yard. Heavenly. 

However, if you are an avid believer of the paranormal, smelling the Bakawali scent in the middle of the night would definitely make the hair on your arm stand up and send you scrambling indoor. Incidentally,  just a few moments ago, a booming thunder cracked the sky. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Well, I guess that's my cue to stop.  

REFERENCES:

https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokok_Bakawali

http://ipgmktar.edu.my/etnobotani/2018/10/22/bunga-bakawali/

https://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/09/moonlight-beauty

http://pplh.ulm.ac.id/id/2020/02/28/15-bunga-terlangka-di-dunia/

LEAF RUST PADA DAUN KEMBOJA

Salam and good day,

Pokok kemboja saya mengalami masalah 'leaf rust' atau karat daun. Menurut  maklumat dari internet,  keadaan ini disebabkan oleh jangkitan fungus.

I

Beginilah rupa  daun kemboja yang dijangkiti fungus

Bahagian bawah daun diliputi debu bewarna kuning seperti besi yang berkarat. Ini sebenarmya adalah spora fungus yang bila diterbangkan angin akan melekat pada daun lain dan akan membiak bila keadaannya sesuai iaitu dalam keadaan cuaca yang agak lembap, dan memang sekarang keadaan cuaca agak lembap dan sejuk.

Masalah ini bukan masalah besar sebenarnya. Ia boleh diatasi dengan menggunakan racun serangga atau  dengan mencabut daun yang dijangkiti. 

Saya pilih  untuk mencabut daun yang dijangkiti. Harap2 daun yang masih tinggal  mencukupi untuk pokok terus hidup. 

Pokok kemboja yang sudah saya cabut daun yang 

dijangkiti. Cuma tinggal daun2 muda dan pucuk 

sahaja.

Reference: http://myagrilog.blogspot.com/2015/06/masalah-leaf-rust-pada-daun-anggur-fig.html?m=1