T. streptophylla x pseudobaileyii “Gorgon”

The beginning of the end for my “Gorgon” It has started to spike. Soon, the pups will appears and gradually, the mother Gorgon will fade and die.

Sounds pretty dramatic, doesn’t it?

You cannot imagine my disappointment when I found it spiking. The Gorgon is an accidental Pride and Joy. For years, I thought it was an ugly looking T. caput madusae sonoran snow.

Came a day when I showed it to my friends and they immediately identified it as a “Gorgon”. It is very nice to have Tilly bros. Frankly, it is a plant which I am still trying to figure out how it got into my collection. Perhaps it was during one of my impulse moments that it became mine.

Admittedly, I am curious to see how many pups will come out . Hoping that it will be about five. More the merrier. Already, I hear my friend saying “Fert! Quick! Fert!”. Lol.

Been busy.

Sorry I haven’t been posting anything on Marimos. Been working hard in the office and with Tillandsias (as you can see in my previous posts).

Now, if someone could instruct me on how to put up a video in my blog, I’d appreciate it.

T. streptophylla x caput medusae “Como”

The youngest of my three comos decided to spike. I’m alright with my plants spiking now. Used to be really cheesed off. Don’t yell so much any more. My friend kept assuring me that the plant is hard to find and that the pups will be much sought after. Hope it will pup at least four pups. Need to fertilise a bit.

Maybe I should start a Tilly Farm.

Go forth and multiply

In an effort to reduce carbon footprints relating to the import of Tillandsias and Platyceriums and also to save $$$$ on buying plants for the 2012 SGF, your truly have started on a project (“quest” sounds so Camelot) to propagate as many plants as possible. With airplants, it is just a matter to getting the required plant, getting it to spike, bloom and pup (lots and lots of them!).

Unfortunately, there are some airplants which started to spike/flowers when only a pup:

Ionantha “Ron” pup blooming two months after removal from mother plant.

Eric Knobloch pups spiking less than 6 weeks after removal from mother plant

They are just this small:

I attribute this to the fact that my growing area has bright direct sunshine for at least 9 hours a day, can be hot and has a good water supply full of nutrients (read pond water).

The pups produced by these young plants might not be very strong. Will be keeping an eye on them.

Also thanks to those factors, a few of my precious darlings have started to spike:

T. streptophylla x pseudobaileyii “Gorgon”

28″ inch long T. caput medusae

The prettiest of my Nellie Roses

Bulbosa Belize “Giant Form”

The circle of life continues. I would love to have them continue growing big and lovely and not flower at all but nature will take its course. Will have to make sure, though, that the second generation does not start the third generation too fast.

For platyceriums, it is a slightly different ballgame.

You have to find a mature plant. THEN you have to wait for the spores to be ready. If you get there too late, you will find this scene greeting you:

P. coronarium with shedded spore patch

This is one of the spore patch I am looking for: a P. Grande’s spore patch:

The Platyceriums I have lined up for propagation are:

P. Bifurcatum
P. Coronarium
P. Elephantosis
P. Grande
P. Ridleyii
P. Wandae

Look out for a blog from me about three years later to see what how the spore programme has progressed.

T. Capitata “Pink”

This is by far the prettiest bracts I have ever seen on a capitata. Very sweet and appealing.

The Seller said he removed the flowers for better presentation. It certainly worked. Three of these beauties are now in my collection. I expect to have > 12 pups in the next six months. Capitatas have a pretty good pupping ability.

More on Marimos

Hello all Marimo Ball fans out there.

Yes, it has been a while since I wrote anything on Marimos.

Work has been crazy, finished all assignments last December, Internet froze up since 12 Feb 2011, tidying up my house for renovation this November, busy tidying up my Tillandsia collection and enjoying life in general.

Good news and bad news. Good news is that I may have a new supplier for little Marimo balls (2- 3 cm). Bad news is the minimum order is 1000 pieces. Have to think long and hard.

Anyways, I’ll be selling just a few Marimos in May at Hortpark, if they are still having the Hortpark Bazaar. Alternatively, drop me a line. With my email fixed, I should be able to get back to you pretty soon enough.

In the meanwhile, do post your observations on your marimos here to share with the other enthusiasts. We can learn together. Oh, my lecturer has advised me to rewrite my “Me and my Marimos” article as the first one is just dreadful. So, watch this space for the new revised article. I just might post a short video I did for class too! Equally dreadful but fun to do!

See ya.

I’m back

Been really busy with the Community in Bloom 2010 and Singapore Garden Festival: The Gardner’s Cup.

Was up to my eyebrows with airplants for approximately six months.

Am now taking a break from airplans and going to get some Platyceriums (Staghorn ferns).

I did enjoy participating in The Gardener’s Cup. It would have been even better if there were some humility and less arrogance in a certain winning team. And not to mention if some people would not feather their nests on whatever gardening items they can lay their hands on.

You won’t believe the number of times I had to explain to someone from another team that despite a plant’s ability to grow via cutting/stolon, you must NOT pinch a cutting or stolon from someone else’s plant without permission.

If you do that, the action makes you a thief.

On the other hand, there were very helpful and lovely people at SGF.

Will be at Hortpark in September with my Marimos.

See ya.

My Itinerary for “Tour Singapore 2010″

Here is my Itinerary for my Tour of my own Country. First stop, the Musuem!!

1. Egyptian Exhibition : Quest for Immortality – The World of Ancient Egypt (Half price for Mastercard holders). The exhibition end on 4 April. Have to hurry.

2. Peranakan Musuem : Half price ticket on Friday 7pm – 9pm

3. Singapore Art Musuem: Free admission after 6pm on Fridays and from 12noon to 2pm on weekdays.

Next would be the various enclaves

1. Little India
2. Chinatown
3. Geylang Serai
4. Katong

I am not the kind of person who has to go overseas to enjoy going on a tour. I enjoy a tour in any country. To a point, it disgusts me that some people go “oh and ah” over things from other countries when they cannot even see and appreciate the beauty in their own backyard. Pathetically blind. Their loss.

I shall be a tourist of my own country

This year, I shall take the time to tour my own country. I have not explored as much of it as I should. I want to see what I can before it gets done away in the name of modernisation.

Great way to save my holiday leave for what may be a double long-haul trip next year – Holland/France and the Florida Everglades.

Selling Marimos at Hortpark tomorrow

It will be a simple set up. Table, jar of marimos, containers. That’s it.

Come by and have a chat.

14 March 2010 at Hortpark

I shall be at HortPark this Sunday from 9 or 10 till 5pm. I will be selling Medium Marimos for $4 and the large ones for $9. Come on over and have a chat with me even if you don’t want to buy one.

Will be bringing a sick Marimo to show a sick Marimo looks like.

I would like to hear from other Marimo peeps.

My friends will be selling Airplants, Staghorns, carnivorous plants and other gardening stuff.

Where to get Marimo moss balls

A while back, I wrote about the places you could get the Marimos. People have written to ask specifically where.

1. Tiong Bahru – Wu Hu Aquarium, near the Tiong Bahru Hawker Centre. Call Ben at 98151657 for availability.

2. Serangoon North – at the aquariums near the Community Centre. Sorry, I didn’t pay attention to the block numbers.

3. Clementi – Polyart at Blk 328 which is near the MRT. Try the other fish shops there too.

4. Me – I shall be at HortPark in March selling them for one day only. Will post more details. Come over and meet me to discuss the little darlings if you want!

Got my Divorce Papers today!!

Yippee! I am officially single. Actually, I was officially single since 11 January 2010.

Life has been getting better since mid-December 2006. Yup, soon after my heart procedure, I was unofficially single. It was hard in the beginning. Heart palpitations, fear of stroke, having to go to work everyday and to handle the housework alone. Took me months to get back to normal.

But things have looked up. I am financially much better off now. Praise the Good Lord. Don’t have to scrap and scrimp just to get by anymore. Don’t have to do so much just because someone else who is supposed to be in a life partnership together with me “is not used to doing it” or “just don’t want to do it”.

One of the best things about being single is that I don’t have to hear that my allergies are “all in my head” from you know who. I DO have allergies and have test results to prove that. Don’t have to sleep in the freezing cold just because the other person wants airconditioning every night.

I am who I am. I can be loud and irritating. I can be your friend if I deem you good enough to be actually called my friend. No need degrees, masters or PhDs. Just treat people fairly.

I did not look at the bank account or family background when I first got married. For the next one, I have to be much more discerning. I want someone who is frugal, prudent, ambitious, ACTUALLY working towards his set goal(s), well-groomed and don’t expect me to use his ideas in my assignments when I don’t want to.

More news in the days ahead.

So on this day…

At 1.43am this morning, I finally completed my third Assignment for AIIA. It is amazing how tired I felt as I toiled on the Assignment but felt so relieved and alive after I sent it in. I went to bed at 2am. I don’t think I fell asleep immediately. The body was exhausted but the mind was still racing around Astroturfing examples.

Upon waking up at 8.30am today, I immediately prepared breakfast (Long Live Nutella!) and started to work on my slides for a talk that I would be giving at HortPark this afternoon at 3pm – Growing airplants in a Community Garden.

Spent 45 mins taking the latest pics of my airplant set up in the Garden. Finally finishing my slides at 1.30pm and hurried off to HortPark. Remembered to pack some marimos for a buyer meeting me at HortPark after the talk.

GreenHorn, Benetay and Wilson gave a good talk. I being the last speaker probably gave an okay talk. The issue about the talk was that each of us gave the talk based on our experiences growing Airplants but each of us have different growing conditions.

I grow mine in a natural outdoor setting, GreenHorn grows his in a concrete outdoor setting and Benetay is in an indoor public housing setting. What I shared contradicted some of what the others shared. Good thing Wilson summarised everything and stated that each of us had different growing conditions.

Whew.

I’m now inspired to write about my trip to the Everglades and staying in Tropiflora.

Will do it after I finish the sequel to “Me and My Marimos”.

Marimos at HortPark, 17 January 2010

I shall be giving a talk at Hortpark in Singapore on 17 Jan (3 – 5pm, Fruit Room) and will be bringing some marimos for sale with me. $3 for 1 and $10 for four.

The talk I’m co-presenting is on Tillandsias aka Airplants.

Apologies. Yes, I still have Marimo Moss Balls available

I apologise for those who have written to me regarding the availability of Marimo Moss Balls. Yes, they are still available. Most of them are in my airconditioned office.

I’m letting them go at $3 each or $10 for 4. They are great conversational items. The interest I receive from people is amazing. Do not put them in direct sunlight or in a warm area.

Email me if you are interested in getting them. I am currently really busy with my studies, work and home but I will try to revert to you. I can post them to you (with proper packaging and without water. Yes, they can survive the journey) or we can meet up at any station along the NEL.

How to make Notepads out of old table-top calendars and letterheads.

The following are steps on how to recycle table-top calendars and old letterheads into Notepads. I’ve made a number of them and have donated them to charities.

For this project, you will need:

Old Calenders
Old letterheads or paper you would like to use up (don’t use too many or you can’t fit it into the spine)
Needle-nose pliers
Glue
Bull clip / paper clips
Access to a comb binder

1. Get your materials

2. Remove the spine from the calendar. Hold one side of the spine with your finger and thumb and the other with the pliers. Pull spine apart.

3. After spine removal

4. Open up the calendar body and cut it in the middle. Each half is a big piece of calendar with a smaller flap (calendar base) attached to it.

5. Now cut very lightly at the fold of the calendar base. Do not cut through.

6. The back must remain intact. DO NOT CUT THROUGH.

7. Trim the sides of the calendar base. This will allow you to peel the cardboard support away from the cover.

8. Peel cardboard support from cover. Peel carefully.

9. You will end up with this:

10. Cut the corners off. About 0.5 cm in.

11. Apply glue to the cover flap.

12. Fold cover flap over.

13. Use the bull clips to hold it together. You can use long paper clips.

14. Leave to dry. I usually leave them overnight.

15. In the meanwhile, start trimming your letterheads / paper:

16. It should fit the size of the covers.

17. When the glue has dried, you will be ready to go on to the next step.

18. Using the comb binder, punch the holes.

19. Make sure the holes align with those on the covers.

20. Use only enough sheets to fit into the spine.

21. Place the covers back to back (with what will be the inside of the notepad facing out. See step 22. photo for an idea) and thread the spine into the holes of the covers. Start sliding the paper in. Sliding the paper in makes it easier to fill the spine.

22. Here is how it looks when the paper and covers are in. The next step is to close the spine.

23. Place the almost completed notepad into the comb binder as shown. The spine is then closed by pulling the lever. A clamp then closes the teeth of the spine. Do not pull too hard. If the teeth overlaps, you will have a hard time pulling them apart.

24. Properly done, you can easily open the notepad flat out.

25. TA-DA!!! The final product. The black notepad is my favourite as a white spine was paired with a black cover. Look out for different coloured calendars.

This notepad is made 100% from recycled materials.

If you do not want a hardcover for your notepad, you can use cardboard. I use the cardboard salvaged from boxes the letterheads came in.

Please send feedback if the steps are a little difficult to understand.

My Marimo Moss Balls have arrived

They arrived in the office on Monday 2 March 2009. I was at home nursing myself back to health. I digress. I return to the important stuff – Marimos.

About 8 were quite squished and will be placed in an ICU jar. I managed to wash out about 25 marimos on Tuesday and placed them in a very big jar.

I will be looking to sell off about 50 marimos in a couple of weeks’ time. This will give me enough time to continue washing them out to a nice condition (not that they are not already but I am picky about how they look like).

There is one very small one and it is so adorable! Will set a jar aside for different sized one… mummy, daddy… baby…. dreamy sigh..*faraway look*

It is quite late now so I’ll be post later on the reaction I got from my colleagues when they saw the huge jar of fuzzy green balls sitting on my desk.

Survey Results

My thanks to everyone who responded to my request to fill in the survey I set up to get data for my paper “An investigation to the effect of texture on the visual effect of Garden Photographs.”

Below are the results of the survey along with a selected feedback comment received.

Fern (a)

“The spikes appear to be reaching out to touch me, therefore making me want to reach out and touch them. Color; composition were also beautiful.”

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Trunk (d)

“It looks like moths or butterflies are fossilized into the bark of the tree. very unique and it made me want to touch it.“

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Leaf (b)

“Strong texture and over-layering make for a strong photo.“

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Surface (b)

“I like how the picture goes off into unknown space, giving depth and interest to the picture.”

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Rock/Soil (a)

“I like the different colors, the reds, greys and whites.“

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Harvest (d)

“There are many things in the photo but none of them competes with the others for the viewers attention; it’s a leisurely travel up the trunk to the fruit, then up to the branches radiating out from the trunk, past the leaves and finally to the sky.”

This picture is also the Most Appealing Photograph of the entire survey.

My marimo balls are on their way

My supplier informed me that the shipment was sent yesterday. Can you imagine the anticipation? I’ve got three jars ready for them but I don’t think it is enough space…

I’m hoping they will arrive at the end of the week. That will give me time to set up the jars and to write more about them during the weekend.

Watch this space.