Alugbati

Simply steamed---that's how I want to eat my alugbati, but I don't see it here in the US so  I brought a few stems to Long Beach and planted them in pots. Alas, alugbatis love lots of sunshine and water and it is now Fall. I have the pots sitting by my window but I can tell they are not getting a lot of sun. Although they have new shoots, the stems are not turning deep purple as they should. If they should make it through the winter and to springtime, I shall bring them out in the sunshine.

I think this is also called malavar spinach. I might have to trim this growing shoot. I cannot imagine how long this will be by springtime if I don't trim them.

My Pot Garden Yields a Bounty

As early as the end of June, I got this bountiful harvest from my pot garden.

My favorite basil went to my rustic tomato-basil capellini, the parsley metamorphosed into chimichurri, the lettuce of course, eaten as a salad, the spinach, simply steamed, mint leaves enrolled themselves to tea, oregano laid back and chose itself to dry for future use, cilantro joined tomatoes for a hot salsa, and sage, sauteed in butter as an appetizer---oh, the joys of growing and consuming herbs!

Peonies

I am torn between keeping my peonies in their bush or cutting them for my little dinner table. They are simply beautiful and delicate. I am enchanted by them. They have a faint smell that makes one sniff for more of the scent. I wish the blooms would stay longer or they'd bloom some more. I remember when I had an apendectomy in 2000, my sister Jenny visited me and brought a round vase packed with white peonies. At that time Steve  brought his guitar and played  during the visit---an elderly woman who waas my roommate  was charmed and thoroughly enjoyed the vsit.

Perennials I Look Forward To

                         This hydrangea was a cutting I got from my sister's garden... look at it now!

                                              My little squirt loves to play with water

                                                            hibiscus fire in my garden

more pics to come

My PostageStamp-sized Garden

My Tatay (Dad) made sure to plant fruit trees around our house---my childhood home. I still vividly remember how each fruit tree looked and where they were situated. I loved most of all the  java  guava trees that yielded humongous guavas and so many of them that we had an everlasting supply of guava jelly (the rest of the fruits were thrown in the pigsty  for them porcines to feast on).  Those guava trees had such  thick trunks spread out so that  I was able to play tag up in the trees with my friends. That was fun!!! The downside to the abundance of  guavas was that it gave me  many days of  constipation. Nevertheless, I  loved those trees. When my Tatay passed away in 1980---those three giant guava trees  died shortly after.

Now I realize why I get so excited at the sight of any fruiting tree and why I looong so much to have my own in my home. Alas! We have nil space to plant fruit trees. Thank God for  horticulturists who  breed dwarf  trees. Somehow, I get to plant what I can  in the  little  space that we have.

                                                               My dwarf apple tree

                                                                  My dwarf pear tree

My blueberry bush

PostageStamp-sized Garden

My dream is to have a flower and vegetable garden adjacent to an orchard of fuyus, pomegranate, lemons and blueberries. Alas!  I only have a postagestamp-sized garden that will carry a few plants and some pots. I am still thankful for it as it is better than just having a windowsill for plants as when one is living in an apartment building. I make the most of what I have and celebrate life as much as I can. It's called counting blessings...
When one loves to garden and not have much space to plant in one resorts to pots ---

                                                            My habanero pot-Farm

OR I just allow myself one specie of plant at a time like this LONE sunflower

We make sure to enjoy it's beauty inside our home

                                                           It graces our little dining table

Humongous...a beauty front and back!

Tulipomania

Moving to our first (doll) house about a decade ago was fun and exciting. As soon as the first cold week crept in I immediately planted tulip bulbs with the help of my sister Jenny who insisted that we plant in clumps of (odd number) 7 bulbs each in order to according to her maintain a balance in the arrangements. Had I been alone, I would have planted the bulbs in a row. Come springtime, one day, after the bulbs have sprouted and grown to about 3 inches, it snowed like  crazy while I was at work, I could not wait to get home to rescue my tulip plants. When I got home, they were buried in snow 13 inches deep, I heroically cleared the white stuff around the tulips. When I finally got inside the house I was cold and shivering, my hands were stiff and toes, feeling like they were ready to fall off.  Later that spring, I was happily rewarded with these:

(pix of tulips here)