Green Thumb

Seems great to finally have some time to just sit back and chill. The whole rigmarole stemming from this whole medical health workers strike is still dominating my whole work life. Can't change anything about that, but I can find something totally different to do on my downtime. 

I've been fascinated with plants for quite some time, but I don't think I've ever intentionally grown something; so I decided to give it a try. For my first bit, it was actually just a small transplant job. The sitting room plants had gotten worse for the wear, so I decided to switch them out for some Monstera deliciosa which is what my Dad usually had growing in the sitting room while I was growing up.  

So this is what the plant looked like after I transferred it. Most of the leaves were quite old and dusty, but these were the best Monstera specimens I could find down at Dagoretti. Shortly after some watering, the middle stalk began to unfurl a new life









And voila! dead centre, we now have the new leaf (proof that I didn't end up killing the plant).

I've also taking to spritzing the leaves from time to time to give them a nice sheen, and maybe keep them from looking so dessicated.

My second foray is more of a long term project. After spotting the above magnificent bloom from the Purple Orchid tree (Bauhinia purpurea) at the PCEA Kikuyu Hospital, I figured that I would take a stab at growing Bauhinia from scratch. From my time at Wenzhou, I'd encountered it as a common avenue tree. Even retracing my steps back to my primary school, I too found it growing vibrantly in the school compound. Thus, I waited for the blooms to give way to precious pods, and then had to wait for them to dry and time things just right before they scattered their seeds to the ground.

And this is the result. Four out of the seven seeds I planted sprouted, bearing the typical bilobed leaves.












I don't know where I'm going to put these plants in the long term, but I feel the urge to continue with the experimentation. At least, I know I'm going to use the next plants I grow for landscaping at our upcoming house. Have an eye on some Agapanthus seeds with a view towards growing up to 100 Agapanthus seedlings. Also want to do some experimentation with some local bamboo, but I want to make sure I can find the "clumping" variety, as opposed to the the friendship-destroying "running" variety.

Other than that, life is just as it should be right now, I guess. Will keep you posted.

God Bless.