From my Garden II

Let me introduce you to Roselle also known as Hibiscus Sabdariffa. The petals and fruit is steeped to make a delicious tea. It's health benefits include reducing hypertension and weight loss. 

Recipe for iced tea (Agua de Jamaica)

4 red calyses (petals of its fruit) 

2 slices of fresh ginger

2 cups water

simple syrup or honey, to taste

Steep petals and ginger in water for --- minutes. Cool, add your favorite sweetener and ice. 

Can anyone tell me what the name of this plant? I bought it in Tagaytay but forgot.

This plant is called Cardinal's Guard. It is one of my remembrances of my mother-in-law. Her helper gave me cuttings from her house (Mama's place as my boys called it) when she passed away. So each time I see these flowers, I remember Mama.

From my Garden I

A wonderful surprise in my garden, a pineapple fruit!

This plant is about 12 years old and it has only bear fruit now. Blame it on the unusually cool weather early this year.

A friend of mine gave me some organic liquid fertilizer which I dilute and spray once a week. It contained molasses and seaweed. In 3 weeks, a lot of my flowers bloomed. This one is called Bleeding Heart.

This is called Mickey Mouse plant. It had never bloomed this much. 

My friend is a gardener and bee keeper. She is encouraging me to use organic fertilizers and to grow more flowers for her bees. All over the world, the bees are getting sick from pesticides and fertilizers. Maybe when I learn more I can share with you the recipe and instructions for organic fertilizers. But for now please plant more flowers!

Flowers from my Garden

I have one Cattleya Orchid that I've had for maybe 4 years and this is it's 3rd time to bloom. I wanted others to appreciate its beauty so I'm blogging it. Too bad you can't smell its perfume.