Orange Orchard

Last week, the entire family spent the weekend at the hot spa resort of Atagawa, Izu Peninsula in Japan. We visited a wonderful rose garden and an orange orchard. The orchard was a “mikan gari” which means you pay a fixed charge and they give you a pair of scissors that you take with you and pick any number of oranges you want and eat them on the spot! The charge per head was a reasonable 400 yen (about 4.5 dollars).

View from the orange orchard overlooking the sea and the island of Oshima in the distance

Pick as many as you like but eat ‘em!

Delicious oranges waiting to be picked and eaten!

The trees were planted in a terraced garden – it appears that these oranges don’t like cold, and such an arrangement is quite suitable for growing oranges, so the owner told me.

This was a fun place and I like the concept. The owner does not need labor to pick oranges, the visitors would gladly pay the reasonable charge and have a good time eating as many oranges as they like – a mutually-beneficial arrangement. The owner even picked us up from the railway station and dropped us back after the visit. We had a great time at this orchard. Japan has various “eat-as-much-as-you-like” orchards including strawberry, pear, grapes and so on.

Rose Garden

We visited the Bagatelle Park, about 10 minutes by bus from Kawazu station in the afternoon. It was opened, in a tie-up with the park of the same name in Paris. Three of the park’s five hectares are devoted to a reproduction of the Paris park’s Rose Garden, thus recreating the atmosphere of the French capital in the 18th century.

Entrance to the Bagatelle Rose Garden

The garden included some magnificent specimens of roses – let the photos speak for themselves!

Yellow roses

Pink

Yellow with tinges of pink

Light pink

Creamy

Red

We had our fill of oranges and roses and returned to Tokyo tired but happy!

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This Sunday I visited a local seaside park facing the Tokyo Bay. The local newsletter had featured an announcement that a park called the Sodegaura Kaihin Park would hold a festival with the first 200 entrants to the park presented with plants. I was pretty excited and hoped to find lots of flowering plants, maybe a botanical garden too!

Upon entering the park, two of the officials gave me a map of the park – it seemed to be fairly large by Japanese standards. I saw a high viewing platform and a large windmill within the park, that had large lawns, palm trees lining the paved paths, plenty of space for kids to play, clean toilets and a splendid view of the Tokyo Bay including the Aqualine, an bridge-cum-undersea tunnel linking Kisarazu, (the city where I stay) to Kawasaki, Tokyo and Yokohama. 

Platform (left) and panoramic view (bridge-cum-tunnel in the sea can be seen on the right in enlarged view)

I ambled over to a tent-like structure where volunteers presented me with some marigold plants, a packet of Dianthus seeds, calorie mate and some pamphlets.

    Presents to visitors (left) and tent-like structure (right)

 Barring some camelias and a huge wind propeller that generated around 180 MW of power, there wasn’t much to hold my interest, so I decided to visit Sodegaura Koen, a large and popular Japanese garden not far away from this place.

Wind power in park	Camelia

The Sodegaura Park, one of my favorites, was holding a chrysanthemum festival with the best flowers to be awarded prizes. The exhibits were amazing and  I was delighted to see bonsais of chrysanthemum flowers too. The photos here speak for themselves!

Chrysanthemums entered for the contest (click to enlarge)

The bonsai exhibits were the best I have ever seen.

Bonsai – chrysanthemums

More Bonsai exhibits – chrysanthemums

I also met an elderly Japanese couple who introduced me to seeds of the Castanopsis cuspidata, lying on the path that ran around a lake within the park. These seeds are edible and taste quite nice. It appears that during their youth, these seeds were sold and were quite popular, but not many people bother to pick these up nowadays.

 Castanopsis cuspidata seeds (left) and a scene from the Sodegaura Park (right)

The park is in full of flowers in spring and the beginning of autumn, but with winter soon to come, the flowers in the park in bloom were mainly chrysanthemum, serbia, and a sprinkling of cosmos, and of course, with plenty of ducks, swans and the Japanese carp in the waters.

Flowers in bloom at the Sodegaura Park

Birds in the park 

Have a great day!

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If I could hear my plants speak, they would probably be yelling at me to pull out those weeds that were engulfing them, draining away their nutrition and cutting out sunlight! Yes, I returned to my garden in Japan last week; my flowering plants engulfed by tall grasses, some of my herbs missing and a tomato plant surprisingly peeping out from my hostas!

But amidst the gloom, there’s sunshine. Take a look at my first harvest of peanuts.

Bunch of peanuts

I had put in just four of these plants before I left for India, and was thrilled to see them come up good and healthy.

Peanuts washed and ready for boiling with salt

I wasted no time and had boiled them almost immediately. I never expected to harvest them so easily. This will be a permanent feature every summer.

Another pleasant surprise was sweet potato. The plants had made their way to various parts of the small plot of land and had to be chopped up. A trial dig gave me some healthy looking sweet potatoes.

Just dug-up and washed sweet potato

I am encourage to grow these again next year. The only point you need to consider is the space – these plants creep all over your garden and take up space.

Another delightful surprise was morning glory. A few of them still adorned my fences and made my day!

Morning glory – still going strong!

The photo above shows two of these flowers engulfed by Japanese anemone leaves. Not surprisingly, I could not find any seeds; this plant was a hybrid variety that I had purchased from the local nursery. I was happy however, to find lots of seeds in other MG plants that I had raised from seed.

A long sasanqua plant with a single flower greeted my return to the garden.

Sasanqua

The ginger lily plants had also shot up in my absence; the toad lily was in full bloom.

Ginger lily and toad lily on either side of the solar lamp

Larger view of the toad lily

Scented geranium

The cutting of the scented geranium has grown into a healthy plant! My cup runneth over; I am glad to be back to my garden in Japan.

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PS: My camera fell and the date setting became confused in some of the photos.

On the last day of my two-month stay in Mumbai, I decided to visit a park in Mumbai. Internet searches pointed to the Bombay Port Trust Garden, called Sagar Upavan in Colaba. I hired a taxi and invited my elderly mother and sister for a drive and a stroll among trees to which they promptly agreed.

At the gate, two young boys either busy on the mobile phone or playing game on a PC (I couldn’t judge since they were looking down under the ledge), tersely said “two rupees.”  There’s one thing about the service class in Mumbai – they assume with two words they have communicated all there is to say. I presumed that we had to pay two rupees per head as admission charges, paid for all of us, and he waved us in cursorily.  We had taken no more than ten paces when another person asked me for the admission tickets. I retraced my steps to the two boys still focusing on something under the table, and asked for the tickets. One of them looked up and gave me three tickets wordlessly. Welcome to Mumbai!

The park was full of tall trees that looked down on shady curving paths.

A winding lane in Sagar Upavan

Several elderly ladies energetically doing their rounds – one of them looking irritated when I stepped into her path and stood looking up admiringly at a palm tree. I found a bench overlooking the sea for my mother and sister and took off with my camera.

The Arabian Sea

A glass house in the garden enclosed numerous cactus plants. A pity it was closed and I couldn’t enter it – although I managed to get a shot.

Cacti in a glass house

During my stroll, I came across some furry friends. The mother stayed put as I patted her but the little one made off.

At home in the garden!

The mother stayed put as I patted her but the little one took off looking a little scared. I shuffled off quietly and was happy to see the little one return to his mother.

Although the garden had a wide variety of flowering plants, not too many were in bloom. I was told that most of the plants and trees  in the garden put on flowers just before and during the rainy season (May to July). I managed to shoot some but could only recognize the Gulmohar (local name) that Wikipedia gives as Royal Poinciana or Flamboyant.

Gulmohar

I’m counting on you to come up with the names of the other flowers shown below.

Top row – Flower 1; Bottom row – Flower 2 Guess the flowers, ladies and gentlemen

Top row – Turnera Ulmifolia (according to the board in Hindi and English)

Bottom row – Lily (I guess, looking a little tired!) and Lantana (my favorite)

Here are some trees for you tree lovers (I know you are out there).

Banyan Tree

Tree-1                                                                           Tree-2

Tree 1 looks kind of like the “matsubokuri” tree that you see in Japan with hard black seeds (see photo). Tree 2 has a huge hard fruit as shown.

Finally, I give you what looks like an Aster (tell me if I’m wrong).

Aster?

Have a great day!

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I’m still in Mumbai and in my absence, my friend Utiyama-san has sent me photos of the cuttings that he’s looking after for me. I’m thrilled to find that all of them have grown rapidly, some with flowers already! Thank you so much, Utiyama-san.

Here’s a photo showing Coleus cuttings that have grown up wonderfully well. These are probably the easiest to propagate. Just cut off a branch with a few leaves from a fully grown Coleus plant and plunk it into a pot with potting mix. It starts rooting immediately and you have a new plant.

My wife and daughter too seem to have been paying heed to my instructions to water the plants.  They have sent some photos to me, and I’m happy to see that most of the plants and cuttings that I had placed in pots are growing well. Can’t say much about the weeds though that have seem to have taken over most of my small garden, but hey, I have learned to be happy with what I get!

Coleus from cuttings

Here’s a photo of Gold Crest that have rooted from cuttings – they seem to be alive and well although growth seems to be quite slow. I presume that they’ll grow faster next spring.  When fully grown they assume a Christmas-tree shape and I intend to plant them  at the entrance of the house welcoming visitors. I planted these cuttings last spring – they certainly take their time to grow!

I’m thrilled to see rose cuttings develop into plants. I had taken these cuttings from roses presented to my daughter by a friend and also by Utiyama-san to me. Click here to see the photo:  Roses.  So we have no idea about the color of the rose that will appear; makes the surprise all the more delightful. The same with the Rose of Sharon cuttings: there are are two varieties – a pure pink and a crimson at center with white variety. Utiyama-san wants the latter; but the rooted cuttings have similar leaves. I guess he’ll have to wait until they appear!                                                                                 Gold Crest from cuttings

Rose of Sharon, Rose and Abutilon

Propagating plants are really a lot of fun; it is a wonderful feeling to grow these from scratch rather than buy them from the nursery.

Here’s a different photo of cuttings that look like either peach or hydrangea. The tag that I had inserted seems to be missing unfortunately. The Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow plant also seems to have grown – this plant will add to the fragrance in my garden from next spring onward!

Peach or hydrangea, rose, Yesterday, today and tomorrow, blueberry, abutilon – all rooted from cuttings

Here are some verdant scenes from my garden in Japan:

Okhra in the foreground, red geranium in a separate bed in the back

 Lush growth of sweet potato at center (the surf boards in the back belong to neighbor)

While in Mumbai, I am enjoying the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables that I don’t find in Japan (they are mostly frozen fruits except during a small period of time in summer in Kisarazu). The papayas and the sapotas fresh from the market are delicious and I have these with many other fruits every day!

  Papaya – costs about 25 rupees (50 yen/0.5 us$)       Cut into two halves – about 3-4 seeds

Papaya peeled and diced along with Sapota – deeeelicious!

I think I could live on fresh fruits and vegetables only while in India!

To end this post, here is a photo of geraniums propagated from cuttings together with Plumeria that are presently being cared for by Utiyama-san.

From left to right – Red and white geraniums, Plumeria, Pink geraniums

Until the next post, happy gardening!

I am off to India for at least a month, and have started my preparations to make it easier for my wife and daughter to care for my garden while I am away.

Firstly, I handed over all my cuttings (lantana, fig, hydrangea, gardenia, coleus, yesterday, today and tomorrow and many others) to my friend Utiyama, who has promised to look after them.

Secondly I moved all plants in planters to the balcony so that they can be watered at one shot from within the house.

View of plants moved to my balcony

 Next, I prepared a visual guide with names of plants and instructions in Japanese on how to care for and harvest vegetables. Here are some photos taken today:

Veggie garden upper half

Veggie garden – lower half (peamon = green pepper)

The instructions also included what spaces to water, remove weeds, add fertilizer and cut off dried flowers or leaves. I’m hoping at least 50% of the instructions will be properly implemented

Here are some flowers in bloom:

Morning glory –1

Morning glory-2

Balsam with a couple of visitors

Aster with unwelcome visitor!

Bonsai update and morning glories along fence

One-day harvest

Time to pack up! Until the next post, happy gardening!

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A garden with fragrance is what I am aiming for. Next year, I hope to have next-door neighbors coming out of their houses to smell the sweet fragrance of flowers in my garden. Incidentally, I planted some sweet alyssum seeds sent by my niece in the US a couple of months ago and here are the plants:

Sweet alyssum

They have grown to about a foot in height yet I don’t see any sign of fragrance. Somebody please tell me – are these really fragrant flowers or am I missing something?

I hope to have at least 3 to 4 rose plants in bloom next year. The cuttings that I planted have been successful this year.

Rose plants from cuttings – fragrance next year

Incidentally, I suggest you take a look at the delightful roses in Steve’s blog too.  I’m hoping my roses next year will at least measure up to them.

Of the five different varieties of hostas I’m growing in my garden, I found one to have a sweet fragrance.

Fragrant white hosta

When the flowering season is over, I’ll propagate some of these by root division and plant some at other locations in my garden.

I bought two plumeria plants last week – visited a plumeria grower in my city and had an informative discussion on growing plumerias in this environment. I grew up in India with several of these trees with fragrant flowers (in Mumbai) and am trying to recreate those memories! Of course, I need to bring these inside the house in winter – I hear that the plumerias go dormant, but start sprouting leaves again in spring.

  Plumerias – left: possibly pink or dark color; right: white with gold at center

The slightly rounded leaves of the Plumeria, it seems, indicate white flowers with gold or yellow at the center.

To add to fragrance next year, I have planted some ginger plants too, thanks to my friend, Utiyama-san, who offered me four of these plants after root division from his garden.

Ginger

Plants propagated from cuttings of Gardenia and Daphne odora will add to the fragrance.

Gardenia

I started off with my first Bonsai creation this week. I think I did everything right according to the book; but when it came to selecting the plant, I experimented. I used a Myrtle plant that I had propagated from a cutting. Here it is:

Bonsai – the plant I used was a myrtle

I used a 2:1 fine grade akadama: kanumatsuchi soil mix, and inserted two small masses of slow acting fertilizer (oil cake or abura kasu), tamped down the soil and then laid moss, and hooked the plant firmly to the base using two wires of 1.5 mm diameter. I hope to see the flowers soon and taller growth so that I can shape the branches to my liking.

Now here are some veggies I harvested recently:

Clockwise from top – typical day’s harvest; add carrots and basil to typical day’s harvest; basil (great for spaghetti), and mulukhiya (wonderful for soup) Note that the dates are way off – I need to change the camera settings!

The first of my Japanese anemones has bloomed rather earlier than usual:

Here are some other flowers in bloom in my little garden:

Until the next post, here’s wishing readers Happy Gardening!

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The water melon we had yesterday at home was delicious – I just collected the little black seeds, threw them into a vinyl pot and pulled some dirt over them. In about two days, what a pleasant surprise!

Water melon seedlings – see the black seed cover still sticking to the leaf!

These seedlings will probably not give me water melons similar to the ones that I ate, but I’m surely going to plant them in the lasagnia bed that I made and see what transpires!

In the meanwhile, here are some veggies that I harvested the last few days.

Eggplant                                                                              Cucumber

Some flowers in bloom in my little garden today are:

Morning glory (called ‘Asagao’ in Japanese)

I grew these from seeds that I picked up from the kerb during a walk. The seeds had fallen across the railing of a car repair shop near my house.

  The majestic Rose of Sharon

I do love this flower. I have seen other varieties too in my neighborhood. Some are pure white, some are delicate pink and some tinged with purple. Here’s another variety blooming in my garden.

Another variety of Rose of Sharon

I never get tired of looking at this flower and admiring its beauty. Crape myrtle in the background.

Lantana

I love the various shades of orange and red in the Lantana. Naturally, I have taken some cuttings and planted them.

Here’s a fragrant flower that I am growing indoors in a planter. I picked up this plant at the local nursery. The flowers bloom at night and emit a pleasant smell – jasminum nitidum.

Angelwing jasmine

Some days ago, we had delicious avocado dip with corn chips, and I specifically gave instructions to save the seed. Here’s what I did with the seed, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

Avocado seed

The perfectly circular shape of the abutilon never ceases to amaze me!

Abutilon

Here’s another variety of abutilon that I’m growing in a planter, and a photo of corn plants that are growing  quite well.

 Another variety of abutilon                                        Corn (okura and green peppers beyond)

Two other pleasant visitors this summer are:

 Marigold                                                                        Petunia

I believe that Petunia can be propagated through cuttings – so that’s next on my list.

This summer, the mosquitoes in my garden have been a menace. I found it unbelievable that a few of the blighters pushed their proboscis through the minute holes of my cotton socks too! Every evening as I tend to my garden, my neighbors kids are treated to a frenzied clapping performance by me. Last week I took full measures. I got myself a pair of those Wellington boots – that we used to call gum boots in India. Yesterday I watched with a smile as no fewer than three of the mosquitoes perched on my boots. Sure, go ahead now. Shoot your darned proboscis into my boots.

I fervently hoped that at least one of them had forcefully inserted its proboscis (or whatever it uses to suck up my blood) into my  boots and that it had  permanently turned up by ninety degrees upward. This thought cheered me up considerably. The next time it wants to have lemonade on a hot day, it will have to fly upside down to insert its proboscis into the glass of lemonade!

Have a nice day!

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I believe I have caught Cuttingitis, a disease that afflicts many avid gardeners. I must have been bitten by the bug around March or so this year, when winter slowly gives way to spring. The symptoms of this disease are:

• You break into a cold sweat imagining the kids’ basketball landing on your freshly planted rose cuttings
• You plan to go for long walks with pruning shears and a plastic bag in your pocket
• You make plans to be specially friendly to a neighbor who has bought and planted a delightful pink variety of scented geranium
• You peer into neighbors’ gardens to identify which of their plants you don’t have
• You start scowling at young cuttings that show no sign of growth for over a week
• Your usual argument on the illegality of propagation by cuttings is “well, God, who made the originals, didn’t patent them.”
• You accost total strangers and request them to allow you to take rose cuttings from their garden (this is called “rose rustling” according to a blogger friend)

Don’t know if there’s any cure for it, but I’m not too worried.

Just -planted Coleus, Hydrangea, Plumbago, and Abutilon cuttings 

I have given away quite a few lovely flowers including geraniums and hostas that I propagated from cuttings to some of my friends at the swimming pool. Some of them did appreciate it, and have begun to take an active interest in gardening, while I see signs of panic in the eyes of some others when they see me approach with eyes glittering!  My Japanese friends are very polite, you see, and if I did present them with some full-grown plants, they don’t feel happy unless they submit a full-blown report every year with accompanying photos on how well the plants have grown!

Here are some plants that I successfully propagated and presented to friends.

 Clockwise from top left, red geranium and hosta, white geranium, red and

white geraniums, and hosta

Although propagating by cuttings is probably easy, it can be rather frustrating at times. You get the right potting mix for the cuttings that include the correct proportion of sand, vermiculite, and so on. You pick the correct length of the cutting; you cut the stem diagonally so as to give adequate area at the base; you soak it in water for about an hour to facilitate the cutting to draw up water after planting it; you place it carefully after making a hole in the mix with a chopstick; you cover it carefully with a plastic bag to retain moisture; you store the pot in a bright place not in direct contact with sunlight; you lovingly spray the cuttings with a fine mist so that moisture is retained. After several days, you find that only one out of three cuttings show some sign of growth. So you have done all the things right, yet they don’t root. I’m pretty sure that some of these cuttings don’t like the environment or they don’t like my face. I can visualize this conversation among three scented geranium cuttings on any given day:

Winnie: I think he’s OK. He’s regularly spraying us with that heavenly mist. I’m going to sprout roots for him.

Minnie: I don’t like his face. He’s too glum. I’m going back to sleep.

Ginny: I agree. He’s not my type.

xmrtxkdskjxx#”*!$%???!?!

I had great hopes for curry leaf cuttings that I had brought over from India. I carefully planted them in about 12 different pots and placed them at different locations in the house, spraying them with a fine mist of water everyday. I did this assiduously from February to July! The curry leaf cuttings probably did not like the environment – they were probably used to different aromas wafting in the air, lots of noise and sounds of laughter, chirps and tweets of hundreds of different birds and insects, and the sounds of various languages! All these are absent in Japan – it is quiet, no noise, no tooting of horns or chirping of birds here in Kisarazu, Japan.  So of the 12 or so cuttings, I found just today that only one had acclimatized to the Japanese environment, had liked my face and had rooted!

 One curry leaf cutting that rooted

All the others have gone to sleep! I have a good mind to spray the 11 other little blighters with spicy rasam – that would surely wake them up!

But for the curry leaf cuttings, I have generally had a reasonable level of success with other cuttings.

Christmas cactus rooted cuttings                           Christmas cactus in full bloom

I’m very happy with the Christmas cactus cuttings. They make great gifts – especially when the flowers bloom.

 Lantana rooted cuttings                                                     Lantana in bloom

All five of the Lantan cuttings rooted !!!

Scented geranium  rooted cutting                    Reeves Spiraea rooted cutting

I could manage only one of the above cuttings to root. Well, there’s always next year!

Rooted rose cuttings (+Rose of Sharon)                         From these roses!

I am also happy to have propagated some rose cuttings. I have no idea what colors the roses will turn out to be.

Rooted gardenia cuttings                                      Rooted Daphne Odora cuttings

I am especially looking forward to the Daphne Odora flowers with their sweet fragrance blooming around March every year.

I have already posted about my success with Hydrangea and Japanese Photinia cuttings.

Finally, here are some blooms in my garden.

Hosta in bloom

Another variety of hosta in bloom

And finally, a view of the Balsam (seed bought in India)

Until the next post, happy gardening!

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The flowers in my garden in June this year have blown me away – so much so that I decided to devote a special post to them! Undoubtedly, the lily takes the prize with its mesmerizing beauty, subtle fragrance, and splendid colors.

Lily

Last year, I planted five of these plants after root division and three of them are bearing flowers, while two are yet small. Each time I go into my garden, the lilies beckon! Definitely the flower of the month.

A close second comes the Rose of Sharon. Last year, my friend Utiyama-san presented me with a small potted plant. The same plant has grown to about a meter in height in the planter and has given me the first beautiful Rose of Sharon.

Rose of Sharon

This is one of my favorite flowers – like the cherry blossom, I love the delicate pink in white. I have another variety of the Rose of Sharon with dark red at the center. The first flower is yet small and others are in the bud stage.

Next on my list of favorites is the peanut blossom – quite different from the rest of the crowd, like a butterfly in flight. Judge for yourself.

 Peanut blossom

I found a small begonia in a planter along with other flowers and had carefully taken it out, planted it in its own planter and forgot about it. Suddenly, the flowers have bloomed and the plant has caught my attention.

Begonia

The beauty of the Okra blossom never ceases to astound me! Here is a one that has appeared in all its glory to give way to a delicious Okra within a few days.

Okra blossom

My perennial favorite, the Hydrangea also has a place in this special edition of June blooms. I’m wondering whether I should change the acidity of the soil around this plant and observe whether the color changes!

Hydrangea

Is this for real? Did somebody make an origami out of shiny paper? There’s beauty even in an eggplant blossom (and yes, that’s the roof of my house in the background, so you can predict which direction the flower faces) .

Eggplant blossom 

I bought seeds of the Balsam in India and planted these in spring. The first flowers are up. The peculiarity of this plant is that the flowers seem to be blooming from the bottom first, so they tend to get covered up by the leaves. The shape is of this flower is rather extraordinary – some of the plants give pink and some red flowers.

Balsam

I also retrieved a small begonia uncared for in a Yesterday, today, and tomorrow planter and transplanted it into its own pot. This one has yielded a beautiful pink begonia, as if to thank me for giving it a new home.

Pink begonia

Lastly, here are blooms of the Soapwort in my herb garden. Pink seems to be the catchword this June for my garden. Lush leaves of the Yarrow are in the background.

Soapwort

Until the next post (which is not far away), happy gardening to all my viewers!

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