Spathiphyllums in Bloom

The gardens look dazzling now that the spathiphyllums are in full bloom! They are in the pink of health and look like they're bursting with energy.

When I did not have the farm yet, I used to grow these in pots in Manila and were perpetually undernourished, no matter what I did. Now, we hardly mind them and they look like they even prefer it! They're actually low-maintenance plants that would always look good in a garden, what with its shiny, dark green leaves and creamy white spathes.

Anonas

One of the first trees I got acquainted to when we started the farm years back was this tree planted near the road. When we started clearing the property, I gave clear instructions not to cut down any tree so we can clearly see what was in there. I planned around the trees to be as unobtrusive as I can but consequently, there were some small ones that had to be sacrificed to make way and clear some areas.


Eventually, we trimmed this Anonas (Annona reticulata) and incorporated it into the gardenscape. It's a generous tree; it shades the plants around it and consistently gives us the most delicious fruits.

Like a lot of people, I did not know of this tree and fruit until I came here. I know about the street named after it, and I even have a friend surnamed Anonas. But I had no clue it is a cousin of the Atis (Annona squamosa), and is actually bigger, fleshier, and creamier.

And when it is fully ripe, its skin turn an attractively pale red orange (below, foreground). It's refreshing to eat it chilled, and must be good to make into a shake.

Blue Ginger

On humdrum weekends in the midst of the monsoon season, when it's just about to be almost dragging to consider going back to the city earlier than planned, the gardens will almost always not fail to entice even the most jaded enthusiast with a new discovery. And last weekend was no exception: it can be tiring to sort bromeliads weekend in and weekend out, and you can only be so thrilled by flowering orchids in a season.

But as I walked past the propagation area to check on pots to bring to Manila, an unusual color jumped out of the green-ness of the landscape: a bluish purple that is unlike any other. This is the first time this Blue Ginger (Dichorisandra thyrsiflora) bloomed since we got a specimen from Baguio eighteen months ago. Initially, I was apprehensive it was too hot in my area for it to flower, but to my surprise and delight, a new color is added in our garden :)

The Most Beautiful Flower in the World

Among the crown jewels of the Philippine rainforest, naturally growing only in our islands, is what is perhaps the most captivating flower in the world: the Medinilla magnifica, locally called Kápa-kápâ. Can you imagine walking in the wild amidst a forestful of trees, vines, small reptiles and animals, and suddenly you are confronted by the elegance and splendor of this astonishing floral gem. It is the stuff legends are made of, like an ostentatious bunch of pendant pink-colored pearls hanging from deep-green, velvet-like leaves.

Two weeks ago, the buds were already beginning to appear (below left), and after a week, the small, undeveloped flowers started to be visible (below right). Actually, the flower on the top photo is not yet mature; it has yet to stretch longer and spread out and produce small, white florets at the end of the beads.

Meantime, we are enchanted witnessing and photographing such a wonder of nature. It belongs to the same family as the rest of the medinillas which are also indigenous to other tropical countries, but this particular kind is the most alluring and is endemic to the country.

Medinillas

Over time, we have collected quite a substantial variety of medinillas; flowering tropical plants that popularly have pendulous, chandelier-like flowers that weigh down its woody, angular branches. It has rather stiff and leathery leaves, ribbed and pointed, or wavy in some kinds. Some have small (foreground below) or medium-sized leaves (left). The flowers first appear to be pale pink, but later blushes a more intense rose hue or mauvish-blue as it matures.

At first glance, they may look similar to each other but they have distinct differences between each other that merit its own unique taxonomic identity. Their leaves vary, for one, and more importantly, their flowers and its colorations.

One of our recently-flowering varieties is a big-leaf type with a close-up of its bracts that held the flowers (below), which have fallen off by the time this photo was taken.

Sansevieras

Hardy plants that are so easy to grow are Sansevieras, a family of succulents that are not only almost fail-proof but will actually even tolerate neglect. Given the right spot in the landscape or potted in a proportionate container, sansevieras are very useful to fit into any garden or interior.

On the right is the Sanseviera trifasciata, nicknamed the Snake plant or sometimes even more sinister, the Mother-in-law's Tongue. Not many people know that with enough space, this will grow waist

high or even a little more, making it a useful border plant.

There is a variegated version, equally if not  even more popular (left). It has yellow borders that define the leaves' shapes, and gives it a flaming look. Recently, we've tried mixing both the plain and the striped into the same pot but it is taking quite some time to make it look natural and casual.

There are also dwarf versions of both, pictured below.

Crotons

Any tropical garden could easily achieve color, texture, and a warm, relaxed ambience by adding a variety of Crotons (Codiaeum). Mixed with greens or flowering shrubs, the amazingly-varied patterns lend a dash of visual excitement to an otherwise redundant or predictable scheme.

You'd want to grow colorful Crotons for its glossy, leather-like leaves whose shapes vary from oval to linear, rounded to pointed. Some are ruffled, some are spiral, some are curled, and we even have one with teaspoon-like extensions (above)! Colors are a broad spectrum of warm tropical hues: canary yellow, brick red, chocolate brown, and tangerines.

And then there are the patterns! Some have spots, others have specks and look like they've been dusted with powder. Some leaves have contrasting outlines, some have one singular stripe, while others have smudges smeared on the edges. And a lot of them have different colors and shades simultaneously on the same trunk and change as they age!

Locals collectively call them "San Francisco;" how that came about, I do not know. They're no longer as popular as before but I like them and it looks so good in the gardens. 

Chenille Plant

Although I have written at length about Acalyphas just yesterday, I purposely withheld one variety which I feel should be singled out, if only for its sheer outlandishness: it has plain looking leaves unlike its other cousins but makes it up by producing bizarre, tail-like inflorescences (in vivid red, at that) that hang from its branches! Some authoritative references call it the Chenille plant (Acalypha hispida, French for caterpillar, but actually alludes to chenille fabric) though I also have come across the common name Cat's Tail Acalypha. Either way, it cannot be helped that it be noticed in any garden where they produce the red thingy practically all year round.

Acalyphas

Any tropical garden can use some Acalypha plants to create contrast among its otherwise green foliage, what with the striking colors, leaves, and patterns of this unusual family. Some, like the A. wilkesiana cultivar above and below left, have ruffled, serrated leaves with randomly-stripes and peach-colored margins. Another cultivar (below right and further below) has predominantly-red shades with bronze specks but no margins.

A. wilkesiana "Copperleaf" with Golden Miagos (Osmoxylon geelvinkianum)

Another cultivar we have looks just the same as the one above but colored in a complementing palette of green, yellow, and white (below). This cultivar's leaves look like it's not as big as the copper-colored variety and apparently does not grow as tall when trained as an informal hedge. Further below is yet another cultivar with narrower leaves.

The Riverscape

The river below is lined with what looks like untouched tropical jungle filled with wild plants, massive boulders, mosses, and even a sandy bank, yet everything looks in perfect order and symmetry. It is a natural garden that has evolved through time and only the most appropriate plants suited to the climate and conditions have remained.

My trusted aide, May and our German Shepherd, Vitra.

Native fig trees lord it over the riverscape, hosting birds' nests and tropical vines. On the ground are an array of ferns and jurassic-looking alocasias, and of course, the river's cool, clean water (above) help contribute in making this a lush hideaway. And to think it was not until many months after I purchased the farm that I ever hiked down here!


The river meanders through rockscapes that seasonally creates small, clear pools surrounded by wild greenery (left), with occasional neon-colored dragonflies animatedly captivating us. And of course,  the running water dampens the air and creates a humid atmosphere perfect for ferns to flourish (below), including the edible fiddlehead fern that we pick to make pakô salad.


Someday, we will clear a path going down and perhaps make a small hut near the water. in the meantime, we will just go on having our summer picnics on the sandy bank.

Hoya

Hoya incrassata

Another Philippine jewel from the local rainforests is Hoya, a group of vines and plants from the Asclepias family with small flowers arranged like starbursts and fireworks. Among them is a somewhat popular plant abroad called Shooting Stars (below, Hoya multiflorum, sometimes labeled as Centrostema). Mine came along with some epiphytic ferns and I was delighted to find them one morning, indeed looking like shooting stars. I think they flower all year round, and require practically no maintenance, given that it is planted under the right conditions.

Hoya multiflorum (a.k.a. Centrostema multiflorum)

Ironically, it is more known in other countries than here in its native islands. I myself admittedly did not know about this group of plants until that fortuitous morning I saw it among the ferns. On the other hand, I have come across a zealous native plant collector who has dazzled me with his extensive Hoya collection, with flowers ranging from fuschia to black! So far, I have started sourcing and planting other colors but only the cream-colored flowers are mature enough.


Although it is jewel-like, its name has nothing to do with the Spanish translation for pearl, but instead, named after for an English gardener named Thomas Hoy.

Aglaonemas

Even as a young boy, I always enjoyed a group of plants that I did not even know the name of but was fascinated by the variety of patterns and hues of its lush foliage. I would bug my Mom to bring to my Lola's house empty pots to have them filled by her gardener Mang Ciano. It was up to him what to put but I would particularly request for these, which he collectively called sédang dáhon (silk leaves). [A footnote: after some months and I failed to keep them healthy, we repeat the cycle of the empty pots and the bugging and the requesting...]

Now that I have my own garden, I started collecting aglaonemas, which turns out to have an even bigger number of varieties and cultivars. They are a member of the aroid family (Araceae) just as alocasias, anthuriums, philodendrons, and xanthosomas. Also, despite them being given the popular English name of Chinese Evergreens, they are actually endemic to the Philippines, particularly to Luzon.

They thrive best in filtered sunlight: too much and the leaves will burn while too little will not bring out the patterns and the colors. I place them under big philodendrons as proportionately-big ground covers and to offset each others' leaf shapes and patterns.


They would also look good as potted specimens and do well as indoor plants. Moreover, most of them have unusually-colored or patterned stems, all the more it is best placed on a tabletop to better appreciate the plant. 

The Many Shades of Purple

Spathoglottis plicata

Purple has many shades and a lot of them are named after flowers: "lilac," "mauve," even "violet" is named after a bloom. But hardly any of the names are from tropical plants, when in fact there is a bigger palette of colors in warm climate flora.

Pink Quill Bromeliad/Tillandsia cyanea

This month alone, four plants: a ground orchid (above) two bromeliads (left and bottom) and a flowering vine (below) are making the gardens more mesmerizing with their gentle purple blush. Cool colors are not too common in a tropical garden and they always give an interesting contrast to the warm oranges and bright yellows. In my experience, purple-hued flowers always command a second look, and psychologically calms rather than excites. It is a color that quiets me down, and causes me to be introspective.

The orchid on top is a Spathoglottis species, a low-growing terrestrial that we have begun propagating this year. Just like typical orchids, it had seeds like dust falling off its dried flowers. This one is particularly prolific this year; flowering continuously already for several weeks.


The tiny flower above is of a pink-bract bromeliad from the Tillandsia family. They're best grown potted because of its small size.


The flowering vine below is the infamous garlic vine, pretty to look at but the leaves and the flowers smell like, uh, garlic. At least, they only smell when you pick them, so they're best left high up on a trellis.



A Neoregelia bromeliad (bottom) has mauve-colored leaves when young then changes to stripes with mauve blotches as they mature. This particular one has miniscule flowers, still mauve, in the center of the rosette.

Garlic Vine/Pachyptera alliacea

Neoregelia variety