Vines by the River

Apart from the wild plants and ferns down by the river, there is a substantial number of vines; some even flowering at this time, that add to the biodiversity of our small and fragile micro-ecosystem. I assume these are indigenous to our forests; after all, the area's fairly remote and wild enough to dispel the possibility that they are cultivated and non-native. Some of them yield attractive flowers or fruits that look curiously different and deserve at least, an attempt to promote for them to be identified.

The two on the left have startlingly-unusual forms, and would easily captivate any man-in-the-street. I would imagine too that some of them would be food for some birds and animals.

There is still so much for us to learn about local plants and trees, God bless the few people who tirelessly educate and promote our own endemic flora. I myself have tremendously increased my appreciation of our own plants largely through a blog just like mine, called Our Philippine Trees. It's a rich storehouse of information and has personal stories and photographs from a true advocate. I thoroughly enjoy learning that a lot of the place names in the country are plants that we've never even know are plants and trees int he first place! Does anyone know that Cabuyao is a tree, Bocaue is a type of bamboo, Diliman is a fern, Lucban is a fruit, and even Anilao is not just a diving destination to begin with!

Butterfly Season

It's the season again for butterflies and now that it's Easter, we see the miracle of rebirth most apparent with the Emperor Moth (Platysamia cecropia), a marvelous metamorphosis from a leaf-chewing caterpillar into this glorious creation. They're unusally big and have transluscent spots on their wings (more apparent on the photo below). They're somewhat a nuisance at the onset since some ornamentals have damaged leaves but their incredible beauty justifies whatever garden casualty they may bring. 

Farmer's Carry-on

On a recent trip to Indonesia, I found this bamboo and pandan leaf basket in a local market which looks very utilitarian yet attractive at the same time. In the Philippines, we have a similar native carry-all called bayóng but this shape tells me it serves something more specific than a dump-anything, earth-friendly shopping bag. On one side (below left), it is permanently taut with a rattan braid; on the other side (below right), it is open by default but has a bamboo peg and abaca twine to secure the content.

Now I don't speak Bahása but it didn't take long to understand that it's a basket for carrying chickens (admittedly, it did involve someone having to borrow someone's rooster some stalls away). What I see here in the country are mostly perforated cartons or a bayong with improvised holes. Anyway, I promptly bought one and because it is quite an unusual shape, I just carried it on with me on the plane. Such is the life of a weekend farmer; while everyone on my flight via Singapore had smart-looking carry-ons and the latest electronic gadgets, there I was lining up in the gate with a chicken basket!

April Bird of the Month

On the hollow bamboo beams of the cabaňa, hatchlings of a Maya (Eurasian Tree Sparrow, right) are waiting for their mother to bring them their morning meal. The natural anáhaw and cógon roofs actually host a fairly big number of residents apart from us, foremost of which are birds followed by lizards. The cool, organic material mimics natural avian environments which attract them to lay eggs in and rear their young until they're ready to fly.

Mayas are common in the entire country (as far as I know) and are sometimes taken for granted, largely because of their profusion. But they have their own inate beauty and of course, add to the diversity of both bird and plant life in our surroundings.

Pandan

One of my most favorite landscaping plants is the Screw Pine (Pandanus, Tag. pandán), especially P. sanderi (above) which I first saw on the cover of a local landscaping book maybe twenty or more years ago. The plant (and the book cover) left an imprint in my memory so much so that since then, I always imagined a big Pandan just like in the photo above to lord over the future garden in my mind.

We planted the sucker in December 2008 (right, in the center of the photo); in just a little more than three years, it has grown to be THIS BIG (above). It even already has prop roots holding up this splendidly top-heavy specimen!

Back then when we just acquired the farm and have not even actually begun gardening, I could afford to plant P. sanderi that early, right by the entrance driveway: as you can see we did not even have a fence yet then but I had already blocked one of my favorite plants! The fact is I was running after time already, as it had been waiting in my mind for twentysomething years...