Seven-stars Needle Plant (七星针)

 

Rose cactus blooming in my garden

Went to my garden just now and saw the buds of the rose cactus had fully opened!!  Three beautiful rose cactus flowers!  I quickly grabbed my handphone and capture the beautiful flowers -- photographs and video.  At the same time I took a video of the birds in the bird's nest.  I saw two babies opening their mouth and chirping.  How beautiful that was. 

I saw on Lazada a pot of Pereskia bleo/ Seven stars needle plant or the rose cactus plant cost about $20, just a short plant.  Mine would cost a lot!  I first got the plant from a parent plant found under a tree.  Someone had thrown the plant away.  One man's trash is another man's treasure!  I saw that it was flowering and it was a nice plant.  However the one that was being thrown the plant was not in the perfect shape.  It was like the height of a person so I think no one took it.  I wondered if it can be propagated via stem cutting.  So I tried.  I pluck down 2 branches and I went home to plant it.  

The beginning was hard.  I put the plants in the soil and it survived.  For many years now, about 11 years now, it had prospered well.  It had blooms many times and I had seen its fruits twice -- one rippened (yellow fruit), and one more green fruit (unripe), as can see from the picture below: 

The green unripe fruit of the rose cactus plant

A closer look at the flower of the rose cactus

It is said that this plant is a medicinal plant.  It is known to act against cancer and helps in the gut.  I had never tried the leaves or flowers or fruit even though people said it is edible.  When Ah Wai came to my house and saw the fruit, he loved it so much.  Mum plucked the fruit and gave it to him to eat.  That was a yellow fruit, the one and only one in 10 years of growing the plant.  Now I have another fruit, but it is green for so long.  And it takes time to grow so big!  Good things or good fruit need to wait!

I don't know how the fruit or the whole plant taste like.  But base on hearsay, the plants can be boiled, chewed on and ate it raw.  I never wanted to try as yet.  

This plant is like the cactus because it has many sharp thorns on its stem/branches.  Every time when the plant grew out of shape or get in the way, I would trim the plant, cut it off and replant it again.  That is how I get so many rose cactus plants in my garden.  

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Marvel of Peru

 

Marvel of Peru or False jalap or 4 o'clock flower

Mother gave me 5-8 seeds.  They were given by second uncle, my father's brother.  However he died on 28 February 2021, the last day of February.  When father was in hospital, he came to visit him.  When father was dead, he went to the wake.  On the last day, the funeral, he came also.  When father was sick, he brought the root of the above plant, to be boiled with meat. He said it will improve my father's kidney.  So I planted the seeds.  It took about 8 months for the flowers to bloom.  

Everyday I check the plant.  The first plant was grown to a very large size.  As it was quite hindering the passageway, I trim it, thinking that it will grow after that.  But I was wrong.  It did not grow after that.  So I throw away the whole plant later.  The smaller plant that was blocked initially by this plant was 'revealed' now.  This is the current plant as shown in the photograph above now.  Given enough sunlight and water, it has flourished so much.  

Everytime I water the plants, I see that the white flowers are not opened.  However, when I see them at night, the white flowers open more at night.  Recently I downloaded this app, known as Picture this, and it has helped to identify this plant as Four o'clock flower, Mirabilis jalapa, also known as Marvel of peru or False jalap.  

 Photograph of Marvel of Peru taken at 8.30pm on 1 April 2021

The photograph above shows what I saw mostly at night when I water the plants.  The Picture this app is very good.  It tells me information about this plant.  So this plant is a perennial, herbaceous plant cultivated for ornamental purposes.  It said that the bloom time, the flowers are closed most of the day and open between 4 and 8 o'clock.  Thus the given name of 4 o'clock flowers.  However, in Singapore, it is not so.  

Photograph of Marvel of Peru, Mirabilis jalapa taken on 3 April 2021 at 00.31am

Last night, I saw the Marvel of Peru opened fully at past midnight, 00.31am!  This was the first time I saw it fully opened.  Nice view!  Praise the Lord!

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My Grandmother

Photographs showing the grave of my grandmother, Lee Miou Inn

 My grandmother died on 23 March 1988.  Her grave is at Lim Chu Kang cemetery.  I did not take these photograph, but it was shared in the Lim cousin's whatsapp group.  I had taken her grave's photograph, but I can't remember when was that.  She was just 68 years old when she died.  

Grandmother was a smoker.  She would come to our house to sit on the chair and smoke.  But the first thing when she arrived at our house was to wash her feet and wash her hands.  I wonder if she had OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).  She had the habit of always washing her hands and feet.  Sitting on the sofa, she would ask my sister to cut her fingernails.  

Normally she would come to our house after church on Sunday.  She would knock so loudly at our door.  Most of the time, in her hands were some leaves (a kind of Aloe Vera).  She would ask my mother to boil for her to drink.  She also loved to drink the chinese medicine, Five Pagoda Powder.  

After her death, the funeral over, our house was filled with big Moths (Black and white colour).  There were so many so many moths, it was so amazing.  So whenever I saw that kind of moths it would remind me of my grandmother.  

 

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