Green Fingers (trying) to be)

Our living room has a strip of planter latch and we have finally gotten to filling them up with greens... My oldest friend, Xianger advised us to start growing everything from seeds... do not buy from nursery because plants there contain a lot of fertiliser and pesticides... "Aiyah, caring for plants is just like caring for human beings. The more attention you give them, water and feed them, the happier they are and the healthier they will grow...". Since that fateful day, we have tried numerous seeds... bell pepers, chillies, tomatos, flowering plants, morning glory(that would be nice!!) etc.... We followed the instructions on the back of the seed packets diligently. Every weekend, planting and transplanting, going to various nurseries, talking to friendly uncles on how to fertilise, what pots to use... Sitting and getting our hands full of soil by the window became our favorite pastime. It is really insightful to see how plants grow from tiny seeds. We spent every free hour investigating and observing how the roots break the seed coat, secure themselves in the soil and carry their food sac proudly in the air with their newly "strengthened" stem... Most of our little seeds did burst into seedlings. Seeds taken care by me prosper... initially... But they never really grow into adulthood. My understanding with my plants is that we coexist, each minding our own business.... It was good, for a while... then non survived beyond sprouting 2 big leaves... They are simply too weak against the sourching sun (in all fairness, the sun killed my plants!!!) Seeds cared by him... well... slow start but they began life strong and well ... Let's say someone's extensive and prematured transplanting of the tender ones killed them all... ok, our first few tries did not really work out. We rightfully concluded that the problem lies with inferior quality seeds! HA! So he bought a pack of duber expensive "golden chili seeds" (literally golden seeds). Not only did the gold standards seedlings make a smooth transit beyond the 5 leave treshold - a historial feat (see above!), they are still going stronger by the day as we speak!!!! The power of life must be inspiring. The neighbouring mint seedling is now more than 10 leave strong as well! NOW WE ARE TALKING. It will take us years to green our little strip if we really start from seeds. Hence the shortcut - Bought a pot of White/green Calla and it has since gave us a 3rd perfect white flower... We one day came home to find a new contribution by Mimi - a marcotting of a "I dunno pink or blue flowering plant which I pluck from the CC" firmly secured in a spare pot of soil. It was all willowly leaves for weeks till suddenly we see a bud. A week later, it is certainly a white (pink? blue?) bud... one morning before work. WALA... a fragile but beautiful PINK blossom!!! By the time we came back from work, the flower has wilted and dropped off. This series of photos were taken on the second blossom. How short is this moment of glory... I only have this chance to photograph it before i leave for work. By nightfall, its gone... Our spiky fern is not looking so well, like Xianger said...Pandang leaves and our very first pots of "dunno wat" greens remains happy and healthy... Time to groom and add some pandang to dessert soup. Last but not least... the most gay of them all - I think it is called "yellow malay flower plant"... it is certainly growing beyong well... it is fantastic...