Sunflower

Dear Diary,

This is another flowering plant that beautifies my mother’s courtyard - sunflower. Its dazzling yellow flower is able to brighten up my mood just by glancing at it. Its bright color is infectious in infusing happy mood to almost anyone.

Little that I know that (from Wikipedia):

What is usually called the "flower" on a mature sunflower is actually a "flower head" (also known as a "composite flower") of numerous florets, (small flowers) crowded together. The outer petal-bearing florets are the sterile ray florets and can be yellow, red, orange, or other colors. The florets inside the circular head are called disc florets, which mature into seeds. The flower petals within the sunflower's cluster are usually in a spiral pattern.

Sunflower seeds are not only seeds that can be used to grow sunflower plant but they can also be eaten as snacks (kuaci). Apart from that, they can also be used in cooking and salads. Furthermore, sunflower seeds are also used as bird seeds.

Girls & Flowers!

Dear Diary,

Girls and flowers go hand in hand. If you wanna win a woman’s heart, flowers and chocolate almost always never fail to impress unless the girl is allergic. Here are some pictures of flowers that I captured in Petaling Street recently.

Harum Sundal Malam

Chrysanthemum / Kekwa

No idea what flower this is...

Red Roses

Yellow Roses

Lily

Enjoy peeps!

Michelia Alba / Cempaka Putih (Chempa)

Dear Diary,

Besides ylang ylang or kenanga, there is another plant in my mother’s garden that produces flowers with intoxicating smell. My mother called it bunga chempa.

When I searched the internet, I came to know that chempa is the same as cempaka. My mother’s cempaka plant blooms into white flowers. When it is in budding stages, sometimes the color looks more towards cream instead of white. When it is in full bloom, it becomes whiter with long slim petals.

Cempaka plant is from family magnoliaceae, genus michelia. What my mother planted in her garden is cempaka putih or michelia alba species. Oil extract from cempaka is widely used in perfumery. Moreover, its leaves and roots also have medicinal values traditionally.

I remember my late grandmother used to decorate her bun or sanggul with bunga cempaka. Oh, how her hair always smelled so densely scented. Nowadays, my mother likes to scatter the flowers on beds. No air freshener in this world can beat the wonderful fragrant of this traditional method.

References from:

1) Magnolia - Wikipedia
2) Michelia Alba - Wikipedia
3) Segalanya Tentang Tumbuhan

Buah Cermai

Dear Diary,

Let’s learn about another fruit that I seldom see nowadays. I came across this fruit in abundance on a tree when I visited Rumah Kelahiran Mahathir Mohamad last December. This fruit is called buah cermai. It is yellow in color, sometimes with a little shade of green. It has seed inside and tastes sour. Just thinking of its sourness makes me salivate hihi.

Cermai is usually turned into pickle or jeruk. As for myself who don’t fancy jeruk too much, I usually eat it just like that (raw) or dip with kuah rojak/garam belacan. Once in my teenage years, I went to a relative’s house in Sungai Layar and was introduced to pincuk. Pincuk is a dish made from cermai, chili, shrimp paste (belacan), salt and sugar. It’s hot and sour! Other than these, I don’t know what else can be made from cermai.

Through internet, I learned that cermai’s leaves have medicinal values. It can be used to lower temperature for fever, lower high blood pressure, heal jaundice (kuning) and chicken pox (demam campak). It can also be made into bedak sejuk.

For more information, please refer here.

Ylang-ylang / Kenanga

Dear Diary,

Today, let us explore the world of plants…flowers to be exact. In my tiny garden, I have this plant that I love. When its greenish yellow flowers bloom, the scent they permeate is intoxicating. The whiff is so heavenly. This plant is called Kenanga or Ylang-ylang.

Ylang-ylang’s oil is widely used in making perfumes and aromatherapy essential oils. My beloved mother likes to pick the flowers, put it in bowls and let its smell fills our living room.

If you wanna learn more about ylang-ylang, please refer here for English and here for Bahasa Malaysia.

Floria Putrajaya, July 2010

Dear Diary,

Last two weeks, we headed to Putrajaya to go see Floria Putrajaya Flower & Garden Festival. It is a yearly event in which flora enthusiasts will have the chance to check out garden exhibitions and landscaping. This year it took place for 9 days from July 10 till July 18 in Lakefront, Presint 2. Admission is free. For more information - http://www.ppj.gov.my/putrajayafloria/floria.html

The exhibition was huge. We only had a chance to visit one section before Zarra started to acting up. She didn’t want to walk anymore and wanted to be carried. To make matters worse, we didn’t bring her pram. Poor Hubby! If only she weighs lighter, it would be possible for us to proceed to the next section….*sigh*. Next year maybe…

The arrangements were beautiful. Some were very artistic. There were also a section for food & beverages stalls and a section for nursery companies to sell all sorts of plants (flowers, fruits and vegetation). If only I am not staying in an apartment, I would be busy choosing and spending.

Enjoy the pictures!!!

Before heading back, we stopped at one of Putrajaya’s bridges and took some more pictures. When it was time to go home, Zarra didn’t want to get in the car….pulak…