Lotus

Lotus flowers are one of the most beautiful ever created by mother nature. Each bloom conjures up images of beauty, grace and calm. An important symbol in Buddhism, it signifies purity free from all defilement of greed, hatred and delusion, the bad roots of human sufferings.

Lotus plants are grown commercially in large ponds for its flowers and edible roots. The lotus roots are long tubers favored by the Chinese people who would use them in soups or stir fries.

The lotus plant make a beautiful addition to the home garden. It adds a certain charm and serenity for sure. A lotus bloom not only pleases the eyes but enchants the heart and contents the senses with its soft, subtle fragrance.

I bought this white lotus plant at a nursery on the last day of 2010. It already has a full flower bud ready to bloom. The bud 'said hello' to me 5 days later (pictures below).

Lotus plants thrive in clay, muddy soil and must be contained in water. The plant requires full sun and will not thrive in shaded spots. Tablet fertiliser specially for lotus can be used once every 3-4 weeks.

The petals are soft and gentle, with feminine curves. The downside is that the lotus bloom does not last very long. After a day or so, the petals would begin to dislodge, leaving the pod to dry off on the stem.

Lotus blooms are very fragrant. I could never get enough of smelling this bloom.


I read that lotus plant is pretty tricky to grow from pod seed. I collected the dried pod from this pretty bloom and perhaps I shall try to sprout it someday soon.

Just like the lotus, have a beautiful day and hope you've enjoyed the pictures.

I Can't Bear To Pluck It, But I Did!

I ate my first home-grown organic tomato last week! It wasn't big but it was so cute and pretty, so sweet, tasty and delicious! I treasured it so much that I couldn't bear to pluck it off the plant, let alone eat it. After admiring it for the longest time, I finally ate it! I cut it into two and shared with my hubby, and we ate it with fried rice. Yummy! Now I know what it meant when blogging home gardeners said they would never buy supermarket tomatoes anymore after successfully growing their own.

Technically, this is my second tomato plant. The first one died on me after I raked the surface of the soil around the plant to aerate it. That plant was already flowering and I thought by raking the surface of the soil before scattering some fertiliser would help. Sadly, a few days later the plant died. I guess some of the roots got broken. So, never rake the soil around your tomato plant.

I don't have the variety name of my tomato but all I know is it's the local variety commonly sold in Malaysia. It was grown from seed given to me by my sister, My Little Potted Garden. The fruits do not grow in clumps like cherry tomatoes do but rather, a single fruit on each stem. The first one which grew was the largest and the other nine that I have from this same plant were much smaller - just slightly larger than cherry tomatoes!

Tomato plants need very well-fertilised soil. I use pelleted organic chicken fertiliser every other week. I also scattered broken egg shells around the plant once in a while.

I also have three cherry tomato plants (grape variety) with bunches of tomatoes growing and ripening on the vine. I can't wait to harvest them and taste how good they are.

My first tomato

Two more grew while the first one begun its ripening process

More orangy in colour now

It has ripened! So so pretty and luscious looking!

By the time my first tomato was ready to be plucked, more tomatoes were already growing.

All my tomato plants are grown in containers.