The bright sunshine suddenly made the garden looked very green and attractive. I had to walk around the garden to observe changes and look out for some orchid blossoms. Most of the orchids would flower in winter; the more simple orchids would flower twice a year depending on weather conditions. Other plants would flower after a phase of strong sunshine and hot weather.
Over the years, I have bought several kinds of plants with white flowers. Most of these would have sweet fragrance so they would be offered to Buddha statues at the local temple. My gardener was very fond of these white flowers, she would offer them to the elderly ladies who came to prayers at the temple.
Some plants have grown very big and gave a spectacular show of white flowers covering the whole bushy green leaves. These small white flowers would last about a week then the ground would be carpets with white petals. The sweet scent was very refreshing during my waking meditation in the evening. These plants would burst into white flowers at the same time making the garden smelling like a perfume shop. It was a nice surprise after months of waiting for them to flower.
The old jasmine plants were a bit temperamental and flower intermittently depending on their moods. They didn’t like my hard trimming so they went on a strike. I had to give them organic wastes from the kitchen to make them feeling better. There’s another kind of white flowers looking very much like roses but they were much more sturdy. These white flowers would turn into dull yellow before drying up and dropping off. These were usually very popular among the elderly villagers.
Other common flowering plants which didn’t require much attention were hibiscus and needle flowers. We lost a few hibiscus plants because of pests, I found out that the original species would be tougher. My gardener brought some red hibiscus for the garden, these plants did very well in the garden. I tended to concentrate on fruit trees and medicinal plants. Flowering plants needed more time and attention, so I only planted those more sturdy and useful plants so these flowers could be used as offerings on shrine or perhaps edible in needy time. Hibiscus and needle flowers could be dipped in egg batter and fried for light snacks.
I have spotted a few orchid flowers this month. Hopefully, more of these simple orchids would flower in a few weeks’ time. The rainy season have turned the garden looking very green and trees became much bigger and taller. This meant we had lots of trimming before the winter months.
Walking around the garden made me very pleased with all the incredible changes over the years. This garden used to be very barren and hardly had any plants. Nowadays, the garden became very green, full of fruit trees and flowering plants. These trees and plants made the garden quite cool in the summer and kept the house cooler than usual.
One day when I had some spare time, I would like to start experimenting with making herbal medicine from the plants in the garden. I would love to make my own toothbrush and toothpaste, herbal tea leaves and dried flowers. I wondered what we could do with orchid blossoms. I really looked forwards to seeing orchid blossoms around the garden. These orchids had taught me to be patient and respect the natural cycles of all plants.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
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