After the Haze, More Blooms!

Happy July and greetings everyone! :-D 

The sky has cleared up and no more haze, everyone is back to work and so is the gardener – weeding, pruning and snapping pictures... The Strophanthus preussii has been quite productively. Each time it flowers, it  flowers profusely! The white and yellow blooms are so noticeable under the bright sun. The tresses swing and tangle up when the wind blows. Sometimes, they can look pretty messy. If you are thinking of cherries after looking at the picture below, the answer is no, haha... They are not cherries but Acerola fruits from my little bonsai. One had dropped to the floor and the other probably eaten by a bird.

In front of the little Acerola plant is the dwarf Azalea that I have been posting all this while. I think the moderate sunlight (thanks to the haze?) made it possible for the flowers to develop better. The middle petals were better formed and these two blooms stayed fresh on the shrub for more many days.

Here is a new succulent, K. tomentosa that I have just added to the my collection of succulents recently. Seems to be fairing well :-D

After the haze, not all is well though as many plants shed their leaves. The hibiscus leaves turned yellow, the gardenia foliage dried up and I am not sure if the plant will be able to bounce back. Also many leaves had dropped off the Variegated Madras Thorn, sigh...

Anyway, here is the highlight... the flower bud from my new Jasmine sambac plant that has been forming for several days has blossomed this week. Believe it or not, I can even smell the sweet fragrance while it's at the budding stage...

And when the bud opened, the flower looks like a rose! The many layers of petals amazes me and... 

...the bloom was so enchanting, just like what my neighbour's mom has been telling me. This Jasmine is a gift from her and she told me I will be surprised to see how gorgeous the blooms would be. It did surprised me!!

Anyone can tell what cultivar is this jasmine?

Meanwhile, the red trumpet blooms of my Cypress Vine (scientific name: Ipomoea quamoclit) are too attractive to ignore. But the vine is so fast growing that I find it quite troublesome to maintain. I have to train or discard stray vines very regularly, hmm... 

Nevertheless, I am enjoying the good weather now. And happy gardening, fellow gardeners!