Garden treasures

I was eyeing these plant a couple of weeks now and last Saturday I finally had a chance to take some of them home. They are flourishing in a vacant lot a block away from our home. I took pity on them because the lot became a garbage site and they are slowly creeping towards these lovely plants.

But, what I didn't know was my childhood friend have move their home in the adjacent lot. When she saw me rescuing the plants, she got so interested she pulled some too. She invited me over and look what I got.. :)

another variety of aglonema..

I'm still researching what these are, but I think the yellow and green one is a medicinal plant.

We call this one alusiman a.k.a. purslane. I don't know if this is edible because from what I know purslanes make great salads.

This is a white variety of my unknown violet plant and I'm so excited to see it bloom and multiply!

This is a shrimp plant 

I also got another cultivar of  Dracaena sanderiana popularly known as lucky bamboo.

Do you happen to know the name of this beautiful thing?

I also got an pale orange hibiscus cultivar

 all in all these are what I've got..

I still can't believe my luck! Free plants and a friendship renewed! :) Hope you're having a great day.. :)

Freebies!

Sometimes babysitting my son at his daycare center instead of making my homework has great rewards. While I bought him snacks a few blocks from his school I finally saw my new garden treasures.

I got all them all for free from the store owner's garden. I was really eyeing the kantura, the mum-like flower whose English translation I don't know but I was surprised to find flame nettles in her garden too!

From L-R kantura, magic rose and flame nettles. 

I got these magic roses from his school's garden. When my mom was still alive she once brought these at home for my brother and I to plant. We call them magic rose but some people call them morning flowers since they only blooms in the morning and in late afternoons.

Flame nettles or mayana in Filipino is used to treat cough. My grandmother used to squeeze the juice out  and puts a little bit of sugar to neutralize the bitter taste.  My mum buys us cough syrups back then but my grandma still gives us these... 

Apart from its medicinal uses, it look great in gardens too! Now I have three varieties in my yard. Yey!

I made a small plot and  sprinkled the katura seeds.. But then I saw ants getting their own free haul of seeds too! For fear of killing the seeds when I spray soap suds, I sprinkled a chemical anti-ant thingy instead and the ants were all dead by morning... Sorry ants but I need the seeds for my garden... I'm already excited seeing some sprouting seeds today. I'm going to snap a photo of them for you to see. :)

Hope you had a great weekend.