Thunbergia Grandiflora (Skyflower, Bengal Clock Vine)

We're back with our morning walking exercise. While I focus on the walking and stretching part of this early morning ritual, DH is more content in looking for nice-looking flowers and plants. And I'm not just referring to beautifully landscaped front yards and gardens. No. But also to plants growing in sidewalks, empty lots, or even drainage canals that strikes her curiosity.

In one of our morning walks in a nearby subdivision, DH and I chanced upon a vigorous healthy vine with beautiful flowers. The vine we saw covered much of the house owner's front fence as shown below.

Changing Colors of the Rose Cactus (Pereskia Bleo) Flowers

So how does a plant's flower change in color into a deep neon pink as shown on the left in the photo below, when just 3 days ago it was bright orange as shown on the photo at the right? This plant grows in tropical countries, by the way, where there are no seasons like summer and autumn.

Drip Irrigation Using Soda Pop Plastic Bottle

A common tendency when watering your garden plants is wasting water through runoffs. This is especially so in a couple of conditions: the ground has a slope or furrows that immediately channel water to other areas and; the stream of water is too strong that it splashes and flows away before being absorbed by the soil. These conditions prevent water from getting to where it is most needed - the garden plant's roots.

Here's a simple and inexpensive solution to getting water to your plant's roots via slow drip irrigation. You only need a 2 liter soda pop plastic bottle, a shoe tack, a small nail and a hammer as shown below:

Pruning Saw for Cutting Thick Branches

The local ACE hardware had a recent sale and so I went ahead and bought a pruning saw. We've never had a pruning saw at home before. The garden tools we use for cutting off tree limbs were either pruning shears, machete or even a hacksaw. For deadheading flowers, I use pruning shears and garden pruning scissors.

Pruning shears are also fine for twigs and plant stems that around 1/4" thick and below. Anything thicker would call for a heftier garden tool. But I don't want to carry around a regular saw to do the job. This is where a foldable pruning saw would be handy.

Homemade Vine Guard to Prevent Plants from Climbing Wires

I love growing flowering ornamental vines in my garden. Not only are they great for covering a drab blank wall, they're absolute space savers. Provide them with a climbing structure like a trellis and they will shoot up and grow like crazy. Tropical vines, especially, are beautiful yet notorious for being aggressive to the point of being invasive, if not contained.