GREEN Craftivist

What plants made your garden look vibrant and alive during the hot summer days? March to May are summer months or hot dry season in the Philippines when temperatures rise from 30 degrees Celsius or higher.  It is not an ideal time to start growing a new plant but it is bloom time for some flowering plants and fruit-bearing trees that can withstand the scorching heat of the sun. BOUGAINVILLEA Bougainvillea flowers signal the onset of the dry season.  Classified as a thorny vine, the bougainvillea plant comes in different colors of red, pink, yellow, violet, white or a combination of white and pink among others. Bougainvillea plants can be expensive depending on the extent of its growth and variety, and yet they are very easy to source and grow from stem cuttings. For a start, you can buy a small pot of the plant and cut one or two stems for planting. Take a walk in the park or around the neighborhood and you may chance upon someone trimming their bougainvillea. A visit to the m...

Have you been to a church that looks like a forest inside?  As soon as you enter , you will stand in awe of the place , turn speechless and frozen in amazement. You feel like being in the middle of a magical forest  sans  the sound of tweeting birds, the silence broken only by light footsteps and the quiet sigh of astonished visitors. The columns are not the usual tall, cylindrical  posts you normally see in buildings or church structures. They are built like the trunk of a tree that changes its shape and branches out as it grows taller. There are skylights between the columns that allow light to come in. The ceilings are adorned with sculptures of leaves, fruits and flowers which can also be seen in many parts of the church.  When sunlight passes through the skylights and the stained glass on the walls,  you see glowing light of different hues and colors shining on you from different directions like a spotlight, gently changing in brightness at differ...

Did you know that the Sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine?  Ukraine is known for being one of the world's top producers of sunflower oil and sunflower seeds. Its  commercial production started after the Russian Orthodox Church allowed sunflower oil to be used during Lent - a period of fasting and abstinence. As a result, the country became famous for yellow fields with flowers facing the direction of the sun.  To the people of Ukraine, the sunflower symbolizes warmth and the power of the sun.  How Sunflowers Grow SUNFLOWERS grow from seeds and every flower contains a thousand or more sunflower seeds to grow. They need 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight and some varieties can grow up to six feet. In cold countries like Ukraine, seeds are planted in late spring and harvested before autumn at the latest.  At the University Avenue of the  University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City where sunflowers are usually in full bloom by March marking the g...

Are you in a hurry to achieve colorful hues in your garden but cannot wait for flowers to bloom? Planting Mayanas is the way to go. Coleus plants more commonly known as Mayana come in different varieties and colors.  With half a day of direct sunlight, half a day of shade and daily watering just enough to keep the soil moist at all times, they will survive beautifully and give you a festive-looking garden in a short period of time.   Propagating Mayanas from Stem Cuttings Mayana plants are very easy to grow from cuttings. Here are some of my tried and tested strategies which have always proven to be effective.  💗  Source of Cuttings    Get your cuttings from a mature Mayana plant. Look for the topmost stem of the main branch and cut it below a node to at least 6 inches in length. A node is the part of a stem where new leaves, branches or aerial roots start to grow.  The Mayana stems are soft and watery so you will need to check if your targeted c...