The pride of my collection is the begonia (RM10). It has red and green leaves, and with a silvery sheen on the surface of the leaves, it looks as if some really fine silver confetti has been sprayed on them. Although I'm pretty sure the silver part is real, I'm not too sure about the reddish leaves. I think they may have put some red dye in the soil or water when it was growing. Still, it's such a lovely combination, I can't resist getting it ....
Asking the stallkeeper about a low maintenance plant with flowers, he pointed immediately to a purple plant and recommended the lavender. Huh ? Lavender ? Doesn't that grow in mild season countries only ? He was too busy to entertain me, so I just accepted his recommendation. After all, it only costs RM8, and the lavender looks nice, although I keep expecting all the flowers to drop off before I can get it back home !
The first thing I do when I reach home is to sniff and sniff at the lavender :) Not a whiff of lavender smell at all :( Still unconvinced, I just have to find out if this is really lavender. Took me quite a bit of online research, but I finally found the name : Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender'. Apparently, it is a sucessful hybrid plant that is becoming a hit around the world. Hhmmm .... how can it be called a success when they left out the important lavender smell ?
Feeling Christmassy at this time of the year, the fern(RM5) is a must-have. The stallkeeper mentioned Taiwan species , so I guess it is a Taiwanese fern.
Glad to say, all 3 plants are still surviving after 2 weeks , but the lavender does look fragile and a little droopy.
