Nancy! Nancy! Your Cleome Jadi!!

My blogger friend, Nancy, is so kind. So kind! And so generous too. When I left a comment on her Cleome Spider Flowers post, she offered to send me some seeds. I was delighted!

Her seeds arrived in February 2017 all the way from Ipoh (so nicely packed and labelled) and when I had the time, I quickly planted them. 

And then I waited and waited and waited. Sadly, none of the seeds germinated. I must have done something wrong or those pesky critters in my garden ate the seeds/seedlings.

Of course I did not want to inconvenience Nancy by asking  her for more seeds. And when I commented that I failed to grow the Cleome, Nancy again offered to send me more. I was so grateful for her generosity because I really wanted the Spider Flower in my garden. 

This time, I scattered the seeds into a few pots (and some on the ground) to increase my chances of getting seedlings. Again I waited. After many weeks, I was disappointed as none of the seeds appeared to have germinated.

Until one fine day when I spotted this.

Ah! A little one emerged in the unlikeliest places. I do not even remember putting the seeds into this pot. So I let the seedling grow a little bigger and transplanted it into another pot.

And slowly it grew.

Every morning I watered it and made sure to inspect the pot and the vicinity to make sure that there were no snails or slugs that would harm my precious Cleome.

I fertilized it with compost. And after many weeks as it grew taller, I began to inspect the plant for the first signs of inflorescence.

Yes! Flower buds were appearing!

And then it bloomed.

Ah! Nancy, you don't know how happy I was! It was such a joy to look at the beautiful Spider Flower in all its majestic glory. Though I had hoped that it was the pink or purple one, these white blooms were a joy to behold and reminded me of the  first Spider Flower that I grew 17 years ago!

At the time, I bought the seeds from the gardening section of Aeon (then known as Jaya Jusco). I had some success with the white and pink Spider Flower but sadly they were attacked by caterpillars. Since then, I had not been able to find the seed anymore from the shops.

And thanks to Nancy, now I am able to enjoy the beauty of the Spider Flower. I will wait for seed pods to form and I will try my luck again at growing more Cleome. Thank you again, Nancy!