My purple Cleome finally bloomed some months ago, thanks to the generosity of Ms Nancy Chan who gifted me with another batch of seeds.
In my not-so-capable hands, only a few seedlings sprouted and due to attack by snails/slugs, I was left with only 3 plants. The earlier plant had completed its life cycle and I managed to harvest some seeds.
These Spider Flowers are so pretty and are a joy to behold.
But alas.....disaster struck. I noticed my flower buds wilting.
Oh dear! The blight that killed my Cleome plants more than 10 years ago is back to haunt me.
I was heartbroken.
Upon closer inspection, I detected a caterpillar had burrowed into the plant stem.
Have a closer look.
A few days later, this happened to the stems.
Ugh!
I still managed to harvest some seeds which I have scattered on the ground and in pots. I hope these survive. But I have to find out how to protect my plant from those destructive caterpillars.
Can you see the little bee that visited my flowers? I hope to see these lovely flowers in my garden again.
I could not see the little bee until I enlarge the photo and saw your word bee next to it. Hehehe you are so cute to type bee next to the bee for us. fingers crossed that you get another batch of lovely flowers from the seeds that you have scattered. life is cruel in the sense that all living beings live off other living beings which include plants.
ReplyDeleteIt was really hard to snap the bee as it was moving so fast!
DeleteOh dear. Really painful to see own grown plants die off from pest.
ReplyDeleteThe purple cleome is beautiful.
Yeah, so sad but hope to get new seedlings.
DeleteThose flowers are unique and looks really lovely. I like the purple one~
ReplyDeleteThey are very pretty, that's why my heart is broken sobs!
DeleteOh dear! They are so beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteSobs!!
DeleteSuch lovely spidery flowers, i like the second photo, hope you get another harvest from the seeds you scattered
ReplyDeleteHope so too!
DeleteLovely, lovely spidery flowers! I am no gardener like Nancy, but indeed it is nice to go there to look at the pretty flowers there!
ReplyDeleteNancy is amazing. I love to looks at her flowers and plants.
Deleteoh so sad to see that....
ReplyDeleteYeah...sobs!
DeleteThe pests love the Cleome plants. I have removed all the old plants and I saw 2 baby plants growing in one of the pots. Hope the seeds will sprout for you.
ReplyDeleteSome seeds are sprouting and I hope to get more lovely plants.
Deleteargh! condolences - it does seem like your garden attracts more than its share of nuisances. the flowers were lovely while they lasted, and you immortalised them beautifully in your photos!
ReplyDeleteWhy, thank you! I can understand why farmers use pesticides even though it is a bad thing.
DeleteThis unique flower is very nice. No wonder it attracted the caterpillars. You need to spray the pots and ground with some anti caterpillars and sprinkle salt on the ground so that snails would run away.
ReplyDeleteI will research on natural remedies to fight these pesky caterpillars.
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