Jardinerong Sunog (the Burnt Gardener)

As one might expect, the succulent flora of tropical regions are rather depauperate compared to those in more arid climates further north or south of the equator. However, families of primarily succulent plants persist even in the tropics, notably the Crassulaceae , which encompasses well-known succulent genera such as Crassula and Echeveria . In the Philippines, two genera are present- Kalanchoe and Sedum . The former was very poorly understood until quite recently, and many thought that plants found in a wild state in parts of the archipelago were escapees from cultivation, notwithstanding the fact that the plants seen farthest from human settlements all bore yellow flowers and thus lending suspicion that all were from the same species. Perhaps the most popular species in cultivation, K. blossfeldiana , has not been found in the wild despite its prevalence in gardens around towns. Three  Kalanchoe species that are not native to the Philippines which have established feral ...

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak", said German-American painter Hans Hofmann, who was a major influence in the development of abstract expressionism. His patches of pure color are severe and express and represent nothing but themselves alone. Thus, blue is freed from associations: blue isn't about a blue sky anymore. Blue does not exist because of the sea. Blue represents nothing but blue and it is up to the spectator to draw up comprehensions and emotions about it. Meanwhile, Henry David Thoreau admonished our inclination to complicate: "Our life is frittered away by detail... simplify, simplify." The mantra to break down things into its simplest form carried on even to my gardening, and nowhere is this most expressed than in my approach to preparing soil mixes for my succulents. If you have been following my writings in this blog, then you probably already know that I have been to the same phase a...