Desert Rose - Dead and Alive

Every year we have charity sales in the office around September. I got a little desert rose plantling, which I was supposed to love and nurture as advised by my colleague. But by October, my poor desert rose plant lost all its leaves. I didn't dare tell my colleague this, because it was "hard work growing them from the seeds!". I was worried that I was indeed a plant killer!

Desert Rose plant - alive (left); seemingly dead (right)

Not wanting to face reality, I left the pot on a ledge outside my home. Hoping that something green will start growing again. But day after day there was no sign of life. So I started ignoring it, thinking that it was a lost case. The rain and sun shall take its course on the remaining stem and pretty soon it would shrivel up.

A month later, I came home from work and glanced at the ledge. To my surprise, there were leaves!!! Not one, not two but a FEW leaves! Big ones too! Amazed at nature and the second lease of life God gave my little desert rose plant!

My desert rose plant is ALIVE!

Encouraged, I remembered that some time back I collected a bunch of seeds from my uncle's plant. It was the second time in my life that I've actually seen desert rose seeds. The actual seed is like a tiny tube with a fluffy tail on each side, meant to be dispersed by the wind when the pod pops open. I was lucky to be there when the pod ruptured and caught about 12 seeds. Like when I was a kid, I had a hobby of keeping seeds - saga seeds, balsam seeds, sunflower seeds, papaya seeds. I kept the desert rose seeds in a tissue paper stuffed in my handbag for some weeks!

I got a bag of potting soil, which looked like compost when I opened it up, and some pots. With the blessing of the long weekend, my planting experiment was accomplished - three pots of desert rose seeds and one pot of bird's eye chili (second attempt after the first batch of plants were diseased).

Desert rose seeds. Found a Lego man in my garden while looking for rocks!

My plants and seedlings on the ledge - grow, babies, grow!

N.B: I've to put my pots on the ledge as my doggie was eyeing the plastic pots as chew toys. Why do I always have terrorists as my dogs!?