Tuesday, December 21

onion plant!

this is one thing i am really grateful about.

last year when i went to thailand, a particular market was selling onion bulbs to plant. they looked like the normal onions you have in the kitchen. except they came with different coloured tape on them telling you what colour flowers will bloom from them. specimens of the mature plants were on display and they looked really pretty and had several huge flowers on a single stem. i immediately got attracted to the pink flowers and decided to buy one. dad bought two red ones as he thought of growing them and giving them to my ah ma when they bloomed.

first few days when i watered the bulb, it turned a ghastly green. i was worried that the bulb was growing MOULDY instead of growing. but we decided that its okay to be left alone for awhile more and before we knew it the bulbs sprouted leaves and grew rapidly.

the leaves grew long and thick like a pretty crown which somewhat reminded me of a pineapple plant. however there was no sign of flowers for several months.

we just watered waited. and occasionally my mum and i would speak to the plants. lol.

then a few months back the leaves started withering and the plants looked like they were dying. i wasn't happy about it and my dad spoke of throwing them away. we threw the smallest one away thinking we were growing it for nothing.

we wanted to throw all away until one day we found something that sprouted from a particular bulb that looked very different from the leaves. for starters it grew upright, resembled a stem and had a thick bud forming at the top.

the thick bud opened and revealed many smaller flower buds inside. each at different stage of growth. lol! and within days a pink flower bloomed. today the second flower bloomed. i've counted and there are 4 more beautiful flowers on the way from the main bud.

i am just so happy. this is like a full cycle. we bought the bulbs last year during christmas. and this year during christmas, the flowers are blooming. i am just really really grateful that the flowers bloom. they are beautiful!