Today’s photos are from Bas Suharto and were taken on a trip to Indonesia. (For photos of Bas’s beautiful front garden, check out Parterre Garden in Ottawa)
I stayed a few days at a pilla (villa) in the village called Radjagaluh, located in West Java, Indonesia. It was the rainy season in December, and the temperature was between 23° to 33°C (between 73° and 91°F).
This photo of Mount Ciremai was taken after the harvesting time. The rice field has been cut, and some zinnias (Zinnia elegans, Zones 10–11 or as an annual) are still blooming.
The garden around the villa where we stayed had tropical plants such as these red ginger plants (Alpinia purpurata, Zones 10–11). The ground cover is wide-leaf grass—”Rumput Gajah Mini,” which translated literally is mini elephant grass (Axonopus compresus, Zones 10–11).
Mini elephant grass also surrounds the outdoor seating area.
All the huts in the villa are surrounded by greenery such as yellow stick bamboo plants, tall lacy ferns, palm trees, or tropical trees.
This covered bench is used as a traditional day bed and is surrounded by lacy fern tree, tall calathea plants, and rows of bamboos. The ground cover is the mini elephant grass. At the back are rows of tall yellow bamboo plants serving as privacy screens.
The “long screen” of tall yellow bamboo plants at another part of the garden is framed with light green ararea plants (Osmoxylon lineare, Zones 10–11) and groups of red Cordyline plants in the lower part.
I love the view of bleeding heart vine (Clerodendrum thomsoniae) among the lower branches of the tree and Chinese fan palm, which I saw on the way going down a wood staircase from my room.
I had this view of the rice paddy field from my room’s balcony. The sky was cloudy and rained soon after.
On the left side is a rice paddy field that has been planted with young rice plants; on the right side, the farmers gather the rice plants from the rice seedbed nursery to be planted in the brown mud area of the field.
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