My Favourite Plant - Asplenium Nidus ( Bird's Nest Fern ) In My Childhood Garden

At one point of time, I have 2 giant-sized Asplenium Nidus ( Bird's Nest Fern ) planted in pots under the rambutan tree in my childhood garden. When my friend first brought them back from the jungle for me during a trip to Balik Pulau on Penang Island, they were still very small; about the size of a palm. I planted them in coconut shells which I get from the shop in town that sells shredded coconut flesh ( coconut 'soft meat' ). I stuffed the coconut shell planters with coconut fiber and organic soil as the root-holding medium. After that, I put them somewhere on the rambutan tree that could hold them well in place and watered them every day. As years passed, the plants had grown to be so big that I had to bring them down to the ground for stability and put them into bigger and more stable pots. I did not actually transplant them. I just placed them into the pots. The leaves were so much more beautiful during the raining season compared to the dry season though I thought I did water and 'bathe' them well enough then. During the dry season, my mum loved to help me trim away the dried leaves whenever she saw them. So, there was never a time that the plants did look unsightly. Every time I went home during my University years, my mum would often happily told me how well she had taken care of and pampered the plants. She was definitely right as the 2 Bird's Nest Fern(s) had grown to be so magnificently big ( almost 5 feet in spread ) and their glossy apple green leaves were so admiringly beautiful. 

Today, these Bird's Nest Fern(s) were no longer around in my childhood garden due to our garden's complete reconstruction. I had never captured any pictures of them but the beautiful memories that I had of them seems to have stayed in my heart forever.

My Bird's Nest Ferns used to look like this one. Only that mine were a bit more beautiful, or so I thought.

Untrimmed leaves like these never happened to my Bird's Nest Fern(s). Thanks to my dear Mum for her untiring care and love all those years..