Draceana Surculosa (Local Name : Japanese bamboo)

This must be the most  common plant found in  Malaysian gardens, offices, hotels, public gardens, etc...  I am not sure why people like this plant so much, perhaps it looks good and is so easy to maintain , being fuss  free and pest free ?  I  wanted  this  plant because I am  hoping the  birds  will  come  and make nests in  my garden.  Apparently many  people I know who have  this plant  (my mother included)  commented  about the  small birds that come boldly  to make their nests on this plant ! This plant prefers shade as the leaves get sun burnt under the direct sun. Therefore most people have this plant in a shady corner somewhere. However there should be bright light to keep the plant healthy.

This plant (right hand side) is the Punctulata Draceana, and it has strange looking spots on its leaves.  It grows very well  in the corner where I have placed it, unfortunately ...no bird nests yet!  It is still a rather young plant, hardly a year old.  I grew it from cuttings. Initially it grew very slowly, perhaps my place was too hot for its liking.   However  now that  it is established, there are many new shoots coming up. I have given it some pruning to encourage some branching, otherwise they just shot up thin and tall.  I have to tie the stalks together  to a  long stick that I  push into centre of  the pot, otherwise  they tend to bend over whenever there are strong winds.   One day I should shape it a bit when it is more mature and bushy.    

This plant on the left hand side is what they called  the " Spotted Draceana" because of the mottled patterns on the leaves. .  Unfortunately it grows very, very , very slowly.  I have this plant for almost eight months now, but look how small it is !  I  like this plant so much I bought another plant when I saw it  on reduced price at Tesco a week later.  Both are really slow growers....lol ! Well,  a gardener learns to be patient.  These plants just  cannot be hurried....I guess. Believe me, giving fertilizers  has no effect  when they want to  take their own sweet time adjusting to their new environment.   I noticed that this plant cannot take to much sunlight.  When exposed to  sunlight,  the leaves became de-colorized and then brown, so now  I placed these plants away from direct or even partial sunlight.  I hope once they have established themselves like the Punctulata Draceana, they will grow faster.