I first saw this thorny Pereskia planted as a low groundcover at Kallang Riverside Park when I first joined the former Parks and Recreation Department.
It was a park that I managed and due to some development works, this plant was subsequently removed.
Little did I know it was so rare in Singapore. It was much later that I realised that I have never seen it anywhere else ever since. Well, at least until last year.
When we went to Malaysia to source for plants last year, I saw from afar an interesting yellow pinkish-leaved climber growing on a tall tree at a nursery. It was growing at least 6 m up the trunk of the tree.
There it was, this climber that I failed to see for a decade but remembered fondly. Imagine my delight when I saw and recognised it. So we had the owner's permission and took some cuttings and tried to propagate them in our nursery.
A few months ago, I planted 3 small pots at Floral Walk but the last I saw, they perished with nary a dead "stem" left.
When I saw this plant recently on 11 Jan 10, I found out from my colleague that it is not an easily propagated plant. The cuttings were difficult to take root and it was relatively slow growing. Nevertheless, there were a few pots of it. I hope we have more success propagating it because I would love to plant it at the Golden Garden!
