ENGLISH LANGUAGE - CAR PARK OR CARPARK

Today's weather - sunny






I think I should start with this post, otherwise I will spend time posting photos and this will be relegated to the back of my mind and never see the light of day.


I shall start with the easy one first. I am certain everyone knows what a car park is, so I shall not spend time explaining it other than saying it is a place or area where vehicles are parked. So is a carpark the same as a car park? Or is there really such a word as a carpark?


car + park = carpark?


I failed to find the word "carpark" in a dictionary with the same meaning. How or where does it originate? Frankly, I have often seen it being used locally in newspapers, magazines, brochures and so on. So I think it is one of those words that is unknowingly created locally and used so blatantly that it sort of became accepted here. It looks so natural together but I am inclined to think there is no such word at all. I mean, we can't put two words together to form a new word, can you? 


There are similar words e.g. artwork, waterfront, seahorse, glasshouse, walkway, like these and how many of them are really acceptable?

DESIGN

The grass and hardscape design looks so interesting, doesn't it? If I don't mention it, would anyone think this is actually a carpark?

JATROPHA INTEGERRIMA (VARIEGATED)

I planted these grafted variegated Jatropha at the Carpark Garden previously and looked at how pretty they have grown?

The leaf shape and variegation contrast sharply with the small, red flowers. Either way, this is a true beauty regardless of whether the leaves are variegated or not as in the more common Jatropha.

LOBELIA CHINENSIS

I grew this groundcover Lobelia chinensis (common name: Chinese Creeping Lobelia; Family: Campanulaceae) at various parts of HortPark extensively but most of the beds were gradually replaced by other plants.

This patch at the tail end of the Carpark Garden remains. It seems to prefer full sun conditions and wet or moist soils. The flowers are small, purplish and have 5 petals. A link on this plant is attached below:

http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Plants/Lobelia-chinensis.html