FRUITS AND FLOWERS (PORTLANDIA)

This is one interesting shrub that I do not know of. The bell-shaped flowers have a unique enclosed bud with a purplish tip that opens up to release a light scented fragrance.

NB on 25 May 13: This plant is known as Portlandia grandiflora (Common Name: Bell Flower, Glorious Flower of Cuba, Tree Lily; Family: Rubiaceae).

SINGAPORE GARDEN FESTIVAL 2012

The Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) is coming up again from 7-15 July 2012. Meanwhile, the exhibit at Orchard Road has attracted attention from passersby who posed for photos. The 3 mascots Benny the bee, Gary the grasshopper and Lindy the Ladybird are prominently featured in the landscape. And I spotted a flowering Brugmansia! Too bad it is so far and out of reach for me to catch a whiff of its fragrance.

CALOPHYLLUM & FICUS

Recently, I was at the Singapore Botanic Garden's Botany Centre and was assaulted by an overpowering fragrance when I exited from one of the rooms.


So I retraced my steps and saw this majestic Calophyllum inophyllum in bloom. The tree was covered with clusters of flowers and the scent was radiating from them. This is the oldest specimen of this tree species that I have ever seen and I am glad that this tree was not affected by the redevelopment works years ago when they upgraded this part of the gardens.


What is interesting was also the epiphytic Ficus aurantiaca that was growing abundantly on the tree trunk and branches of the Calophyllum. The leaves of this Ficus is very different from the tree and it is always a delight to see the clumps of orange fruits hanging on the branches throughout the tree. A link on this Ficus is shown here:


http://www.florasingapura.com/Ficus_aurantiacea.php

ALSTONIA SCHOLARIS

The Alstonia trees are flowering again! It is going to fill the air with a devilish fragrance like last year. Oh yes, I think it flowered in January a year ago too.

ALSTONIA SCHOLARIS

The Alstonia scholaris trees are flowering all over the island again recently. No wonder I smelt a certain fragrance in the air.

ALOYSIA VIRGATA

I planted these few Aloysia virgata (common name: Sweet Almond Verbena, Incense Bush; Family: Verbenaceae) recently and see how some of them are rewarding me with their beautiful pure scented white inflorescences? It is true the flowers have a strong almond fragrance. Unfortunately the branching can be quite haphazard.


Previously, this plant was mislabeled as Buddleia asiatica, which actually has larger inflorescences typical of this genus,  locally. In fact, this genus reminds me of the christian name Aloysius.


A link on this wonderful plant is shown below:


http://www.plantdelights.com/Aloysia-virgata-Perennial-Sweet-Almond-Tree-Verbena/productinfo/7587/

CITHAREXYLUM QUADRANGULARE

A tree from the Verbenaceae Family, this is one of my all time favourites for 2 main reasons - the amazingly beautiful orange leaves and the fragrant strings of white flowers.

Commonly known as the Fiddlewood, the synonyms include C. spinosum and C. subserratum. I first came across this tree in my junior college days when I used to go jogging at 6 am when the early morning breeze was so cooling. That was when I encountered this strange overpowering fragrance every time I ran along a certain stretch of the footpath. It was only later that I realized the smell came from this row of trees along the new block of flats.

The love was sealed there and then. When I started working, I learnt more about this tree and ever since then, I always try to use them in my landscaping projects. Some of the roads and parks include CTE near the Balestier Road / Whampoa stretch, Kampong Java Park, HortPark etc.

In recent times, I learnt to appreciate the beauty of a single specimen of these trees. The brilliantly beautiful tree would spot orange leaves from afar that remotely reminded me of autumn. Coupled with the strong sweet fragrance, the tree is simply hard to ignore. Anyway, a link is provided below:

http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?uid=Citharexylum_spinosum

TARENNA

An interesting plant resembling the Ixora but is actually not an Ixora.

Belonging to the same family as Ixora, this shrub produces beautiful white flowers that turn to yellow over time.

It emits a faint fragrance.

What I also like about this plant is the interesting stamen with joined anthers that thrust out of the individual flowers like arrows on a bow.

Can you imagine an army of warriors poised to shoot the arrows in unison?

TEMBUSU

It is the Tembusu flowering season again. Everywhere you go, you are likely to see the Tembusu trees in flower and fruiting.

Walking underneath them is an enjoyable experience as you get to breathe in a whiff of their fragrance.

Do you know the red berries are relished by some birds?