LORI

I heard the call of a bird and when I looked up, it was a green Lori bird perched on a palm frond. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so this is the best photo I took with my iphone.

CITY SQUARE

I remember trying to take a photo of this display and was stopped by the shop's staff. I'm not trying to copy their design but rather I am capturing the green display, which I like and hope to encourage.

KHOO TECK PUAT HOSPITAL & YISHUN POND

It was a day with a clear good weather, as evident by the photos of the still water and reflection of the park surrounding the Yishun Pond, taken from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.


The Enterolobium cyclocarpum planted along the promenade of the pond has hardly grown much, as observed by the sparse crown of few leaves. The string of floating platforms of marginal aquatic plants, on the other hand, are growing so well. It is an innovative way of creating an island of plants in a pool of water.


Back at the hospital compound, the picturesque garden has established so much since the hospital first opened its doors. I was lucky to capture a photo of a lady bug and managed to focus a ray of light on it for better effect. They have also cleaned up the pond water considerably and it was sparkling clear. However, I noticed most of the fishes e.g. Tiger Barbs, Archer Fish, I spotted previously were nowhere to be found. I wonder if they were deliberately or accidentally removed in the cleaning process?


I found that the new leaf flushes of the Flacourtia inermis were slightly distorted and when I turned the orange leaves over, I discovered colonies of young and adult black and brown aphids. Yes, they looked absolutely disgusting but I guess this is part of the natural ecological cycle.


In an earlier post on this hospital, I highlighted some terrestrial plants that were grown in water. Here, one can see clusters of the common culinary Pandanus amaryllifolius with aerial roots growing in the water too. Unfortunately, they were not emitting the typical pandan fragrance in the air.


Anyway, this is the benchmark for new hospitals that are developed in Singapore. It is no longer just an institution where the sick or injured patients receive medical or surgical treatment. It has to be green and well-landscaped for aesthetics and to promote therapeutic recovery. Green is now the new black.

GREEN

There was this green cockroach-like insect outside the glass. What on earth is this? Honestly, I have never seen this creature before.

GREEN NEIGHBOURS

These are my green neighbours. Their plants range from the ornamental to the edibles. I know that like me, they love plants. Their plants provide a link for the Olive-backed Sunbirds to fly all the way to my corridor of plants.

How wonderful. If only more neighbours are into corridor planting, then we can have a vertical garden.

AUSTRALIA - BRISBANE

Now that you have seen the night photos of the Brisbane and South Bank area, these are some of the day photos.

The Wheel of Brisbane, just looked like a simple wheel, in the day. There was this beautifully constructed Bougainvillea trellis. The architecture of it looked unique. Ah, who would forget their green trishaws and green drivers, who looked so sporty, fit and of course green!

The healthy and dry-loving Kalanchoe thyrsiflora (common name: Paddle, White Lady, Desert Cabbage; Family Crassulaceae) looked like a rose with its multiple folds and red edges. A link is shown below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalanchoe_thyrsiflora

The brown building in the following photo after the Kalanchoe is the same Casino Building that was so beautifully lit up at night.

GREEN IDEAS

I love some of these green ideas. Seriously when I took them, I didn't think much about them.

But looking at these 4 photos, 1 of them does not fit in again. Guess which is that? It's the second photo because it is one of a rooftop garden. The other 3 were vertical displays of plants!

The third one can be seen at HortMart. The fourth one is a good DIY idea on sale at Far East Flora.

I love the first one the most because of the variety and randomness of the plants that caught my attention. But seriously, is it really sustainable? If it is, I would love to try it at home.