On the other side of Bishan Park 2 across the road, the residents were gathered around the tentages to kick-start the Community Arts Festival event as part of the PassionArts Month.
One of the first things that attracted my attention, other than the crowd, was the mass of flowering Zephyranthes grandiflora (common name: Pink Rain Lily) in the new landscape beds. I also have not seen the Lagerstroemia indica (common name: Crape Myrtle; Family: Lythraceae) used in our parks for a long time now and I was delighted to see them here.
Almost everyone was carrying umbrellas of a multitude of colours and design in the drizzle. On my way across the overhead bridge to make a quick exit to avoid the heavy downpour, I took photos of the understorey palms e.g. Arenga hookeriana, Johannesteijsmannia lanceolata, Iguanura wallichiana, planted below the crown of the existing clusters of mature trees.
Today's weather - sunny
If there is anything that perks me up, it is having the opportunity to plant a bare area and see it come alive and transform into a beautiful landscape. This was precisely what happened at this toilet block area of the Fragile Forest.
I took over the Fragile Forest from a colleague recently and I wasn't the one who planted the palms behind the toilet block and on the slope. When I first came to the site, the bare earth in front of the toilet and below the existing Khaya senegalensis trees made me feel very uncomfortable that I had to plant up this area first.
The theme for this area is palms (Family: Palmae/Arecaceae), so I planted up a number of Kerridoxa elegans (common name: White Elephant Palm, King Thai Palm), which is a fan palm with large fronds with a silverish underside. That immediately gave the place a different look and shielded the dry fronds of the Borassodendron machadonis. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos before the planting to show the stark difference after the planting. This first set of photos captured the look soon after the palms were in.
I added a clump of Elaeocarpus grandiflorus (common name: Fairy Petticoat, Fringe Bells, Lily of the Valley Tree; Family: Elaeocarpaceae) with red flowers near the southern part of the site and a Elatiospermum tapos (common name: Kra, Perah, Tapos; Family: Euphorbiaceae) beside the car park.
Subsequently, I added clusters of Areca catechu (common name: Betel Nut Palm), a few Rhopaloblaste singaporensis (common name: Keringtin Palm), Areca vestiara (common name: Orange Crownshaft Palm, Orange Palm, Pinang Merah) which further added to my delighted mood over the week. I was so excited about the bountiful opportunities offered by the site and kept thinking and dreaming about it. I am planning to gradually add the following to this site:
- a collection of Aglaonema
- a collection of terrestrial and epiphytic orchids
- a collection of butterfly host and nectar plants
- a collection of pitcher plants
- Caryota mitis
- Cyrtostachys renda
- Euterpe oleracea
- Iguanura species
- Johannesteijsmannia species
- Licuala species e.g. L. mattanensis 'Mapu'
- Phoenicophorium borsigianum
Unfortunately, landscape works at the site have stalled for two weeks now and I hope we can start the remaining planting soon. Updates on the progress of landscaping will be provided gradually and as soon as I can.
