BOUGAINVILLEA 'MARY PALMER'

The 1st 4 photos were taken as I was walking towards Funan Digitalife Mall. I realised I have not featured the various Bougainvillea cultivars from the Nyctaginaceae Family, so this is a good opportunity to do so.

This is actually the Bougainvillea spectabilis 'Mary Palmer' (spectoperuviana group), an interesting and beautiful bicolor Bougainvillea with white to pink bracts and variegated yellow-green leaves.

The latter photos were taken when I walked across the bridge. It is interesting that one side of the bridge flowered better than the other side. What could be the reason for this? Morning and afternoon sun that differ in light intensity?

Anyway, a few links on this uncommon cultivar are shown below:

1. http://www.learn2grow.com/plants/bougainvillea-mary-palmer-spectoperuviana-group/
2. http://www.learn2grow.com/plants/bougainvillea-mary-palmers-enchantment-spectoperuviana-group/
3. http://www.premiumclimbers.co.nz/sub_tropical2.htm
4. http://www.digthedirt.com/plants/13125-trees-and-shrubs-bougainvillea-spectoperuviana-group-mary-palmer
5. http://caribbeangarden.blogspot.com/2007/05/chancy-peters-blooms.html

PISONIA ALBA (VARIEGATED)

It was hard for me to imagine that the Pisonia alba is from the same Nyctaginaceae Family as the Bougainvillea. In fact, I have never seen the flowers of this small tree.

The synonym is P. brunoniana and the common names include Lettuce Tree and Cabbage Tree.

Anyway, this post is not about the usual Pisonia alba. It is about the variegated form of the tree. I love to use the common form in my landscaping but this variegated type simply blew me away. A link on the common tree is shown below:

http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/PISONIA_ALBA.htm

MIRABILIS JALAPA

This bed of Mirabilis jalapa (common name: Four O'clock Flower, Marvel of Peru; Family: Nyctaginaceae) has been flowering regularly. Recently, I spotted the ripe fruits and collected some of the seeds. Hopefully, I can get to collect seeds of the different colours.

Anyway, mirabilis means wonderful in latin and Jalapa is actually a town in Mexico. I think what is nice is when an assortment of different colours of the plant are grown together. A link and an image from the web are attached below for reference:

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