HORTPARK

Everyday on my way to work, I will get to see this beautiful curtain ofQuisqualis indica (common name: Drunken Sailor, Rangoon Creeper) as I walked through the gate. I love this climber so much that I planted it here to remind myself over and over again my love for this plant.

At the Kampung Daze or Fruited Trees and Vegetables Garden, I saw the red fruits of the Canna aquatica. At the shelter beside the Kampung Daze, the ground was waterlogged and I planted it with the fascinating climber Strongylodon macrobotrys(common name: Jade Vine, Emerald Vine; Family: Fabaceae / Leguminosae) but I have not seen it flower until that very day. My colleague suddenly wanted to see this climber and viola, there was a string of the jade coloured flowers when we walked into the shelter to check it out. A link on this plant is shown below:

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

Next to the Prototype Glass House, the variegated Panicum maximum was flowering again.

PANICUM & THYSANOLAENA

I was told the first 2 photos show the perennial grass known as Panicum maximum (synonym: Megathyrsus maximus), which are known commonly as Guinea Grass or Green Panic Grass.

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

The 3rd photo shows the grass Thysanolaena latifolia (synonym: T. maxima, Agrostis maxima, Melica latifolia, T. agrostis, T. textilis). The common names are interesting and include Tiger Grass, Asian Broom Grass and Bamboo Grass. A link on this beautiful grass is as attached:

1. http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Tiger%20Grass.html
2. http://www.gardening.eu/arc/plants/Shrubs/Thysanolaena-latifolia-Roxb.-ex-Hornem.-Honda/69576/
3. http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/gbase/data/pf000497.htm

By the way, all grasses are now classified under the Family Poaceae (Gramineae).

PANICUM MAXIMUM (VARIEGATED)

Grasses are now in the Family Poaceae (formerly Gramineae). I find it hard to get used to the changes and sometimes lose track of it.

Anyway, ornamental tufted grasses have been gaining popularity and acceptance in recent years and it is not difficult to understand why. From the small beautiful Ruby Grass (scientific name: Melinis nerviglumis) with panicles of purple flowers, to this variegated grass with panicles of wispy white flowers that sway gracefully with the wind, their long, narrow and elongated leaves coupled with the flowers have a certain understated beauty and soft look that cannot be achieved with other plants.

Seeing is believing, so visit the Car Park Garden to check out this new grass, which I believe to be a variegated form of the Panicum maximum (common name: Guinea Grass).