TARENNA FRAGRANS

The native fragrant shrub Tarenna fragrans flowered so freely several times a year and I feel they are really under-appreciated.

HOME GARDEN

The Tarenna odorata was flowering profusely once again. It has proven itself to be very reliable in its flowering frequency. Here is another uncommon narrow-leaved Cordyline, Begonia, Tradescanthia zebrina (Family: Commelinaceae), Trevesia palmata, Guzmania dissitiflora or sprucei (Family: Bromeliaceae) on the vertical wall, Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri (common name: Donkey Ears, Giant Kalanchoe; Family: Crassulaceae), Dracaena deremensis cultivar and Kohleria cultivar.


A link on the Guzmania is shown here:


http://fcbs.org/butcher/Guz_sprucei_vs_dissitiflora.htm

HORTPARK - HOME GARDEN

I saw this flowering Ixora finlaysoniana with fragrant white flowers at the Home Garden. It was next to another beauty the native Tarenna odorata, which also has fragrant flowers and was in flower. I was elated when I saw a fat earthworm on the ground and so snapped a photo of it.


Beside the swing, the variegated Pisonia alba looked as strikingly outstanding as before while the Pseudogynoxys chenopodioides sent out a few pretty orange flowers.

OLIVE-BACKED SUNBIRD

This is the male Olive-backed Sunbird, trying to hide itself amongst the foliage of the Tarenna odorata.

TARENNA ODORATA

Where do I even begin? This is HortPark's Home Garden.

The top photos were taken on 17 Feb 10 and the bottom photos were taken on 19 Feb 10.

This is a most interesting native shrub from the Rubiaceae family that closely resembles the Ixora in terms of its flowers.

It flowered in Oct 09 and it flowered recently, presumably due to the prolonged dry spell. The fragrant flowers opened white but gradually turned yellow with time. The protruding pistils reminded me of arrows pointing in a single direction. The bark of the trunk is surprising magenta in colour and contrasts dramatically with the white and yellow flowers.

Frankly, how often do you find flowers of two colours on a single plant?

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?