LANDSCAPE PLANTS

Tecoma stans

Landscaping is a very personal thing because everyone has their own preferences, likes and dislikes. What appeals to one may not appeal to others.

The interesting thing about landscaping is no two individual designs and landscapes are similar, because of the vast palette of plants available to choose from, unless it is a deliberate attempt to duplicate it. Different species and cultivars also have different growth habits and conditions, so it makes a landscape even more personal especially if the owner is involved in picking out the plants for the garden.

Here is a range of flowering and foliage shrubs that I recently recommended for planting although big trees and palms were not included.

Close up of Tecoma stans flowers.

 

Galphimia glauca

Close up of Galphimia flowers

Cuphea hyssopifolia

Close up of Cuphea flowers

Sanchezia nobilis

Caladium bicolor

Codiaeum variegatum

Carphalea kirondron

Close up of Carphalea flowers

Melastoma malabathricum

Justicia brandegeeana

Ocimum basilicum

Aglaonema cultivar

Alpinia purpurata

Xiphidium caeruleum

Asystasia gangetica cultivar

Stachytarpheta cultivar

Nymphaea cutlivar

Arachnothryx leucophylla

Tibouchina cultivar

Xanthostemon cultivar

DOVE

I was looking at the beautiful red fruits of the palm and the yellow flowers of the Tecoma stans when I saw this little fella perched on the petiole of the palm frond. It was solitary and probably enjoying time away from its pack.

TABEBUIA ROSEA

I hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to put this up because the flowering Tecomas are a relatively common sight in our urban landscapes.

Anyway, I am doing it now because I remembered lots of visitors and staff pausing in their tracks when they emerged from the Bayfront MRT exit and whipped out their cameras of camera phones to capture this magnificent phenomenon of the flowering Tecomas on a daily basis from end July to August. This is the welcome greeting one received upon stepping foot into the garden. What is notable was also the fact that the flowers bloomed in the form of various shades of pink and a white.

CAMPSIS RADICANS

Frankly, I didn't know that we can grow the Campsis radicans (Synonym: Tecoma radicans; Common Name: Trumpet Vine, Trumpet Honeysuckle; Family: Bignoniaceae) in our outdoors here. But we don't try, we would never know right?

Just about 3 months ago, I saw an entire wall of Campsis in Europe.

SKYLINE PROMENADE

The strip of planting along the Skyline Promenade is fantastic for planting sun- and heat-loving plants such as the Bougainvillea, Tecoma capensis (Synonym: Tecomaria capensis), Russelia equisetiformis. 

One of my additions include the purple flower, silver leaved Leucophyllum frutescens (Common Name: Barometer Bush, Ash Plant), which I would add to the Discovery Garden slope.