NONG NOOCH TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN

a colourful lizard

This photo was from a friend who visited the very beautiful garden in Pattaya, Thailand recently.

GARDENIA GJELLERUPII

From the Rubiaceae Family, this is the very beautiful and fragrant Gardenia gjellerupii which is known by its common name Thai Gardenia. The flowers of this small shrub open a creamy yellow and then turn chrome yellow as it age.

It is definitely a wonderful addition to an ornamental or scented garden.

THAILAND

These were taken in Thailand in March 10 using my old Sony camera. I forgot to post about them earlier.

The 1st photo was an ashtray on the rubbish bin at the hotel that we stayed at. The rest were the night shots of the buzzing night street, the dinner I took, the souvenir I bought, the Siam Paragon and Square area before the big blaze during the terrorist attack.

CLERODENDRUM QUADRILOCULARE

I bought quite a few 1.5 m sized plants from Thailand and they have grown so big now.

This seems to be one of the biggest ones and there are so many leaves. So now I am waiting for the day when this Shooting Star or Starburst would flower. I can almost imagine how beautiful it would look.

Another interesting thing that my colleague pointed out is the elliptical-leaved Ficus weed that is peeping out from the plant.

We were quite sure this weed was brought in from Thailand and hope that it would not be removed someday.

CLERODENDRUM QUADRILOCULARE

Another variegated plant with lovely Ixora like flowers.

Actually, I prefer the normal green-magenta leaved species because the flowers do stand out. With this strong variegation, it somehow looked jarring and distracting to the eyes.

Nevertheless, it is another natural beauty.

THAILAND PLANT

I bought this sprawling plant from Thailand in January 09. I have yet to get it identified.

It appears to be related to the Impatiens. What's interesting about this plant is that it has reddish stems with small green leaves and striking yellow flowers. What a strange contrast of colours, don't you agree?

The photo was taken on 11 Jan 10.

HOSTA

This interesting plant was planted at HortPark by one of our industry partners Dow Flora. According to them, they brought it in from China. That was my first encounter of this plant in Singapore.

Before that, I have only come across Hosta in calendars and books, where you see a whole range of beautiful clusters of their variegated leaves. And I have not even mentioned the flowers.

Then at SGF 08, this japanese stall (I cannot remember the name but it was not a plant stall) carried a few pots of it. As usual, my sharp-eyed colleague spotted it and bought 2 of the best pots. In the end, I managed to buy 2 pots of it too.

After months of growing it, it flourished and there were a few rosettes of leaves but frankly, they never looked as large a clump as those in books etc. But the leaves were definitely a sight with its parallel veins and striking variegation and it is not difficult to understand why this plant was grown predominantly for its amazingly handsome leaves.

Apparently, there is a whole variety of cultivars bred by horticulturists out there, as evident from the never-ending range shown in books. In fact, during my Thailand trip in Jan 09, I purchased a book on Hostas from Chatuchak Market.

On the other hand, the more obscure 5-8 light lilac-white flowers opened in succession and emitted a light fragrance. I have not yet seen 2 opened flowers at the same time. Though non-lasting, the flowers do add an air of elegance to this plant.

However, this plant went into decline after I neglected it for some time and eventually succumbed to scales and mealy bugs a few months ago. It was such a pity and I didn't quite realize what I lost until I looked at these photos.

If I come across this plant in our local nurseries, I would definitely buy it and give it more attention as it is really a plant that is hard to come by.

By the way, the top photo was taken on 27 Nov 08 and the latter 2 photos on 2 Dec 08.