TRADESCANTIA & SNAILS

Recently, these 2-3 cm snails were munching away the leaves of these variegated Tradescantia spathacea 'Hawaiian Dwarf'. Hmm, this is new to me.

HOUSE PLANTS

I was pruning my Aptenia cordifolia (variegated) when I saw 3 flowers. Strangely, this plant hardly flowers on me and yet this sprig sent out 3 flowers in close proximity of each other.

I also bought the Tradescantia fluminensis 'Albovittata' recently and planted it into a shady corner of my corridor. I love the striated green and white markings on its leaves. It is truly a handsome plant.


In addition, I decided to propagate some of my shrubs in the plastic container I bought from NTUC Fairprice. Amongst them are Fittonia, Pilea and Fuchsia. The Fittonia was propagated earlier and have rooted and the others were just added in. At the same time, I planted some of the other Fittonia and Achimenes into another container so that I don't have to keep closer tabs on its watering. Let us see how well they fare.

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

ALEXANDRA ROAD

I was here at the Alexandra Village for lunch more frequently in April 11 than I had for the last 3 years.


This bed of Tradescantia sp., from the Family Commelinaceae, nearer the road is growing so well under the shade. As I walked into the open towards the bridge over AYE, there was a grass bed full of wild weeds such as Cleome rutidosperma and Tridax procumbens. There were a few small butterflies from the Lycaenidae Family flitting from flower to flower but I did not manage to capture them on my photos under the blazing sun.


The railway track that led from the old Tanjong Pagar train station to Malaysia is still there and up on the slope were a few beautiful and flowering Delonix regia (common name: Red Flame, Flame of the Forest). If I wasn't going back to you, I would love to explore the area.

ROOF GARDEN

This roof garden has been around for a while now. It has been planted with a whole range of plants e.g. Tradescantia discolor (synonym: Rhoeo discolor; common name: Boat Lily, Oyster Plant; Family: Commelinaceae), Ananas bracteatus (common name: Red Pineapple; Family: Bromeliaceae), Agave and Sansevieria trifasciata (common name: Mothers-in-law Tongue; Family: Ruscaceae/Agavaceae), that are drought tolerant.

What is interesting is they all have almost the same form. Some links on the plants are shown here:

1. http://pheladelfia.com/plants.asp?PlantID=271
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananas_bracteatus

HOME GARDEN

This post is about purple foliage plants.

The groundcover Tradescentia zebrina (synonym: T. pendula, Zebrina pendula; common name: Wandering Jew; Family: Commelinaceae) at HortPark's Home Garden is one of those striking foliage plants for the shade.

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

There are also quite a few Calathea shrubs with purplish coloration on the underside of its leaves, such as the C. ornata or C. majestica shown below on the left and an unknown Calathea on the right.

I am still very curious as to why quite a few foliage plants have purplish leaves.