Today's weather - sunny
When I feel tired, I write incoherent and gibberish stuff, like some of my earlier posts. Unfortunately, my less than perfect command of the English language doesn't, or should I say didn't, help. But then again, I constantly remind myself this is not a blog posting on the English language. Instead, it is just my humble blog on the things that are close to me, in particular plants. This is my attempt at writing my own plant diary, and so I shouldn't be too hard on myself.
Anyway, I went to the Tiong Bahru Plaza for a movie recently and ended up going to the refurbished Tiong Bahru hawker center via the old Tiong Bahru estate. This is a prime area, for those who hanker for a taste of a slightly sleepy, rustic but more private residence. For those who stay on the ground floor, they have a backyard, or frontyard, to landscape, like some of these photos shown here. If one cannot afford a private terrace or bigger house, this is the next best thing, I guess. Some of the owners have a very good sense of aesthetics and amazing horticultural expertise, as demonstrated by the beautiful landscapes and healthy plants here. For instance, one owner seemed to be able to grow the Hydrangea macrophylla in a very healthy, flowering condition, with leaves that are not plagued by leaf spots and so on.
And then, there is the old hawker center with lots of good food. In fact, this was only the second time I was here. The last time I came, it was about 10 months ago. Surprisingly I saw clumps of this uncommon but established palm. Pardon me here because I do not know its identity as my knowledge of palms is really limited. They look impressively different and amazing.
If one is lucky enough, they would have a small open space in front of their compound and can get to appreciate some of the older trees, that never lost their favour with me. I, for one, was fortunate to see the beautiful pink flower Rose of India and carpet of Yellow Flame flowers there and then.
NB on 15 Mar 12: Yes, the very refreshing palm is Euterpe oleracea ( common name: Acai Berry).
I decided to take some photos of this park again after an absence of several months, with the intention to showcase the changes etc.
The first photo was taken to show the Rondeletia odorata but also to show how tall the Acalypha godseffiana var. heterophylla (Family: Euphorbiaceae) looks next to it.
The next few photos were focused on the Golden Garden. There was a Magpie Robin that was sort of hopping around the mulch bed at the base of the Rain Tree. Interestingly, the sighting of this bird in Singapore has become increasingly more frequent, no doubt thanks to efforts to conserve the natural habitats.
As I walked towards the small pond behind the Hands-on-House, I saw a family of squirrels. It is a family of at least 5-6 of them and they were all running and jumping from tree to tree - the Peltophorum pterocarpum (common name: Yellow Flame Tree) to the variegated Ficus benghalensis and vice versa. When they spotted me, they lied low and it was extremely difficult for me to take clear photos of them amidst the dense branches.
On the way, I saw two cute pineapples and hence took photos of the inconspicuous Ananas comosus planted in the bed of Arachis pintoi. As I glimpsed back, I noticed the variegated Casuarina already grew way beyond the roof of the Hands-on-House. I am so proud of you baby, although I think in time to come, someone would come to chop you down or take you out of the site.
