CHRISTMAS SEASON 2009

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way ........ Bells are often used as decorative items during christmas to adorn the home. They are also used as hanging decorations on christmas trees and wreaths.

For this Christmas, I am presenting these 2 bells (which are actually flowers) of Thevetia peruviana to you to ring, or should I say, bring in the new year!

Here's wishing all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

CHRISTMAS @ HORTPARK

This is the sight that greets visitors when they drive in to HortPark's main entrance along Hyderabad Road.

The Christmas decoration was not to my expectation and the flowerbed still has a lot of room for improvement e.g. seriously who uses volcanic rocks for christmas displays, but the tree and the bed behind the signage would likely be removed in January 2010 to make way for the road widening.

It is sad that I have to transplant out the huge Tamarindus indicus and the beautiful bed of Justicia brandegeana, another of my all time favourite plant, out from the site.

PSEUDOGYNOXYS CHENOPODIOIDES

I cannot remember when I first saw this plant but its unusual but striking orange-red flowers never fail to grab my attention. However, the current botanical name is really a mouthful and always stumps the layman. It was previously known as Senecio confusus, which was a much simpler name by comparison.

But the easiest name may be its common name Mexican Flame Vine, which I suppose gives an idea of its origin.

The newly bloom inflorescence starts out orange but turns red as it ages. The small true flowers or florets (both sterile and fertile) surrounded by a ring of elongated petals are typical of the daisy-like flowers from the Asteraceae family (formerly Compositae). The toothed leaves are dark purple-red when young and turn green when mature.

I have a cutting of this at home that grew to about 1.5 m but it has yet to flower for me after almost a year! It just kept sprouting more and more leaves which I have to keep pruning back. I am thinking of how to stress it to flower. Hopefully I succeed soon. Otherwise, I would have to give it up for something else.

EXACUM AFFINE

This is an Exacum affine (Persian's Violet). It is one of the interesting low compact indoor plants that I perpetually love.

I understand my colleague grew this from seeds. His patience really paid off. I collected lots of the seeds before and managed to germinate them. But I hate growing seedlings because they are so delicate that I always end up killing them instead.

Anyway, this is definitely a house plant that can be grown at home. Pinching it frequently would create a more bushy plant. There seems to be a white flower variety that I have yet to see in our local market.

This photo was taken on 18 Dec 09 and the potted plant is currently on display outside HortPark's Lifestyle Corner.

SARACA DECLINATA

The Saraca is a group of legume trees that delight me. Frankly, I am not so into trees compared to shrubs. But this group of handkerchief trees have amazingly beautiful cauliflorus flowers that grow from the trunk and branches.

The 3 that I know of are Saraca cauliflora (formerly S. thaipingensis) with yellow flowers, S. indica with red flowers and S. declinata with intermediate coloured flowers.

It is not difficult for one to appreciate the cluster of Ixora-like flowers with long stamens. For this S. declinata, the light orange flowers turn into an attractive pinkish orange tone over time.

GARDEN OF SEASONS

These photos were taken on 18 Dec 09.

LEEA RUBRA

I fell in love with this vigorous shrub when I first laid my eyes on it.

The red branches, petioles and clusters of small flowers amidst the small dark green leaves are a good addition to any landscape.

I know the native Leea indica is a butterfly nectar plant and am trying out this plant and the Leea guineensis 'Burgundy' in the Butterfly Garden too to see whether the butterflies also feed on the flowers.

BUTTERFLIES

One was found inside the HortPark Butterfly Garden while one was found outside the outdoor garden on 18 Dec 09.

The male Great Mormon's life is coming to an end soon, judging from its aged, tattered and broken wings. From experience, it probably lived for about 3-4 weeks already.

The Peacock Pansy, on the other hand, looked so pristine and intact. It would likely be looking for a mate to breed soon. This shouldn't be a problem since there are numerous other Peacock Pansies spotted in the vicinity where it was found.

They are such transient beauties and we should do our part to protect them in our environment.

HOLMSKIOLDIA SANGUINEA

It is hard not to be drawn to this scandent climber when you see the whole plant in bloom. It can be found in HortPark's Floral Walk and was also newly planted outside the Butterfly Garden.

The orange flowers are lined along the entire branch and because of its unique structure, they are often called Chinese Hat Plant. Frequent heading back will result in a plant that seldom flowers, hence it is best to allow it to grow and branch freely and any pruning should only be done to encourage branching.

I saw the striking red flower variety at Nong Nooch Botanical Garden's Butterfly Hill though I still could not manage to get hold of any of it for propagation. Apparently there is also a yellow flower variety though I have not seen it myself.

PASSIFLORA

This lovely Passiflora is planted in a wooden tub with the Clematis beside the Gardens-by-the-Bay's prototype glass houses at HortPark.

So far, it seems to be very free flowering and regularly rewards visitors with its abundant purple blooms.

HYDROCERA TRIFLORA

This is a plant that we bought from Hua Hng. It is related to the balsam plant and originates from China as a common weed in their padi fields.

It simply loves growing in waterlogged sites and the hollow stems require a lot of water for it to be turgid and erect. Without sufficient water, it would flop over.

The lanceolate leaves are serrated with a red edge whilst the clusters of three beautiful pink flowers are absolutely free flowering when the plant is planted under full sun conditions.

HELICONIA

We bought this unusual Heliconia during GardenTech 09 from one of the collectors. The flower is interesting and we are still trying to propagate it.

This photo was taken on 18 Dec 09.

CLERODENDRUM WALLICHII

Once again, the photo is not doing much justice to this plant.

I first saw it flowering profusely during the Thailand (Chiang Mai) plant sourcing trip in Jan 09. It was almost everywhere in their nurseries and the arching branches of abundant white flowers and red sepals were just so spectacular and eye catching.

Back in Singapore, it's flowering is probably less frequent and is definitely less dramatic and the flowers may not last as long in our hotter climate.

A few were planted at HortPark but they don't seemed to do very well.

ACANTHUS ILICIFOLIUS VARIEGATED

The original form of this sea holly grows as a back mangrove plant. The variegated form is absolutely unique and beautiful and provides a good texture to any landscape or display.

Even without the flowers, the whorled leaves are just a sight to behold, although one should resist the temptation and refrain from grabbing it as you would be greeted with a grimaced look on your face after being pricked by the heavily thorned leaf margin.

Now that christmas is approaching, this sea holly may be a good decorative plant for the occasion though it should not be displayed where there are curious and running children as they may hurt themselves if they fall on or touch the leaves. Hence, it is also not suitable for every garden.

NB on 3 Mar 11: I forgot to correct the identity of this plant as Acanthus mollis.

STROBILANTHES CUSIA

The photos here do not do justice to this interesting plant which can grow to at least 1.5 m. It is best grown as a single specimen plant in a landscape and should be allowed to tower over the lower plants grown with it to best effect.

The green leaves give character to this plant with its prominent veins. The numerous small pinkish flowers hang at different levels giving it an effect of dangling bells.

Another interesting thing is this plant is a host plant to the butterfly Chocolate Pansy.

ASCELPIAS FRUTICOSA

I came across the Asclepias curassavica (Blood Flower) only when I was planting up HortPark. It is a very gorgeous plant that is also a butterfly host plant to the Plain Tiger and now we have the red and yellow flower varieties at HortPark.

I first saw the white flower variety at Hua Hng in 2008 but due to some miscommunication, I did not buy it. Subsequently it was no longer available.

Then my staff and I came across the interesting fruit capsules as cut flower stalks at Far East Flora. Frankly, I didn't know the capsules were from A. fruticosa until my staff told me. We ended up buying some of the stalks of the fruit capsules and he tried propagating it via plant cuttings.

Most did not grow and eventually only one stalk managed to grow. Finally from it, he managed to propagate a few plants. The flowers are as shown above whilst the fruit capsules are shown below. Both photos were taken on 18 Dec 09.

URARIA CRINITA

The Uraria looked so pretty that I couldn't resist taking more photos of it on 18 Dec 09. Here are the additional photos.

COMPASS POINT

When I visited Compass Point on 17 Dec 09, I was greeted by this 2 sided-christmas display.

But nothing beat the excitement I felt when I saw the beautiful pendulous bells hanging from the ceiling next to the MRT station and the 2 colour-coordinated styles of christmas trees, within METRO, that were adorned with masks worn at masquerade parties! To me, they looked much better and more innovative than the decor along the entire Orchard Road put together.

COFFEE

I must have my daily dose of cheap coffee shop coffee lest I become grouchy and sleepy.

I had one yesterday morning at breakfast and once during lunch. The funny thing was, I spilled the coffee on both occasions. I must qualify that I have not spilled my coffee since I don't know when but I did it twice yesterday.

To mark this occasion, I took this photo of the natural but artistic spilled effect on the table before the auntie fervently wiped it all away. She must be wondering what a weird guy I was.

URARIA CRINITA

Ah, this Uraria immediately grabbed my attention when I walked in to my office nursery yesterday. In fact, it was more compact, had slightly variegated leaves and had more inflorescence spikes than the ones I saw at One Utama in early Nov 09.

It was grown by my staff again and I must really say he knows how to make his plants grow and display them at the right time and place. Hopefully my other bosses are as impressed by his works as me.

Time for me to plan once again where to plant it at HortPark.

NATIONAL LIBRARY

The National Library at Bras Basah Road was constructed to replace the one at Stamford Road. It is definitely a more modern building with garden skydecks and takes on a more systematic approach and stronger theme to the landscaping along Victoria Street, Middle Road and North Bridge Road.

Meanwhile, within the building are pockets of landscaping shown here in the photos taken on 14 Dec 09.

RAFFLES CITY

Raffles City, a place that I have not been for a long while, was already decorated in preparation for Christmas.

I actually love the shimmering effect under the sun and wind and clean silver yellow colour scheme as shown on this photo taken on 14 Dec 09. Unfortunately the words "Glitzy Christmas" did not come up well as there were just too much shimmers!

The tree did not do anything for me as it just looks too bland for a major festive season like Christmas. I guess everywhere the decoration is scaled down due to the economic recession.

SELEGIE ROAD

These old HDB blocks along Selegie Road became an icon only after they were upgraded and painted in red and white.

Just like the blocks in Rochor Centre that were painted green, yellow, blue and red, the blocks never stood out in this cityscape until they were given a of fresh coat of bright paint!

On the left of this photo is a new institutional building and on the right are concrete foundation blocks that tell of a development project that would sprout up in its place.

Would these HDB blocks remain amidst the changing landscape? Would we lose it like our National Library at Stamford Road and National Theatre at River Valley Road? Whilst these blocks do not hold as much heritage value as the former 2 iconic buildings, they hold a place in my heart.

I am sure it holds a much bigger place in my classmate's heart as he was still staying there the last time we were in contact with each other. A few of us used to gather at his place to play board games e.g. Risk, before we go out for our makan or movies etc. It has been years since he spoke of plans to move to a bigger place with his parents and I suppose he no longer stays there?

NEW MRT LINE CONSTRUCTION

The new MRT line construction is underway and trees e.g. Rain Tree, along Rochor Road, Sungei Road and Bukit Timah Road (beside Little India MRT) were felled to make way for it.

Presumably, these trees would be transplanted out to other places? It's sad to see them go as I had a hand in planting some of them.

WANTON

Under normal circumstances, you will not find me talk about food because I am just not a food person at all. But I cannot resist blogging about this wanton noodle and soup at Rochor Centre. The photo was taken on 12 Dec 09.

I don't know about others but I am simply crazy with this stall's wanton. So far, I don't know of anyone who is as hard up on this as me. I used to eat it

every morning with a colleague before we go to work at Gateway West. The chili and peppered soup are also to my liking and the noodles are usually quite q.

I must eat this every time I go down to the area to collect my comic books, about once every 2 months. Each time, I would order and eat at least 2 plates of dried noodles and a bowl of wanton soup. Even then, at $2.50 or $3 a plate (there are 2 sizes), I feel the serving is too small to quench my appetite as I would finish the noodles in just a few mouthfuls! Usually a week before I plan to collect my comic books, I would get all excited just thinking of the noodles.

RAVENIA SPECTABILIS (VARIEGATED)

The Ravenia spectabilis is a slow growing shrub with green waxy hard leaves and red flowers. This is another personal favourite plant of mine as it is pest free!

Now there is this variegated leaf variety with pink flowers. It is always a delight to see the beautiful pink flowers contrast sharply against the yellowish-green leaves.

It is a plant you will never miss in a planted landscape due to its stirking colours.