FLORAL CLOCK

It is more than 6 months since the unveiling of the floral clock and the plants are getting more matured and things are turning out fine.

STAGING

It is not often for one to come across the Tithonia diversifolia, related to the Sunflower, in a landscape. By the way, there was this other beautiful bird that I do not know of, and it was perched there quietly, waiting for its portrait to be taken. It looked as if it was wearing an eye-mask.


From the Marina Barrage, I could see the Marina Bay Sands in the background. What an iconic building it is!

TITHONIA GRANDIFLORA

The Tithonia rotundifolia that I grew behind the HortPark main signage is sprouting back again after the parent plant apparently died off. What a delight!

THAILAND - BANGKOK

After Chiang Mai, we went down to Bangkok's famous Chatuchak Market. These were some of the amazing plants that I saw.

First up was this beautiful pink Calanthe. I am hopeless with the name of orchids, but some of the possibilities include the following:

1. http://www.websitesbytom.com/orchids/calanthes.html
2. http://www.orchids.co.in/orchid-plant/calanthe-rubens.shtm

In the market, there are many stalls that sell the rhizomes or storage organs of ginger, Curcuma, Globba, Haemanthus, Gloriosa etc and it would be a waste to go all the way there but not buying anything of them since they are so easy to pack home.

There were 2 pinkish red Cestrums from the Solanaceae Family that I saw and posted here. I couldn't confirm their identities but they could be Cestrum elegans 'Smithii' and C. elegans.

At the Bangkok Butterfly Garden and Insectarium not too far from the Chatuchak Market, they planted groves of very beautiful orange flower Tithonia rotundifolia (common name: Mexican Sunflower) from the Asteraceae Family. The flowers seemed like a good source of nectar for some butterflies such as the Common Birdwing. 2 links on the plant are attached below:

1. http://www.floridata.com/ref/t/tithon_r.cfm
2. http://www.robsplants.com/plants/TithoRotun.php

Finally, the last 3 photos show the other colours of the Xanthostemon chrysanthus other than the common yellow flowers variety. In the photos, there were colours of pink and orange flowers which were also planted at HortPark.

TITHONIA DIVERSIFOLIA

This is the closer view of the flowers of the Tithonia diversifolia. The Giant Mexican Sunflower is a perennial, and not an annual, so it would continue to grow and flower without dying within a matter of months.

FLOWER BED

This is one of my favourite flower beds when I go to work everyday. With the recent relandscaping, it was looking great and interesting with all the new plants etc.

I posted about the orange dwarf Tithonia in a previous post. There was also the pink Impatiens balsamina that I mentioned in a recent post.

TITHONIA DIVERSIFOLIA

In comparison with the orange dwarf Tithonia rotundifolia that I posted recently, this shrub from the Asteraceae Family at the Nursery Holding Area grows to above 2 m and has yellow sunflower-like flowers.

Hence, its common name is the Giant Mexican Sunflower. I was requested to propagate these for the Golden Garden and that was what I did. In fact, I planted quite a huge patch next to the small pond.

Unfortunately, this shrub has an untidy look because of its dried leaves that hang limp on the plant itself. So it is not the control freak who wants everything to be manicured. If one can look past the imperfections of this shrub, then only can one appreciate its true beauty and value in a landscape. I, for that matter, grew to appreciate its whorls of palmate leaves and ever free-flowering suns.

TITHONIA ROTUNDIFOLIA

I was told this is a dwarf Tithonia rotundifolia (common name: Mexican Sunflower, Tithonia) from the Family Asteraceae (Compositae). Could this be the cultivar 'Fiesta Del Sol'?

I love orange flower plants, and these dwarf Mexican Sunflowers just look so pretty in this assorted beds of plants.

Some links are provided below:

1. http://www.seedsandmore-store.com/catalog.php/seedsandmore/pd11544
2. http://www.floridata.com/ref/t/tithon_r.cfm