TURNERA AND LANTANA

A combination of Turnera subulata (common name: Sulpher Alder) and Lantana camara usually works perfectly well with their strongly contrasting flower colours. They are just so beautiful, aren't they?

HORTPARK - PART 1

On that hot afternoon when I was making my way to the office, I saw the Saraca cauliflora at the children's playground area, and it seemed as if someone stuck a bouquet of orange flowers into the ground. Next to Phaleria clerodendrum, this genus is also another favourite of mine although the flowers are not fragrant.

I posted about the Turnera ulmifolia and T. subulata at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital recently, and here is an uncommon T. aurantiaca (common name: Orange Turnera). Left on its own, it becomes rather leggy and the flowers are actually far and few and not very striking. A link on this shrub is shown below:

http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?uid=Turnera_aurantiaca

At the other part of the children's playground, the poor Jacaranda obtusifolia is struggling. In fact, it had been struggling for about a year now. Over at the Fantasy Garden, two Plain Tigers were seen on the Cnidoscolus chayamansa and the Helitropium indicum.

Towards the bridge leading to the Hands-On-House, one of the Clerodendrum quadriloculare (common name: Starburst Bush, Shooting Star) was throwing out its beautiful pink flowers against the dark green and maroon background of its leaves. What a beauty!

KHOO TECK PUAT HOSPITAL - PART 1

I do think greenery is important and for a hospital to be surrounded by so many beautiful plants in such a lush landscape is simply amazing. There were studies that show that greenery is therapeutic and patients who look at the greenery around or in the hospital daily has a speedier recovery. Don't ask me for scientific papers to back that up though.

Just look at the grandpa and his grandchild toddler sitting by the pond. A walkway at level 4 is bursting with colours from the always reliable Lantana camara. I have not seen the Turnera ulmifolia (common name: Yellow Alder; Family: Passifloraceae) and T. subulata (common name: White Alder) planted for a while now and I guess people don't like to plant them because they are fantastic bee-attractors! I, for one, love to see the congregation of honey bees on the flowers but I dare not be near them for fear of being stung. It's a paradox.

Ah, and how can I forget about the beautiful Clerodendrum thomsoniae (common name: Bleeding Heart; Family: Lamiaceae)? I posted about the C. speciosum earlier but I have always love this plant but never tried planting it outdoors. Anyway, this led to me seeking the plant out and I did, yesterday, but I will talk about it in a separate post.