Shirley’s Maiden Library Talk & Cheow Kheng’s Fragrant Tree

It is the second gardening talk I attended this month. It was something different in the sense that this was the first time that GCS, NParks and NLB had two gardening talks in a single month since we started organising such talks two years ago. Another special thing to note is that this is the first time that my collaborator and friend, Shirley Ling, delivered a talk in a library.

The topic she covered today was on container gardening and the response was very good. The venue where the talk was held in Ang Mo Kio Community Library was filled to the brim! The points Shirley shared during the talk were very basic but very crucial and important for newbies into container gardening. She also performed a demonstration on how to transplant newly bought plants and group several of them nicely into a cache pot.

Cheow Kheng, Shirley’s boss, was also at the library to give her some support. After the talk, I was invited to his place at Bishan. I was shown his fiddlewood tree (Citharexylum spinosum) that looked totally different from the last time I saw it. Remember the last time I posted a blog entry on this tree? Refer to the link below, if you haven’t read about it:
http://tropicalgardener.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/cheow-khengs-tropical-paradise/

The tree now is now much healthier and rejuvenated. It is lustrious-looking and spots a crown full of green leaves. What’s more, it is also now in full bloom.

Unfortunately, due to the strong winds that were constantly blowing on the 23rd storey, I could not detect the strong fragrance that was supposed to be emitted by the flowers. There were numerous dainty-looking inflorescences that hung from the ends of the branches.