Gardening with Wilson

I think most people are not aware of this piece of news as I have not announced it to a wider audience. A small group of my residents here, which includes members from my Residents’ Committee (RC), the staff at the Aljunied Town Council and my community gardeners, however, are probably the ones that are aware of it and they were all ecstatic upon hearing the news when it was made known to me earlier this month via email.

The Pride in Bloom Community Garden at Serangoon North has won the Platinum Prize as well as the Best New Community Garden Award at this year’s Community in Bloom Awards in the Public Housing Category! Below is an email sent to me by the Community in Bloom:

Subject: Results for Community In Bloom Awards 2008
Date: Wed, July 2, 2008 2:01 pm

Wilson Wong
Serangoon Zone 6 RC

Dear Wilson,

Thank you for your participation in the Community In Bloom Awards 2008.

NParks is pleased to inform that you have achieved the following results:

Award: Platinum
Prize: $1000

Special Awards: Best New Garden

We wish to congratulate you on your achievements. A prize presentation
ceremony will be held on 26th July 2008, at the Singapore Garden Festival…

The Secretary
Community In Bloom Awards 2008
For Chief Executive Officer
National Parks Board

To commemorate our win and to express our thanks to the participants who supported community gardening at Serangoon North, we held a plaque presentation ceremony during our “Hi-Tea” session with Mrs Lim held this afternoon. Many thanks to my community gardeners for their keen interest in community gardening and for their efforts that have been put in that have made the community garden in our neighbourhood so beautiful and colourful with healthy and happy plants!

I also send my heartfelt gratitude to Mdm Claire Ng, my RC Chairperson who has rushed to make and get ready the plaques, as well as, for organising event. The plaques were presented to my community gardeners and the Aljunied Town Council, which is represented by Mr Joseph Wee for their participation and contribution, respectively, by Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, who is my constituency’s Member of Parliament.

I have also set up a small gardening information and consultation corner at the community event. As the Singapore Garden Festival is just around the corner, I took the opportunity to promote it to my residents by putting up the event’s very colourful and eye-catching poster on the wall and also some brochures for them to take home for reference.

I have also showcased some blooms of a heliconia and calathea picked from the community garden. A couple of the more common heliconias have just recently started to bloom and I am waiting eagerly for the less common species and hybrids to do so in the near future.

The two plants on display that drew a lot of attention from the residents were the butterwort and the elephant’s foot yam. Many of them were surprised by the butterwort’s ability to trap small insects and via its small size and harmless-looking nature, it is hard to imagine that it is a carnivorous plant.