Gardening with Wilson

It was my turn again to deliver a talk for this year’s series of gardening sharing sessions at the libraries that was a collaborative effort between Green Culture Singapore, National Parks Board and National Library Board. The topic of the talk was “Create a Balcony Garden” and the session took place at the Toa Payoh Community Library. 

It has been a long while since I been to  Toa Payoh Community Library and the trip there was kind of nostalgic for me because I used to visit this library quite often when I was young. This library was the nearest one for me when I still lived at Geylang Bahru and it was the one that nurtured my gardening interest. I borrowed quite a lot of gardening-related books from this library to read while I was still a Primary School kid.

It was a rainy afternoon and I was taken aback when I saw the a long queue waiting outside the room which I was supposed be in to deliver the talk. I reckon the crowd was formed due to the advertisement that was put up on today’s Straits Times Life! section. Many participants were said to have come all the way from the extreme ends of the Singapore island to come listen to my talk, despite the wet weather. The room was totally packed and there was no standing room when I started my talk.

Mr and Mrs Ng Cheow Kheng, Mr Albert Quek (2nd Prize Winner of the Balcony Category of the Community in Bloom Awards 2008) and my members, namely, Teresa, Karen, Richmond, Xuan Hong, were also there to support me. I am very touched and grateful for their attendence.

My talk was a straight-forward one where in the first half, I shared with my audience the important environmental factors that must not be taken for granted when one tries to do some gardening in an apartment balcony area. In the second half, I shared with everyone the top three winning entries of the Balcony Garden Category in this year’s Community in Bloom Awards.

Using the three very different but excellent balcony gardens as examples, I shared with the audience how their respective owners were able to have successful and beautiful balcony gardens. I explained how they have cleverly chosen the right type of plants that were suitable for growing in their balconies. The owners have not only thriving plants but the landscape that resulted was visually appealling and something that the owner can manage and upkeep. I hope my audience enjoyed my talk and benefited from the tips I have shared during the session.

After the talk, Cheow Kheng and his wife and several of my members gathered at the MacDonald’s restaurant for a drink and some chit-chat. I enjoyed the time we had together very much because such meetings allow those of us who already know each other the opportunity to catch up with each other while for the newer members, it served as a time for them to get to know fellow members as well. 

I would like to thank Community in Bloom for giving me the permission to use the pictures of the three prize-winning balconies from the Balcony Category in the recent Community in Bloom Awards.

The milkweed is a food plant for Plain Tiger butterfly caterpillars and during times of a heavy infestation, entire plants can become totally defoliated. When the five stands of my milkweed were under attack some time back, I thought I am going to lose them but the plants managed to regenerate after a while after I picked the caterpillars off and having moved them to another location in the community garden where they are now hidden and safe from caterpillars.

The first milkweeds I planted in my garden produced red flowers and only recently I managed to get the yellow flowered version. The colours of the milkweed are very bright and striking and flowering milkweed plants can certainly help to brighten up a boring spot in the garden. Being marginal plants, they can be planted in waterlogged areas.

Milkweeds are commonly grow in full sun but they seem to do equally well in a location where they receive semishade or filtered sunshine. My milkweed plants are currently grown under the shade of a willow tree (Salix babylonia). On one side, there is a high concrete wall while on the other, there is a dense hedge made up of Syzygium campanulatum plants. 

Botanically known as Asclepias curassavica, the milkweed plant is a member of the Asclepiadaceae family. Did you notice the close resemblence of the milkweed flowers with those of the Wax Flower (Hoya spp.)? Both plants, in fact, belong to the same plant family.

The spindle-shaped fruits produced by milkweed plants are easily missed because they are green and hence are well camouflaged with the green colour of their leaves. When they are ripe, these pods turn brown and dry where they then split open to allow the wind to carry away the numerous seeds.

The seeds of the milkweed are small, flat and black in colour. Their small size makes them really light and the silky, furry appendage they are attached to helps to catch the wind so that they can be easily carried away by a light breeze.

The milkweed probably got its common name via the milky appearance of the sap that is exuded from broken and injured parts of the plant. Do bear in mind that the milkweed is a poisonous plant and one must not ingest or allow the sap to get onto one’s skin. Hence parents and teachers should keep an eye on children when they are near this plant in the garden. The milkweed has its educational purposes where adults can use it to teach the young ones about wind dispersal of seeds, as well as, the reality that there are poisonous plants in the Plant Kingdom.

I wonder do the people who visit or work in Biopolis noticed some of the nice plants and trees that have been planted there. For me, one of plants that I found quite beautiful and took fancy was the Brazilian Ironwood. It is botanically known asCaesalpinia ferrea and is a member of the bean family, Fabaceae. Many thanks to my friend, Cheow Kheng, from the National Parks Board for helping me to positively identify this tree.

Several stands of the Brazilian Ironwood have been planted in clusters of three trees on both sides of the street lining the Genome Building, which I have visited several times to do some experiments. Because Biopolis is still quite a young establishment, most of the Brazilian Ironwood trees grown there are quite young. At present, they are about 4 to 5 m tall with a small canopy perched on top of a rather slender trunk. 

The Brazilian Ironwood is native to Brazi and it grows into a medium-sized tree of about 30 m when mature. Due to the close proximity between individuals and the adjacent building and small amount of rather clayey soil they are growing in, I doubt there is any intention to allow these trees to grow to the size expected from a mature tree.

The branches and leaves of the Brazilian Ironwood seem to grow in noticable layers. It has small, pinnately arranged leaves that confer a flowing and fern-like appearance, which I like a lot. Hence, planting the Brazilian Ironwood in Biopolis certainly helps to soften the sterile and rigid appearance of the buildings in the vicinity. Because the tree is still young, there are no flowers in sight but if they do appear, they are yellow and borne in a cluster.

One of the other very notable characteristics of the Brazilian Ironwood is that the thin bark of the tree exfoliates constantly to reveal the new wood beneath that appears in a multitude of colours including off-white, brown and green, which makes the trunk extremely visually appealling. Due to this habit, the Brazilian Ironwood is also called the “Leopard Tree” and it can be easily be mistakened to be a Eucalyptus species. 

The Brazilian Ironwood tree earned its common name from the very hard and durable wood it produces. A Google search done on the Internet yielded an interesting article written by Jerry Meislik who visited Singapore a while ago where he met up with members of the local Singapore Penjing and Stone Appreciation Society. The article is rather informative where it shares on how one can train and create a bonsai out of the Brazilian Ironwood tree:

http://www.bonsaihunk.us/info/CaesalpinaFerrea.html

The second instalment of the Root Awakening column contributed by me for this month was published yesterday.

This time around, the answers to two questions from readers regarding the growing of the bougainvillea and four seasons lime in Singapore were given.

Many thanks to Straits Times Life! for putting up the upcoming talk at the library on balcony gardening which will take place in the coming Saturday at Toa Payoh Community Library.

Note that there is an error in the announcement – the talk will be held on 30 Aug 08, which is Saturday and not Sunday.

To most Singaporeans, the bittergourd needs little introduction. It is well known for its bitter-tasting fruits that it produces which are eaten in a variety of ways which include raw by juicing them or by cooking them in stews, steamed or stir-fried. Besides being used as a fruit vegetable, the bittergourd is said to possess medicinal properties and can help to improve appetite. Locals here believe eating the fruit will help to lower blood sugar in individuals with diabetes. The love for this fruit is an acquired taste really and to date, I still do not like to sink my teeth into slices of bittergourd!

Botanically known as Momordica charantia, the genus name “Momordica ” in Latin word means “to bite”, probably referring to the appearance of the seeds of the bittergourd where they feature uneven edges. The species name “charantia” probably refers to the pointed characteristic of the fruits in Latin. The fruit of the bittergourd is quite odd and appalling compared to many other curcubits because the longish fruits have a warty appearance.

Bittergourds are harvested and eaten while they are immature fruits and hence most of the bittergourds we have here are all green in colour. Traditionally, the fruits are large and can measure up to 30 cm long. Recently, we have seen much smaller fruits which are 10 cm in length or shorter. These are popular amongst the Indians and Thais working in Singapore and the ones that are used for juicing.

However, there is a version of the bittergourd that is not commonly seen here in Singapore. It is however more commonly seen in Taiwan and the fruits of this type of bittergourd are snow white in colour and measures very much to the same length as the typical green ones we have here in the market. I took the above picture of a white bittergourd fruit that is growing from a vine that was climbing its way up a chain-linked fence of a local nursery. My community gardeners who ate a fruit grown in our garden told me that the fruit of the white bittergourd is less bitter compared with the green ones.

Bittergourd vines can grow quite quickly if grown in moist ground that is well-drained and fertile. As with most fruiting vines, plants need full sun to grow . They are essentially outdoor vegetables due to the large amount of space they need to grow. Although it is possible to grow the bittergourd vine inside a container, fruit yields will be heavily compromised. In the good old kampong days in rural Singapore, vines like these are often grown near fences or any vertical support where they are allowed to climb up.

Like the green fruited version, when ripe, the white bittergourd turns bright orange in colour. It will eventually split open at its tip to reveal numerous seeds that are covered in a bright red aril. 

The flowers of the bittergourd are quite small. They measure about 2 cm in diameter and are bright yellow in colour. Male and female flowers are produced on the same vine and similar to many other cucurbit vines, male flowers are produced in an abundance compared to those that are female. When grown in the great outdoors, flowers usually do not need assistance in pollination. I have seen bees and ants visiting the flowers where they help to transfer pollen from one flower to another. Hence it is essential to grow fruiting vegetables the organic and environmentally-friendly way – excessive usage of agricultural chemicals can kill these beneficial wildlife!

The female bittergourd flower is not difficult to recognise because it has the usual characteristic of cucurbit flowers. One can find a baby bittergourd fruit behind the petals of a female flower. This is the ovary which will swell up significantly in size if it is successfully pollinated. If poor pollination is experienced, one has to hand pollinated each female flower in turn. This can be a very labour-intensive task!

In the past, Bixa orellana used to be a very popular shrub that was commonly planted in Singapore’s streetscape. Now it is seldom seen. Native to Central and South America, Bixa orellana is a woody shrub that can grow into a tree if it is left alone and as a plant, it is not very remarkable and looks like any other green shrub. What makes this plant decorative are its flowers and fruits.

When I was younger as a kid, I have always asked my parents whether the heart-shaped, reddish fruits that are covered with fine bristles borne by Bixa orellana were rambutans. I have always wanted to pick one fruit to take a closer look at it but my parents, like most parents at that time, would discourage me from even attempting to touch it, because they thought the fruits are poisonous! There is another less commonly seen version of Bixa orellana that bears fruits with a yellow rind.

Although the fruit is not edible, the seeds found inside the dried fruit capsules of Bixa orellana have a very important use. When they are totally dry, the fruits of Bixa orellana become hard and brown and they split sideways to reveal a cluster of seeds and this where the edible food dye called “annatto” is derived from. This natural yellow colouring, called bixin, can be extracted by stirring the seeds in water. It is used to color food products, such as cheese, fish, and salad oil.

The flowers of Bixa orellana are quite ornamental, although not as strikingly as its fruits, probably due to their smaller size and shorter lifespan. Pink in colour and resembling somewhat like peach blossoms, the flowers of Bixa orellana are borne as a cluster at the tip of the growing point. This is a growth characteristic that we need to learn about the plant that is important if one wants to grow a nice Bixa orellana specimen. If one desires a profusion of fruits and flowers, we need to prune Bixa orellana in such a way so that a shrub can develop multiple branches so that more flowers and subsequently, fruits can be produced. 

Almost a year back, I managed to purchase two Bixa orellana from a local nursery. This shrub seems to be quite difficult to find on sale locally. They have been planted in a relatively open location on one side of my community garden and the two plants receive direct sunshine during the day.

However, the location can get quite wet during the rainy season and for shrubs, I do sometimes worry whether they will succumb to the complications caused by prolonged wet feet. They have been growing there for quite some time already and so far, they seem fine. Once in a while, I throw a handful of slow-release fertiliser around the root zone. When they are established, Bixa orellana seems to be able to take some degree of drought. My plants seem quite happy if they are watered on alternate days even during the hot and dry season.

Bixa orellana can be propagated by seed but I have always regarded growing flowering shrubs from seeds a painful experience due to the lengthly time one has to wait for the plant to mature and then flower. That is really a test of one’s patience. If stem-cuttings can be taken, I thought that would be a more prefered choice and fortunately, the stems of Bixa orellana can be easily rooted. As woody shrubs, I think Bixa orellana can also be propagated via marcotting.

I can still vividly remember when I first bought my Bixa orellana, I got a rude shock when I was transplanting them into the ground. The root ball of both plants which was revealed after the loose soil fell off was really small for a large shrub which I was handling with. I reckon they were newly propagated nursery stock that were recently being put on sale.

One of the Kaempferia rhizomes I have, Kaempferia ‘Silver Diamond’ had been ‘sleeping’ for a long time and I was worried for some time because during this dormancy period, its normally plump rhizomes actually became shrunken and there no signs of growth for a long time. In cases like that, rhizomes would mean that there is no more food stores for the plant to regrow again.

One day as I was watering my other plants, to my surprise, I saw a little white coloured shoot growing out from the rhizome. I quickly potted it up in some fertile medium and resumed normal watering. Interestingly, the little shoot did not unfurl to give leaves, instead, a flower was produced! It was an impressive looking flower that resembles a large orchid.

The lower two petals that make up the lip are violet in colour and there are two darker purple spots near towards the center. The upper two petals and sepals of the flower are white. My plant produces a single flower daily. Each bud opens during early morning but the flower fades by early evening. What a transient beauty! After the flowers faded, what follows is a mass of shrivelled remains that is left on the soil surface.

‘Silver Diamonds’ is a cultivar of the Kaempferia genus of true gingers. Kaempferias can be regarded as the ’shorties’ of the ginger world as mentioned on Dave Skinner’s website. They make good houseplants as they can be grown in pots and under artificial lights. Kaempferias are shade lovers and they make excellent groundcover plants outdoors under trees and other plants from the Zingiberales order. These delightful gingers have beautiful foliage that are georgeously patterned.

The most common species we see here in Singapore is K. pulchra. It is commonly called the “Peacock Ginger” because its leaves has a pattern that is reminiscent of a peacock feather.  The sand ginger, which is a medicinal and culinary ginger with plain, jade green leaves, is also a species of Kaempferia. I separately wrote an entry on it on this blog earlier. It can be accessed by clicking on this link.

‘Silver Diamond’ is a cutlivar of K. rotunda and this ginger is often called the the “tropical crocus” or  the “resurrection lily” due to the fact that the flowers of this ginger arise from the rhizome before the leaves. Kaempferias in general need to be grown in well-drained fertile soil that is rich in organic matter. The location should be cool, shady and moist as plants hate to dry out. I apply a dilute solution of a balanced fertiliser solution to promote vigorous growth during the period when the plant is actively growing. This will help the plant to build up food stores in the rhizomes, which will help with the development of a stronger plant.

For those of you who have paid a visit to HortPark recently, you may have spotted some beautiful moonflower vines growing on the wall of one of the Gardens by the Bay’s experimental glasshouses that are located at the rear of the park.

Large clusters of lush foliage featuring heart-shaped leaves hang down from the wire supports and what stood out against the green were the large, white, trumpet-shaped flowers of the moonflower. What a sight! The look of the area where the moonflowers were growing gave me an impression as if I seeing this floral display in a temperate country.

It was not too late in the evening and the sky was still bright. I reckoned the time was about 6 pm when I took the photograh but the moonflowers were already fully opened.

Below the moonflower vines, groundcover plants with a prostrating habit were grown to mask the ugly soil surface. The numerous, dainty and colourful flowers that these groundcover plants produce helped to create a vivid parade of colours that was visually pleasing in the day when the moon vines were not in flower. Some of the plants that were used for this important purpose include the Busy Lizzie (Impatiens spp.) which are close relatives of the common Balsam Plant, as well as, the common lantana plant (Lantana camara).

To create a similar spectacle in your garden, it is essential that the location where you want to create it receives direct sunshine for a large part of the day. Many of these flowering vines and shrubs need strong sunshine to grow and flower well.

Soil has to be well-draining and fertile. Do make it a point to water frequently, as many of these plants are very thirsty individuals. They should never be allowed to dry out!

Space the moonflower vines apart adequately and do prune the vines back a bit occasionally so as to allow light to shine through and down to the groundcover plants below. If the groundcover plants are shaded excessively, they will develop an ugly, straggly growth habit and flowering will be inhibited.

Back in the United States, the Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) can be most commonly seen hanging from oak and bald cypress trees. Apparently, the reason why this airplant prefers to grow on these two species of tree is because of the high rate of foliar mineral leaching which serves as a ready, abundant supply of nutrients for the plant.

The Spanish moss is not native to Singapore and many people who have seen it will fall in love with it. Many people are mesmerised with the look of thick trusses of hanging Spanish moss. It used to be quite rare to see this plant being planted in Singapore a decade back. Nowadays, this plant is becoming quite common as large numbers of it are being imported into Singapore. It grows pretty well here and people hang them on a great variety of supports, such as frangipani tree branches or use them as decorative material in an artistic sculpture.

For those of us who have visited HortPark recently, one should have noticed Spanish moss hanging from the forks between the branches of a majestic rain tree (Samanea saman). The tree is in a location just before one exits the Silver Garden. Having a silvery look, which matches perfectly with the main theme of this garden, the Spanish moss is definitely at home in this garden. Hence for those of us who wants to construct a silver garden at home, do consider planting the Spanish moss!

The Spanish moss does pretty well under semi-shaded conditions in Singapore. Under optimal growing conditions, the Spanish moss will look silvery and fluffy and does not require much care. Full sun or overly windy conditions can cause the plant to dry out quickly. Spanish moss is difficult to upkeep in the apartment growing environment due to the lack of humidity and presence of drying winds.

As one of the contributors of the Serangoon newsletter, I took the opportunity to introduce to the residents living in my constituency the beauty of ornamental sweet potatoes which they can grow to beautify their gardens.

These sweet potato cultivars are grown mostly as ornamentals that are admired for their colourful foliage and many gardeners thought they are inedible. To my surprise some time back, my community gardeners actually harvested the young shoots and cooked and ate them like a leafy vegetable, similar in manner, whcih they did with the common, all green and non-variegated counterpart.

The article is a short one and is published in this month’s issue of the Serangoon newsletter. For a more detailed treatment of the topic, do take a look at a lengthier article that is available from the Green Culture Singapore. website by clicking on this link.