For this month’s Garden Treats column in the Home Concepts magazine, I contributed an article entitled ‘Plants for the dry season’. Now is the month of June and in Singapore, it is expected to be a dry and hot one. This hot season is expected to persist until August and would entail more work in the garden. More frequent watering is required to keep up with the thirst of our plants and mulching will come in handy now to reduce the rate of water loss and to keep plant roots cool and moist.
In this month’s article, I took the opportunity to introduce some of the drought-tolerant plants in HortPark’s Silver Garden. They are expected to look their best during this hot and dry period. Many of the plants in this particular theme garden possess leaves that are silver or grey in colour because they are covered with either a dense mat of fine hairs or coated with a waxy substance, which confers plants the ability to withstand short periods of drought. The coating help to reflect solar radiation and reduce moisture loss.
Look forward to see the pictures and read more about the five plants that are being featured in the article. They include variegated lily turf plant (Ophiopogon jaburan ‘Variegata’), ash plant (Leucophyllum frutescens), bird-of-paradise plant (Strelitzia reginae), Bismarck palm (Bismarckia nobilis) and rose myrtle plant (Rhodomyrtus tomentosa).
