Monthly Archives: December 2009

Decor Ideas for Christmas

Posted on December 10, 2009 | Leave a comment

Christmas is around the corner and some of us can get a headache over what to use to decorate a Christmas tree at home or in the office. Here are some decor ideas to share that have been put up in HortPark’s Lifestyle Corner for the month of December 2009.

For those of us who are environmentally-friendly and want to avoid buying an imported conifer Christmas tree, one can opt to use any large enough houseplant as a greener substitute. Below is our resident Ficus lyrata ‘Bambino’ which have been dressed for the festive occasion. The usual decorative items apply and we recycled last year’s assortment of colourful baubles for this tree to reinforce a green Christmas.

If you don’t have a plant that is large enough, go out and collect a bunch of fallen branches and twigs from the garden or park and use these to make your very unique and green Christmas arrangement? Proceed to dry them, then spray with gold and silver paint and finally display them in a tall glass container. My colleagues then went on to tie ribbons on the branches and also stuck dry leaves and some store-bought Christmas ornaments to complete the display. We kept in mind that all store-bought Christmas ornaments should be recycable for future use!

Below is another decor idea made using natural materials, which one of my friends shared with my team. If you grow luffas (Luffa cylindrica) in the garden, the sponges obtained from old fruits can also be used as a decorative item on your Christmas tree. All you need to do is to tie and stick a nice ribbon on it and put a string on the top so that you can hang it anywhere you desire!

If you still got some ornamental corn cobs lying around from Halloween, you can use these to adorn your Christmas wreaths! Those displayed in HortPark’s Lifestyle Corner were grown by my team and the cobs matured on the plant just in time for us to use them on the wreath. A warning to all – keep this wreath away from the reach of rodents! Our corn cobs were half eaten as we left them on our office table the night before!

When the festive season is around the corner, we never fail to see loads of nuts being put on sale in our local supermarkets. These oil seeds make very good and apt decor items for the home. Seen below are two styrofoam bells which my colleagues stuck various nuts onto them using hot silicone glue.

Below is another version you can make using almonds. My colleagues cut a star out from a piece of cork bark and then glued the almonds onto it. To add colour, we added red saga seeds onto each one of them. You can use other nuts available for sale in supermarkets to make a similar decor item which you can hang on the wall. These can be stored in a cool, dry place and they can be taken out and used for next year’s festive display.

If you noticed, all the decor items need a fair bit of effort to make them. Gather the entire family or office and join hands to create them. It is a good opportunity to come together whilst making these ornaments, we can all make it a point to catch up amidst the hectic work schedule in the past one year. Incorporate as much recycling ideas as you can into the creation of Christmas decor items to help reduce waste and save our environment during the festive season.

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Posted in DIY Projects, Events

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The fragrant Tillandsia duratii

Posted on December 8, 2009 | 3 Comments

Tillandsia duratii is one of my favourite airplant species. This species is named after an Italian named Durat who was the first person to grow this airplant species in Europe.

This plant has a growth form that is quite unlike many other Tillandsia species. It is a caudescent epiphyte that develops a distinctive stem and has long silvery leaves that bend downwards to the base of the plant. One will notice that the older leaves, as they dry up, form ringlets that coil around a branch or any support that they come in contact with. This is how Tillandsia duratii supports itself in its native growing habitat. From afar, this particular Tillandsia species looks as if it was a bird resting on a tree branch!

Tillandsia duratii is a xeric species that is native to drier parts of Bolivia, eastern Paraguay and northern Argentina and grows at elevations of 200 to 3500 m. It is a species that thrives in Singapore’s climate and particularly suitable for growing in Singapore’s  highrise apartment balconies where the environment can be rather windy and dry.

I grow several Tillandsia duratii plants on my balcony where they receive bright reflected light for at least half a day for half a year and direct sunshine in another half, as the sun shifts its path every half a year here in Singapore. Regardless of the intensity of sunshine, this species seems to thrive. At 14 storeys up in the apartment block, their growing environment is relatively windy and dries the plant out promptly. I water this plant by spraying water on it every other day. To date, it hasn’t succumb to rot like some other species do. 

I would say that this is one hardly and fuss-free Tillandsia species to grow in Singapore. Just a word of warning is to not grow Tillandsia duratii in an area with high traffic or very strong winds. As this plant grows on a long stem, one can accidentally break the plant into two quite easily if he/she is not observant. I reckon a gust of very strong wind can do similar damage if a plant is not well secured to its support.

This Tillandsia species is reported to be able to grow up to 40 cm in diameter and a meter in height when conditions are conducive. Do you know that it also produces flowers that are fragrant?

Tillandsia duratii is one of the few species of airplants that produces flowers that emit a pleasant fragrance. Each flower has three petals that are lilac in colour. Flowers are produced on a long inflorescence that takes months to develop. An inflorescence in a well grown, healthy plant can reach as long as 1 m in length!

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Posted in Flowering plants, High-rise Gardening, Houseplants, Tropical ornamentals

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Root Awakening (5 Dec 09)

Posted on December 6, 2009 | 1 Comment

The first instalment of the Root Awakening column for the last month of this year was published yesterday. The first question was about brown patches appearing on a pearl grass turf. Although beautiful and nice to lie on, pearl grass is sensitive to the pH and constituents found in dog’s urine. It is important to promptly flushing the area with plentiful amounts of water once one notes that a dog as urinated onto the turf. A more resilient grass in place of pearl grass to grow is cow-grass, although it is one turf species that most people would want to avoid having at home.

The next question was about a problem encountered in a Dracaena fragrans that has been converted from soil culture to hydroculture. A mature soil-grown plant may not be able to take the process of conversion to growing in hydroculture. Such a plant would probably not able to adapt well to the new growing condition, as the roots are adapted to growing in soil. The foul smell that has been detected is likely to be caused by roots that are rotting away under anaerobic conditions. It is recommended to buy plants that have been adapted to hydroculture growing conditions that are sold by hydroculture nurseries. Otherwise, you can attempt to raise new plants via vegetative propagation methods directly in hydroculture. Raising and growing plants via this approach will have a higher chance of success.

The last question was about the curling of leaves seen in a chilli plant. Chilli plants are commonly infested with sucking insect pests such as aphids, mealy bugs and spider mites which spread viral diseases. It is good to check the undersides of leaves often to see if there are any signs of these pests. Promptly prune away affected portions and then apply a pesticide indicated for such infestations. Use neem oil or white summer oil if one prefers to use organic remedies. In chilli plants that are infected with a viral disease, leaves become distorted and growth may be affected. Viral infected plants cannot be saved and need to be pulled out and disposed of. They should not be added to the compost heap. Control sucking pest infestation to limit the spread of such diseases.

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Posted in Root Awakening in ST Life!

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Christmas Tree Decoration at Singapore Botanic Gardens

Posted on December 4, 2009 | Leave a comment

My division was invited by colleagues from the Singapore Botanic Gardens to decorate a Christmas tree which forms part of the “Trees of the World Light-Up” event which will be held on 5 Dec 09, 7-8 pm at the musical concert called “The Botanical Party”.

The concert aims to bring everyone together to reminisce and enjoy an evening under the stars at our outdoor performance space, Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage. During the evening, the Guest-of-Honour (Mr Mah Bow Tan, Minister of National Development) will be invited to light up all the decorated trees (a total of 150 of them) which will be lined up from the Nassim Gate Visitor Centre to the Tanglin Core of the Gardens.

We were given a Christmas tree formed out from three Podocarpus macrophyllus trees. It is a conifer belonging to the Podocarpaceae family. Although native to southern Japan and southern China, this tree grows well in our hot and humid climate and is a popular bonsai candidate as well as landscaping and garden plant. Bigger individuals are grown as trees.

Although there are others who got Christmas fir trees to decorate, I am personally heartened to know that we were given a em>Podocarpus macrophyllus, since this tree can still continue to grow and thrive after Christmas and can be used year after year. Not only that it saves cost, in the age of being environmentally-friendly, using such a tree to celebrate a tropical Christmas is a great way to help the environment.

Our decoration team was formed from various members of my division who came together to dress up our tree, which was conceptualised to take on a silvery look. Our tree has a length of silvery ribbon that went around it and had some silver coloured baubles on it too. A bundle of gold ribbons was used to decorate the tip of the tree.

If one takes a close look at our tree, one will see that we hung up spherical as well as tear-shaped clear baubles which contained an assortment of colourful seeds. In addition, we also fastened small gardening spades onto the branches of the trees.

At the base of the tree, instead of the usual presents, we added coconuts and pong pong seeds, some of which were already sprouting. We also have strings of bright orange-red fruits of the Lepisanthes and handfuls of various colourful pulses which were set to germinate in a few days’ time.

The reason why this tree was decorated in such a way was due to my division’s guiding tagline – Sowing seeds, planting legacies – which can be read from the Christmas tree-shaped signboard that we have put up. Many visitors who saw our tree wondered what ‘Hort Excellence’ was all about and the description below is what we aim to do:

‘Hort Excellence is a division of the National Parks Board (NParks) that aspires to promote gardening with a heart and landscaping with a difference.’

Hence, we decorated our tree with an assortment of seeds, pong pong and coconut fruits and gardening spades, which we hope will inspire in everyone a passion for gardening.

I would like to thank all members of the Christmas tree decoration team for all the time and effort to make our tree possible and unique.

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Posted in Events

Hort Colloquium & Plant Decor by my Team

Posted on December 2, 2009 | Leave a comment

The inaugural Hort Colloquium was held on 1 Dec 09 at HortPark’s Multi-Purpose Hall. Aimed as an avenue and platform for the sharing of horticultural and field observations, experiences and knowledge, the sharing session for National Parks Board (NParks) staff was organised by the division I work for, Hort Excellence, in collaboration with various divisions, namely Streetscape, Gardens-By-The-Bay, Parks & Conservation Divisions.

The inaugural Hort Colloquium’s stage decor conceptualised and implemented by the Hort Outreach team.

Throughout the two and a half hour long session, the audience was kept captivated by topics close to our hearts – native plants, butterflies & butterfly gardens, transplanting of trees, plus a special insight to plants and gardens in Indonesia. Besides the presentation, participants also had the opportunity to come up close and personal with some of the native plants, butterfly-attracting plants as well as caterpillars of various butterfly species that were on display at the back of the hall.

Also known as the mangrove fan palm (Licuala spinosa) is one of the palms that is native to this part of the world. Two similar colonies shown here flanked both sides of the projector screen on top of the stage. 

My team (Hort Outreach) was involved in the Hort Colloquium’s stage decoration work. In line with one of the topics that was being presented on native plants, my colleagues and I brainstormed and later decided to put together a landscape consisting of plants that are native to Singapore and around this part of the world.

The focal point of the entire stage decor was made up by three bird’s nest ferns.

I have always aimed to put up naturalistic-looking decoration that is in sync with the theme of the event. In this particular case, we created a stage decor that is reminiscent of one walking along a path near to the edge of a forest. Instead of lawn edging or coconut coir, we used cork bark to hide the pots which the plants were grown in. Some dried leaves were scattered in a random manner to simulate natural leaf litter. We also  inserted name tags for the native plants used which turned the stage decor an educational plant showcase too!

One of the ferns used in the stage decor – mangrove fern (Acrostichum speciosum).

One of the most of noticable group of plants used in this decoration would be native ferns. We showcased species such as the mangrove fern (Acrostichum speciosum), elephant fern (Angiopteris evecta), bird’s nest fern (Asplenium nidus), giant sword fern (Nephrolepis biserrata) and the rabbit’s foot fern (Davallia denticulata). The focal point of the entire stage decor was made up by three bird’s nest ferns. With reference to the picture above, the bird’s nest fern with lighter green leaves on the left is Asplenium nidus (which is native) whereas the other two are A. australiasicum (native to Australia and Pacific Islands). These latter two plants are often mislabelled and thought to be A. nidus. These two species are distinguishable via the appearance of leaves and cross-section of their leaf’s mid ribs.

Another species of fern used in this decor – elephant fern (Angiopteris evecta).

We also included some spathoglottis orchids to add bits of colour to the largely green stage decor. Many such orchids seen locally are hybrids. The original species (Spathoglottis plicata) is in fact an orchid that is also native to this part of the world. It should be planted more widely and easier to maintain than most of us thought. It does not need frequent fertilisation and will still flower! This native orchid thrives in a sunny area that has well drained soil.

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Posted in Events, Tropical ornamentals

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