A Singaporean male born in 1979
Resides in the tropical Singapore
Loves to grow plants since young
Started the hobby in an apartment, growing vegetables
Lugged back loads of books from the library when the Internet was non-existent
Moved from an apartment with a nice, sunny French window to one with a dark balcony located in a lift lobby (silly design)
Hobby was frozen in action during secondary school, junior college, National Service and university years due to lack of a conducive environment for gardening and time.
Interest was rekindled and started a gardening website and discussion forum for hobbyists in late 2004. (http://www.greenculturesg.com)
Got to know more friends and plants.
Started a community garden – no more excuse for no land and sunlight.
Dropped deeper and deeper into the downward spiral. Ultimate addication to gardening.
Started this blog whilst still doing my PhD research in the National University of Singapore.
Joined National Parks Board (NParks) on 2 Feb 2009…
No Wilson, you didn’t drop down in the spiral, you spun upwards…. I am addicted to gardening and blogging too and I am happier than ever!
Have you considered coming to Australia to meet local gardeners here? Check out my blog if you think you might like to join in.
Hi Wilson,
Have been following your websites and learn a lot on gardening. I would like to discuss giving a series of talks at one of my upcoming evening. Wonder if you could email me to further this discussion? Tks!
Keep up the good work!
I wish people could edit their comments…I meant to say how much I like the new look of your front page and layout. Even blogs get tired-looking don’t they. Our’s needs updating already too but I just don’t want to spend time on it when I could be outside in the garden!
Hi Kate,
Thanks for visiting so often and dropping those thoughtful comments. I deeply appreciate all that.
I have dropped by your blog regularly as well and for me, I would be more than happy to pay a visit to Australia to get to meet your gardening friends too, but that of course, can only take place after I finish my PhD thesis (it is due end of this year).
I also felt the same way as what you have posted about looking at the same old blog interface and hence took some time last Saturday to browse through the skins that are available on WordPress.com’s selection.
Wilson
I have a question the flowers on my radishs are blooming but at the same time its is growing what looks simplar to a green bean can you tell me what these are and can they be eaten
Hi Wilson, i am also a crazy plant-lover.I have nearly the same growing memory as you.Since very young,i started to grow plants.The first species i growed is Portulaca grandiflora. I got only one small branch from my friend by exchanging him with all my small fish i had at that time.Then plants began to be a very important part in my following live.Recently i am reading a book called <> wrriten by Joyce Stewart,the president of the world orchid conference trust.When it comes to Orchid, i have to think about National Orchid Garden of Singapore,then i have to think about Lady Yuen-Peng McNeice,when i search some information about Lady Yuen-Peng McNeice,i come across your website,i appreciate it very much.Currently i am studying in Singapore and i have plenty of time,my email address is botanyfriends@yahoo.com .Feel free to inform me the activities you may have.I am sure we will become good friends!
29 Oct 2010
Hi Wilson,
I just came across your interesting blog and your very impressive gardening website. I see you are a real plant enthusiast and already well-known around the world. Keep up the good work.
Appreciate if you could please suggest a suitable water plant to go with my Koi pond as the floating water lettuce is not suitable since the kois have a habit of ripping them to shreds. Even money plant “vines” that happen to dip into the pond are not spared.
Do you also have experience to grow vegetables on a commercial scale?
Look forward to heard from you. Thank you.
Dear Wilson,
It was most informative reading your blog – well done indeed!
I have a few questions. There is small bit of land in the corner of my garden that I could grow some fruit trees on. I would like to buy some banana trees to grow there. What is the botanical name of those small, fat, sweet bananas that is sold in wet markets?
The land is clay soil (like most of Singapore) so I am also thinking of mulberry, jackfruit and pomelo trees. Would you be able to advise ont eh suitability?
Also I recently tried out a all natural organiser by a local company Envizyme and it works wonderfully! Vastly better than other chemical or organic fertilizer.
By the way, I have in my garden melinjo trees – not very tall (3m) and the leaes and fruits (made into emping) are edible and (more important) easy to grow! Of course, there is the all important salam tree, whose leaf is used in almost all Indonesian cooking.
I would like to grow more herbs, medicinal plants but the clay soil and morning sun presents some challenges. Do you know of any herbs, medicinal plants that are shade loving?
Thanks in advance and keep up the good work,
Rose.
Wilson
Don’t know where to start!!!
I’ve never been a gardener but always had a romantic notion to try ‘growing my own’ produce. My husband also loves ornamental plants. We have a ground floor condo with a big patio area in Queenstown just begging for some plantlife.
A brief look at Green Culture and your blog of course seems rich with information but a little overwhelming to a novice like me!
Can you suggest a book to start me off with the basics? Or is there something simple on the internet perhaps?
I’d appreciate being pointed in the right direction!
Thanks
Wonderful website Wilson! (www).
We are thinking of starting a community garden – useful plants, probably to begin with fruit and vegetables – here in our small community.
Many people already have the milkweed growing – but only as a reason to attract butterflies (Monarch).
Cheers
Jacqui Knight, Russell, New Zealand
Hello! I live near Lowell, MA in the U.S.A., which has the second largest population of Cambodians in the U.S., as well as man people of Laotian, Vietnamese, Indian, Chinese and Thai origin. I love to shop at a local Cambodian market and have learned to use various items from my Cambodian, Vietnamese and Laotian comrades where I used to work. There is one leafy item I like to use to mix with other vegetables and cooled rice stick noodles to make a summer salad. I have purchased this with regularity, without knowing the name. I can’t find out much about it, but one time I bought it and it had some words on it, which I am not sure is the name of the plant or the name of a general category of plant. I was hoping you could help me learn more about it. It said, “Sang Kahum”. Slender leaves are sprouting out from a floppy, narrow stem. They are not opposing each other. The leaves are usually about 6-7 cm long and only about 1 to 1 1/2 cm wide and pointed at the tip. They are the shape of Orzo or rice, narrowed and pointy at each end (at the outer leaf and where attached by a short stem to the stalk). Each leaf has a little reddish-purplish “check-mark” in the center. (Interestingly, I noticed the leaves looked just like leaves of a plant that grows wild in our forests of New England, but my friends had already seen that plant, tried it and said it was “not the same”!!) Do you know this plant? The leaves have a mild-moderately peppery flavor. I love using new vegetables from all around the world!
Hi Wilson,
I have just moved here from Melbourne, Australia and was wondering if you know of any Orchid clubs in Singapore? I have tried to search on google.sg but to no avail. I have a particular interest in cymbidium orchids and would love to learn more about them and grow them on our balcony.
Thanks and kind regards
Fiona
Hi Kate,
Thanks for dropping that comment and I hope you enjoyed my blog.
With regards to your question to ID a vegetable/herb, I think it may be Vietnamese coriander.
http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Poly_odo.html
Let me know whether I am right? I got the clues from you where you mentioned the plant has a distinctive spot on its leaves and the peppery taste it has?
Wilson
Hi! Wilson,
Wonderful!!!
I am so glad and amazed to read about your story
…I love plants too…
I have grown avocado in a 5 gallon pot, papaya in a small gallon, citrus plant, banana in a pot and so many other tropical plants and flowers too…
I have to save my tropical plants away from frost during winter season, the reason why I grow them in pots.
Anyway,
just trying to drop you a line that if you find some time please visit my homepage too and see my plants and tell me about it…..
Tess.
tgv0228@yahoo.com
Hi Wilson.. i m a frequent Jungle Visitor at Khatib Bungsu.. I find that these jungle destroyed by Foreign Worker to the nearby Dormetry. Recently ‘Archidendron jiringa ‘ (jering) plant was chop down to gets the fruits.
I ‘ve search in NPARK web. truely.. that this plant has “bad: image. This is the sign that this Archidendron jiringa is coming to endangered! To my knowledge, this plant has many beneficially into medical research.
But this plant never being “Noticed” as important plant that only few grow in the wild. Well, we need ” RANGER” to protect these jungle…
O’ya. I m had this hobby . doing “terrerium” Plant in the bottle for many years. I had many of them in my house. Maybe, I would like to share my knowledge to those who are interested in such hobbies.
Harm (self declared aborist)
Singapore.
Great Web, Great Flowers
Great Man
Hanafi, Kingdom of Brunei
Visiting your website today, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your site. Yo have the most beautiful photos of plants and I enjoy seeing the many plants you grow in Singapore. Do you grow Amaranth there? I haven’t grown it myself and perhaps it wouldn’t thrive in a tropical place. It is from South America, in the mountains, I think. We can grow it here in New England and it looks quite dramatic as an ornamental with great big velvety spikes in a rich red color, yet the seeds can be harvested for a grain-like food.
Sincerely,
Kate Lucienne
Massachusetts (part of New England)
Northeast USA
Hi, Wilson,
I hope you are well. I just decided to use your lovely picture of the bronze banana as my backround on my computer. Your photos are the most beautiful I’ve seen on any website. Keep up the good work. It’s wonderful to see the comments from all around the world! I am a busy physician and find it quite relaxing to vist your website when I am feeling a bit stressed by my work.
Recently here where I live in New England we had a big ice storm and I lost power for about 5 days. I had to stay with a sister further south, who did not lose power. My house got as cold as just a few degrees above freezing (I’d estimate about 4 or 5 degrees C.). I was really worried about the plants I have living at home. (I have a number of house plants; it is winter, so my outside garden is resting.) Fortunately, most of my plants fared pretty well. Most lost a few of their larger leaves. I have a lot of plant clippings that I am trying to root, where I had to cut them off because the main stem was damaged from the cold. I am sure you haven’t run into this problem in Singapore!
Well, best wishes in 2009.
Kate Lucienne
Interested to start a small plot of land for my daugther. Need some advice from expert like you. Pls contact me? THANKS
I bought a Plant for my mums birthday on Monday – but i don’t know what it is as it didnt have a tag, looking on Google i thought it could be a Heliconia episcopalis as the flowery bit is very similar, but the leaves arn’t right, they look like…mini palm leaves? it’s only a small plant (size of a small table lamp with the pot?)
just came across your website by accident but wondered if you might know – or someone else who comments here!
I just ran onto your blog.
Its the best!!! Such beautiful flowers you have. I live in the USA in Washington State, we get lots of rain. I do have a small greenhouse and a sun room that is attached to the house, so I have some exotic plants in there. we have cold ,grey overcast winters that get below freezing, so have to watch what we plant outside.
I am putting you in my fav places so I can visit you blog often
Thanks for all the beauty
Shirley
Hi Wilson,
Overall, the info on your webpage is fantastic. There isn’t much blog or webpage as comprehensive as yours on growing of vegetable, flowers or fruit plant in Malaysia and Singapore. There isn’t any good forum in Malaysia about gardening or planting of plant that can survive tropical climate like Malaysia and Singapore either until I found the GCS forum.
Thank you for the effort you put in.
P.S:I think your new website design took longer for it to load. Maybe too many wallpaper.
Hi Wilson,
I just came across your blog today when I was seeking information about growing winged beans. I liked the information and the picture that you publish about it in your blog. I’m “green” with envy that you live in Singapore and able to grow those wonderful Asian Veggies that I missed so much. I will visit your blog from now on to see the plants and also gain gardening information. In the meantime, I will still try to grow my winged beans even if I live in Zone 6 (U.S. A.). I hope it thrives with some extra nurturing.
Keep up the good work and thank you.
Hi Wilson
If you visit Melbourne you may be interested in http://cultivatingcommunity.org.au/cc/
There’re inspiring productive gardens (in high rise estates)of immigrants from different parts of the globe. In Lennox St, Richmond the predominant Vietnamese and Cambodian ethnic groups is reflected in the lush green vegetables they grow in makeshift polystyrene boxes and salvaged materials. There’s an intriguing fish plant.
In other gardens, African and middle Eastern growers have different plants altogether.
If climbing green beans grow well, I’ll be happy to bring your group seeds of the heritage (very productve) bean called Lazy housewife bean. I’ll be visiting family in S’pore in early July and staying near Bedok MRT.
Where is your community garden?
I do not have a cell phone and will have very little internet access there
Best wishes
Poh York
It’s a very interesting subject I was looking around about more information but you got really what i was looking for in your article so thanks and keep it up you have a great blog .
by the way I was in Graz during the RoboCup and it was really a great event and The city had a summer festival which was very nice .
Hi Wilson,
came upon your website by chance and thought i’d drop a line to all green fingers out there. I’m thinking of growing some edible plants in my new garden and would appreciate any help from enthusiasts… I’ve not tried my hand at gardening, so i could use all the help i can get. Right now I’m thinking limes, chillis and tomatoes, any thoughts?
Lien
Hi Wilson,
Love your website. I have always wanted to plans herbs in my small garden in the East Cost. Would appreciate if you could advise on the most sturdies and good looking herbs that I can plant.
Many Thanks
Hi,
I am a gardening newbie. I was wondering if you can recommend some plants i can grow in my planter box in my apartment balcony. Easy to maintain, kid friendly and grow to the height of balcony railing.
Thanks & regards
Moth
Hey Wilson, thanks for helping Raye & me out with our nascent HORTMART ‘outreach’ program. Hope you can do some ” Gardening with You” sessions at our premises when the time is right.Good luck with your PhD thesis.Guess then one day I’ll be glad to call you Dr. instead of Boss/Bro.
regards
Hi Wilson,
I am trying to locate a expert or researcher in Singapore who could share with me their knowledge and expertise on worm species and vermicompost in Singapore. Do you happened to have any contacts who you think will be able to help me? Thanks.
Hi Wilson,
Great to have you in Garden Communicty!!
Keep it Up…
I found a Website that full with Tropical plants
Please refer above URL:
Hi wilson,
I c form THAILAND
Hi Wilson, I read with great interest your featured write-up in today’s Straits Times [12 Sep 09] and your 2 impressive websites. I have only learned today that you had conducted a session on “Create a Balcony Garden” in August. Will you, in the near future, be arranging one for the benefit of those who had missed it?
Thanks & Regards
Albert
nice to meet you and this is a really nice blog!!!! I like it
Greeting from Melbourne… I’m also a gardening junkie
greeting from bangkok
Dear Wilson,
I am a Canadian who has been living in Singapore for 5 years. I am presently working on a project for expatriates and would be interested in having you as a guest speaker. Please contact me at the mentioned email.
Regards,
Guy
Dear Wilson
Love your blog! Thanks for sharing!
I keep my Dracaena Fragrans (Iron Plant)indoors (at home and in the office). But I am noticing that the leaves are turning yellow and sadly, sprays of leaves have dropped off (died!). Can you share some tips how to care for such plants?
Thanks!
Annie
Hi Wilson, I’m doing some research on gardening for seniors. Was wondering if you could provide some expert advice? Appreciate if we can communicate via email! Thanks!
Hi Mr Wong,
Bump into your blog while reseraching for information to revive my school’s eco-garden(aka science garden). Your blog has lots of informative articles. However, what I need is a good landscape contractor to help me revive my eco-garden (also a herb garden). As you have mentioned, you developed a passion for gardening from your primary school days. I would like to do the same for my pupils; more ‘wilsons’ in the future. I’m lost in the ‘internet garden’. I will be check out if npark can help. I’ll be checking out your blog often. Thanks for sharing your passion.
Cheers, Eliza
Dear Wilson Wong
My name is eric simon from Kuala Lumpur. I am a member of GCS. May I have your email address please. I want to discuss about a talk. Thanks Eric
Hi wilson,
is there any way i can contact u? I would like to seek some advice fromu.
It would be great if we can email as im a green horn in this area.
thks
journey
Dear Wilson,
Congratulations for your exciting blog! I live in Brazil, and also write a blog on Brazilian Plants, especially on tropical fruits. If you like, please visit it: http://e-jardim.blogspot.com.
I would be loved in exchanging seeds with you, is it possible? My main interest is in asam gelugor (Garcinia atroviridis), do you know this species?
Kind regards
Eduardo
Dear Wilson,
This is Ada from Hong Kong. My company is a social enterprise working on community projects, especially community garden in public estate (www.heroestoo.com). We are really touched by your story and would like to learn from you. Can you give me your email for further discussion?
Many thanks!
Best wishes,
Ada
Hi Wilson,
I am interest to plant Barbados Cherry & Surinam cherry. May I know from where I can get their seeds?
Thanks & Regards
Alan
Dear Wilson, I am having a big problem with my passion fruit plants. Earlier I bought 7 fully grown plants and all of them died. They have no visible sign of infestation or diseases. The leaves at the base starts to dry up and eventually the stem dries up. I now grow the passion fruites from seeds and have over 50 plants. One or two of them now suffers from this problem. I suspect that there is some virus in the soil. Can you please send me your email address so I can send you the photos.
Any help is appreciated. Ong Peng
hiya, can you please let me know which nursery can i get citronella from and what is the local name for it in case they go by another name here. thanks. susan
hi, stumbled onto your blog as is the way of the internet. just wanted to let you know that i enjoyed your posts; learnt a thing or two for sure. thanks.
Hi Wilson … …
Stumbled onto your blog … … after searching for this plant known as “liu li ju” in Chinese … … believe also known as borage or borage officinalis?
Do you have any idea where can I get this plant in Singapore? Not a planting person myself, but trying to get it for a friend … … and she was looking for it high and low
Thanks
Hi Wilson,
greetings from New Zealand.
what possible way of bringing back fragrant pandan?
MAF confiscated mine 7 years ago at Auckland Airport.
regards
choon
Hi Wilson
So happy to know of your blog.
I need help big time with starting a vegetable patch in our garden. What advice would you give in terms of varieties and where to get the seeds or seedlings?
Doris
Dear Wilson,
Your blog’s informative. I am an occasional gardener. Right now I’m trying to find sun tolerant shrubs to plant in large pits / planters for my bedroom balcony which gets full afternoon sun from noon onwards till sunset. The balcony is large, about 300 sqft and the sun comes in at an angle. Any words of advice? I would really appreciate it!
Mark
Wow…I’m doing a project on alternatives to reforestation right now and your blog really inspired me. Thanks so much.
Hello Wilson,
Can you tell me where I can find Ackee plants in Singapore or Thailand? Thanks much.
Hi Wilson,
Great website for plant lovers. Keep up the good job!
Hello Wilson, SeedLiving is a new international online venue for buying, selling and swapping open pollinated seeds and live plants. Users may choose to sell or swap within their own regions. The fees for using the site are pay-what-you-can. If users would prefer to give their seeds away for free but have the postage paid, they may put them on SeedLiving’s Trading Table. We are also looking for bloggers to contribute gardening news & tips for their growing area.
…one of the most potentially vibrant, versatile and engaging websites for buying, selling and swapping seeds… (TreeHugger)
My family recently built this site instead of putting solar panels on our house. The site has been developed during a time of rising crop prices, Monsanto buying more and more seed companies, and organic farming gaining momentum around the world. At some point in the future, we hope everyone with access to the internet will be able to make a living or supplement their income from open pollinated, untreated seeds and live plants, while, at the same time, promoting and enhancing biodiversity on our planet.
Join us today!
Anna-Monique West
http://www.seedliving.com
TreeHugger Review
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/09/seed-swapping-flourish-online.php
On facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SeedLiving/122524504451093?ref=sgm
Hi Wilson,
I must really salute your green fingers! Your plants are definitely blooming with vigour and brightening up anyone’s day:)May I ask you a few questions on the plant care? Thanks.
Rgds
Hi Wilson,
I am Prima from Indonesia, I’ve been following your blog for about 1 year, but never leave any comment
Your blog helped me with my previous job, many Thanks!
I love gardening as well as horticulture as my major. It’s nice knowing you and your blog.
Salam!
Hi, Prima:
I hope your expert advice could save my poor plants. What could be wrong here:
1) My philodendrom plant is kept in the bedroom, where lighting is pretty minimal. After 4 months, still looks healthy, soil is moist but no indication of overwatering or mold or insects. But, several of the leaves have turned yellow. Why?
2. Snake plant – I have two. one was kept on the window sill, gets plenty of light, the other one is inside, by the door. I both water them very infrequently as I have been instructed. Maybe once every 2 weeks. The soil remains slightly damp. The one on the window sill started having some wilting leaves and dried out spots as if some leaves were dying. Is this related to the sun exposure or what? I have now moved it off the sill. Should I cut off the leaves just below the dead spots or remove the leaves near the soil?
Hai Wilson, same hobby,,…
I also like gardening. In my dream, when I graduated from my university, I wana design my own house including the gardening by myself….
Best Regards
Lucky dc
hi wilson!
am trying to start a herb garden. would like to know where i can get herb seeds…
started off with basil, fennel. would like to start rosemary and oregano. any recommendations?
thanks!!!
=)
Dear Wilson, Really enjoyed your talk on Saturday with Lily Chan about
succulent plants. Would like to receive notices/emails/newsletters about other gardening talks and events at HortPark, since it is closer to my home than the Botanical Gardens. What sort of newsletter regarding talks and demonstrations
is available and how do I sign up? Thanks so much, Wilson. Pat
I have just found you, fantastic site, with a lot of answers I have been looking for (with so much still to go through) Thanks.
Dear Wilson,
This is Nor from Malaysia. I will do community projetcts, especially community gardens. Really touched by your story and would like to learn from you. Can you give me your email address for further discussion?
Thanks!
I’ve read ur article on the Black Face General, it’s excellent!! Thank you very much.
BLACK FUNGUS
————–
I’ ve come to understand that it can help to avoid a heart by-pass. Pls help
Hi Wilson,
Im writing from far away Cuernavaca, Mexico… Im searching for information on how to pollinate Gerbera flowers cause ive been trying to hand pollinate with very little success (just a few seeds from different plants, and lately none)… and somehow ended up finding some very nice photos of Nepenthes seed pods on GCS site (i own some Nepenthes myself) and from there jumped into your interesting blog… Congratulations!! Wondering if you could help me with some guidance of where I can find some of this Gerbera information??
Was at HortPark touring the herbs area, and the friendly guide pointed to a plant that supposedly is good for lowering high blood pressure. She mentioned the plant name as ‘jainurah’ or something that sounds like that. Googled and couldn’t find anything on this. Could u shed some light? Thanks.
Hi Wilson, I’m currently sourcing for a trainer to conduct basic gardening workshop for group of secondary school students. Do email me at the given email address. Look forward for your reply. Thanks
Dear Wilson,
I will be visiting Singapore on the 29/4/11 and 31/5/11 and I was wondering if it might be possible to visit your garden. I learned of your garden a year or so ago when Monty Don’s Around the world… was screened in Perth.
Kind regards
Michael