Category Archives: Contributed Articles

I contributed an article on edible tropical flowers in the October 09 issue of the Home Concepts magazine. As most of us are aware, flowers are reproductive structures of flowering plants where their main biological function is to produce seeds needed to perpetuate the species. Available in a wide range of forms and colours, flowers have long been admired and used by humans to beautify their living environment.

Broccoli, cauliflower and artichoke are three common examples where flowers are edible and used as a vegetable. Some flowers are used as a spice to flavour food and there are others, such as the chrysanthemum, which possess medicinal properties. These plants are difficult to grow in Singapore’s tropical climate but there is a range of tropical plants that one can grow easily and they too, produce flowers that have food uses.

In this article, I introduced five different types of edible flowers. They include the banana flower (Musa x paradisiaca), torch ginger (Etlingera elatior), butterfly ginger (Hedychium coronarium), spiral ginger (Costus species) and Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).

All plants featured in the article can be grown in an outdoor garden with a semi-shaded location that has moist, fertile, well-draining soil and protected from strong winds. The red button ginger (Costus woodsonii) and Japanese honeysuckle can both be grown in containers in sunny location in a high-rise apartment.

Before picking any flower, check whether any pesticides have been applied on the plants. One has to observe the withholding period of the pesticide (time interval after application of the pesticide before any part of the plant can be used for consumption).

It is important to consume all flowers in moderation and always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally. They should never replace competent diagnosis or be a substitute for prescription medicine.

In this month’s Home Concepts magazine, I contributed an article on groundcover plants. In it, five relatively ‘new’ plants species were introduced. I call them ‘new’ because they are either not widely used or commonly thought of being a groundcover plant candidate.

Groundcover plants, in general, are low-growing plants that act as a transition zone from the lawn or garden path to taller plants that are grown in a landscape. Groundcover plants also act as a dense soil cover, which help to retard weed growth and prevent soil erosion. They can have attractive foliage or produce colourful flowers can add colour and texture to an otherwise monotonous green landscape.

Depending on the species, groundcover plants vary in height and can either adopt a clumping or running growth habit. Some are woody plants whereas others are herbaceous. The star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) is an example of a plant that can both creep and climb whereas the red cat’s tail (Acalypha reptans), golden globes (Lysimachia procumbens), Chinese lobelia (Lobelia chinensis) and various mint (Mentha species and cultivars) are creepers.

 I contributed yet another article to the Garden Treats column in the Singapore Home Concepts magazine. In the Aug 09 issue, the topic of the article was on water plants. For those of us who are blessed with an outdoor garden, one can construct a pond in a sunny spot. For those of us who are apartment dwellers, we can still enjoy a water garden by having a simple, water-tight container to house some fish and grow a couple of small water plants.

I introduced five water plants that can be grown in a water garden. They include species that can be classified as floating, submerged and marginal water plants. A beautiful floating water plant that I introduced was the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) which is a sun-worshipper. It does best in an area with direct sunshine. Otherwise, a plant can be observed to melt away and that can happen in less than a week.

I introduced a number of marginal water plants which include the pennywort (Hydrocotyle species), water celery (Oenanthe javanica) and star grass (Dichromena colorata syn. Rhynchospora colorata). These are best in soil that is kept moist at all times. They can be grown inside a container or at the edge of a pond and thrive in a sunny to semi-shaded location. Pennywort and water celery are two aquatic plants that have food and medicinal uses.

For the submerged water plant candidate, I featured the infamous marimo ball (Aegagropila linnaei) which is a species of aquatic algae that grows in a spherical mass that are well known to have originated from Lake Akan in Hokkaido, Japan. Because of its temperate origins, this algae (not a true moss) ball is best kept in a jar of water placed in an airconditioned area (< 25 deg C) and hence makes a good plant for the office executive to grow. It is exceptionally slow-growing and one does not have much to do other than to make weekly water changes. One more plus point is that it does not need a lot of light to thrive.