Category Archives: Interesting News

Interesting local and foreign news related to gardening…

Fruit Tree Growing in Highrise Singapore

Posted on June 29, 2009 | 1 Comment

An interesting article written on the growing of fruit trees in highrise flats in Singapore was published on the Sunday Times just over the weekend. The article shared two success stories of Singaporeans who have succeeded in growing fruit trees in the highrise environment.

In Singapore, many highrise dwellers encounter the lack of sufficient sunshine that is required for growing these plants. Either they do not get the right intensity or they receive less than 4 hours or less of direct sunshine. To grow these edible plants properly, one has to locate them in a place at home where they can be exposed to a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunshine daily. Plants not receiving enough direct sunshine will exhibit slow growth, etiolation (elongation of shoots) and lack of flowers and fruits. 

The first success story mentioned in the article focussed around Mr Lawrence Tan, who managed to grow and fruit grapes and Japanese muskmelons in tropical Singapore. Grapes have been reported before to be able to fruit here, but most of the time, the fruits are sparse and sour to taste. Muskmelons can also be grown easily without problems locally too.

The second person that was interviewed was Mr Ng Cheow Kheng, who is both my good friend, colleague and the Assistant Director of Streetscape Projects in National Parks Board (NParks). I have written a blog entry on this open patio before (viewable via this link). The two fruit trees that can be found Mr Ng’s growing area include the chiku tree and dwarf banana plant.

To be able to grow fruit trees in highrise apartments, one has to choose grafted varieties so that they can fruit while they still remain small and manageable. It is almost grow trees from seeds and expect them to fruit inside a pot. For these, they often need to attain their full height before fruit production commences. For banana plants, choose to grow dwarf varieties. By the way, bananas are totally herbaceous and are technically not classified as trees!

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Posted in Fruits, Gardening People in Singapore, Interesting News

Andrew’s article on Tillandsia

Posted on May 30, 2009 | Leave a comment

Today’s edition of Straits Times Life! carried an article on airplants. Penned by Andrew Tan, the article contained a Singaporean’s experience of growing these plants that belong to the pineapple family, Bromeliaceae. Although related to the terrestrial pineapple plants, airplants, botanically classified in the genus Tillandsia, adopt an epiphytic growth habit.

Depending on the species, these plants either perch on rock surfaces or tree branches in their native habitat. The roots of airplants, unlike many other plants we are familiar with, are used for anchorage. Nutrients and water are absorbed via specialised scale-like structures, called trichromes, on their leaves.

Airplants were first introduced into Singapore in the early 1990s. They became an instant hit as they are touted to be ’clean and fuss-free houseplants’ that do not require soil to grow and could be seen being put on sale in a great number of places that range from supermarkets to various departmental stores. Somehow, the craze died down soon after but made a comeback about two to three years ago and this time, they were peddled on push-carts.

I noticed airplants live up to their name as fuss-free plants that are also easy to grow, provided they are grown outdoors in Singapore. They do well probably due to the presence of high humidity outdoors and are usually offered protection from constant strong winds due to the location where they are grown, such as under the canopy of a small tree like the frangipani. Ventilation in form of light breezes in an outdoor space seems to also help to dry the crowns of these plants which reduces the likelihood of them rotting.

On the other hand, airplants are not that easy for apartment dwellers. Gardeners have to work quite hard to prevent their plants from drying out. Constant winds encountered on higher levels of an apartment tend to rob the moisture out from these plants. To add to the problem, humidity is generally low in an apartment. In order to rehydrate their plants, apartment gardeners have to resort to soak their plants for several hours but due to poor ventilation in apartments, plants grown under such conditions tend to rot. Tillandsia species with bulbous bases suffer from a high casualty rate when they are grown in an apartment.

In short, gardeners with an outdoor space at ground level tend to face less problems when they grow these epiphytic bromeliads. The apartment gardener, on the other hand, will have to select the right species to grow and find the right balance for the range of factors that is required for success in growing these intriguing plants.

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Posted in Houseplants, Interesting News

Presenting “My Green Space” by NParks

Posted on April 24, 2009 | Leave a comment

The newsletter from the National Parks Board, NParks News, is now revamped and represented to all as ‘My Green Space’. This is a must-read publication for those who are interested in Singapore’s green spaces, flora and fauna. This newsletter has three main sections, namely, Lifestyle, Gardening and Conservation. Each section contains a handful of interesting articles.

The main page of “My Green Space” newsletter.

In the current issue (Jan to Mar 09), two articles on gardening are presented. The first piece entitled “Planting the Seeds of Friendship” was written by Mr Mohd Azmi who is from the Community in Bloom. The reader can look forward to read more about how two avid community gardeners, namely, Mdm Kamisah and Mr Richard Ashworth, indulged in the gardening hobby and spread the interest to fellow residents living in the estate where they lived.

“Planting the Seeds of Friendship” written by Azmi.

The next article in the gardening section was penned by myself which was written on a relatively new foliage plant that is very shade-tolerant and hence suitable for indoor display and planting. The identity of the plant is still under debate but currently, it is known as Carludovica ‘Jungle Drum’. Its closest relative is the Panama Hat Plant, botanically known as C. palmata.

My article written on Carludovica ‘Jungle Drum’ that was published on “My Green Space”.

“My Green Space” is free for all. To view the newsletter online, click on this link. To be notified of a new issue, all one needs to do is to sign up for it by clicking on this link.

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Posted in Contributed Articles, Gardening People in Singapore, Houseplants, Interesting News

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Feature on Community in Bloom!

Posted on February 20, 2009 | Leave a comment

Last Saturday, another heartening article about community gardening in Singapore was published. This time, the article revealed the possibility of renting state land that is not slated for immediate development by the public to do community gardening. 

It is great to know that the number of community gardens in Singapore is still on the rise, which is an indication of Singaporean’s deep love for greenery and the interest to be part of this grand greening process. The existence of instances of renting of state land from the Government by the public is an sign of how ardent Singaporeans can be for gardening judging by the extent they are willing to go to have that bit of the great outdoors to grow a plant.

Something that was interesting to note in the article was the participation in community gardening by domestic helpers. Most Singaporeans have grown up in this highly urbanised country and many neither have the chance nor experience of being able to grow their own edible plants. We have much to learn from our domestic helpers who have come all the way from various countries, carrying with them the valuable farming knowledge which we now lack. I am happy in a way that our domestic helpers have now an additional outlet to be near to home, where they can now touch the soil and grow some plants like what they often do back at home. 

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Posted in Interesting News, Newspaper features

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Claoxylon indicum in bloom!

Posted on February 18, 2009 | 1 Comment

Recently, Keneric Ng, my colleague in HortPark wrote an interesting article on a tree that was unknown to me. It was a Claoxylon indicum specimen that was spotted by him just after Alexandra Arch, right at the start of the Forest Walk. The text below is what he wrote that is bundled together wtih a selection of photographs which he took.

Wanna make a guess which plant(s) am I highlighting? And where? Cocos? Terminalia? Spathodea? Claoxylon? Samanea? Caryota? Paraserianthes?

Bingo or not. There you have it – Claoxylon indicum. Known by the Chinese as 白桐树 (Bái Tóng Shù). The 白 (white) in the name is probably an impression, referring to the short, dense, matted hairs (tomentose) that cover the tree, and especially prominent on younger parts. This handsome specimen is located just after Alexandra Arch, right at the start of the Forest Walk.

Once again, I was lucky to be at the right place at the right time. I needed photographs of Saga tree that morning but before I could get my act together, this Claoxylon tree distracted me first. I enjoyed such happenstance tremendously. The tree is a crown full of flowers, totally covered to every inch. It reminded me of fireworks.

The inflorescences/flowers are distinctively that of a Euphorbiaceae-Acalypheae. In fact, one is likely to be reminded of certain acalyphas e.g. the very ornamental shrub – Acalypha hispida, owing it to its habit and manner of flowering. In fact, I started my name-hunt for this tree from words like ‘Tree Acalypha’ and ‘Acalypheae’ but got bumped around till I got it.

Like other Acalypheae, Claoxylon indicum is dioecious (dioecious refers to a plant with either male or female flowers but never both). Notice the puffed flowers, with many short ‘tentacle’ projections? This is a male
Claoxylon indicum and a very handsome one. It is recorded that the staminate (male) racemes can grow as long as 40 cm, while the pistillate (female) racemes are only 7 – 12 cm long and much compacted.

This small tree is native to Singapore. It can reach 20 m tall. Something I found out is that, the wood of the tree produces suffocating smoke when burned, so it is not suitable as firewood.

I have always noticed the existence of this tree, especially at forest edging and disturbed vegetation but never seriously till it flowered like that. Some trees really need to flower hard to get our attention. I wondered…how many Southern Ridges visitors had noticed this ‘firework’ too?

It is right at the bend where the red star is. With so many views of the tree, I’m sure you know how the tree looks like by now! Ha! Go catch it while it last! The lucky thing is…this ‘firework’ lasted more than a few seconds.

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Posted in Interesting News, Trees

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Lunar New Year Plant Newspaper Feature

Posted on January 24, 2009 | 1 Comment

There was a feature on Lunar New Year plants that was published on Life! on Tuesday. Some of the plants are relatively new in the festive plant market whereas there are others that received a make-over.

The one plant that was made a Lunar New Year plant this year is the netera (Nertera granadensis). The plant is appreciated for its compact, small size and numerous attractive, orange, bead-like fruits it produces. I have seen it being offerred for sale throughout the year but it is not a commonly seen plant in most nurseries, only a selected few import this plant for sale. It is probably the orange fruits that enable it become a Lunar New Year plant because it is an auspicious colour for the Chinese. 

Citrus are indispensable for the Lunar New Year. This year, ‘bonsai-ed’ specimens are available as they look better and impressive than potted shrub-like plants that are normally put on sale. Because of the time required to form the twists and look, these citrus bonsais are not usually not cheap to get. Like what is written in the article, with good care, the plants can continue to grow and bear some fruits, but not as heavily, if they are well taken care of. They need to be given direct sunshine outdoors for best results.

The Buddha’s hand citron (Citrus medica) is a nice but an easy plant to get locally in the Lunar New Year festive plant market. The curious-looking fruits with finger-like projections are largely pulpless but they are especially fragrant and symbolise good luck, abundant wealth and longevity.

Another plant commonly called the Japanese begonia here is not related to the begonia at all. It is a member of the rose family and related more to apples and haws. It is in fact an ornamental quince (Chaenomeles spp.). Its Chinese common name is really called the “hai tang” (海棠, begonia), but it is a name which referred to the plant’s foreign origins and has nothing to do with the begonia plant. A member on the Green Culture Singapore discussion forum said that her plant had survived the heat of Singapore and had put forth a couple of flowers over the whole of last year.

Pitcher plants are not new Lunar New Year plants as they made their big debut about two years back when it was the Year of the Pig in the Chinese zodiac. The Chinese name of the pitcher plant is called the “Pig Cage Plant” and everyone hope to catch the golden lucky boar back then. This year, plants that are offered for sale after getting a elaborate makeover. The usual ones we get here are those that have pitchers hanging over the side of a pot. Bear in the mind that the plant actually requires filtered sunshine for at least 6 hours daily to grow well and not full shade as mentioned in the article! Pitchers should have water in them so that they do not dry up! For prevention of mosquito breeding, one is advised to drop in a few BTi granules instead. Cut away dried up pitchers and discard them accordingly.

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Posted in Flowering plants, Interesting News, Newspaper features

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HortPark’s Mistletoe

Posted on October 20, 2008 | Leave a comment

Many thanks to NParks, I am given yet another interesting piece of information about a plant growing in HortPark to share with anyone who comes across my garden blog. This time, it is about a mistletoe plant that was flowering in HortPark’s Irrigation Pond.

Mistletoes are plants that are not welcomed in most people’s gardens. They are hemi-parasitic plants which grow on the branches of woody plants such as a tree or shrub. Hemi-parasitic plants are those that contain chlorophyll, capable of making their own food and do not totally rely on the host plant for food. 

A mistletoe plant attaches itself into a plant via a structure known as a haustorium and from there, it leeches nutrients from its host to supplement what is produced from its own photosynthetic process. The vigour of plants that have mistletoes growing on them may be reduced and they can be killed if there is a heavy infestation. 

The mistletoe plant that was in flower in HortPark was identified to be Dendrophthoe pentandra and is a member of Loranthaceae family. The plant that caught the attention from the staff at HortPark was a big, low-hanging clump that was attached to a Terminalia catappa (Ketapang). This particular clump was specifically instructed to be left undisturbed on the branch for study and observation. Most people would have removed mistletoes upon seeing them at first sight.

Although mistletoes are pests, they have an important role to play in the garden. Dendrophthoe pentandra is known to be a butterfly host plant to the Painted Jezebel (Delias hyparete metarete), which is a beautiful butterfly with bright yellow and orange colours on its wings. The larvae of this butterfly feed on the leaves of this mistletoe and a plant can become totally defoliated if there is a large number of caterpillars. A whole clump of mistletoe can be killed this way and perhaps this is how the population of mistletoes is controlled in Nature. More information about the Painted Jezebel’s life cycle can be viewed via this link.

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Dr Easaw Thomas’ Graden on the Business Times

Posted on September 18, 2008 | Leave a comment

Dr Easaw Thomas’ amazing garden was featured in the Business Times about two weeks ago and thanks to Cheow Kheng, I now got a copy of the article where I am now able to share with those gardeners who are keen in planting trees in their gardens.

Read on to find out what inspired Dr Thomas to plant 200 forest trees in his garden…

Article originally published on the Business Times Weekend
Saturday/Sunday, September 6 to 7, 2008
by Cheah Ui-Hoon
Why pay for a sculpted Japanese garden when you can DIY with local greenery?

Secret Garden

When you’re rebuilding or renovating your home, the question of what to do with your garden is usually answered by the landscape architect you hire. Sculpted trees. Check. Exotic plantings. Check. Weekly visits by gardener. Check. Do it yourself. What?

Easaw Thomas’ decision to DIY has turned his home in Wilby Road – dotted with good class bungalows turned into palatial homes – into a tropical jungle, and is a lush testament to his green thumb as well as one person’s effort to address global warming and conserve local, indigenous plants. Today, he wakes up to a low maintenance, equatorial rainforest garden that’s has been left to grow pretty much on its own.

“The burning of forests in Sumatra was a wake-up call which made me want to do something about the environment,” shares Dr Thomas, 63. To him, this was the only way to create an environment that would reduce the greenhouse effects – because of the great volume of carbon dioxide that rainforest trees absorb from the atmosphere.

“Singapore is also losing a lot of its native plants and trees,” he adds, so he makes it a point to pick plant varieties which are indigenous like syzygiums with its colour leaves (the red jambu tree belongs to this family, for example). “You have to take the context in which we live – we can’t be having Japanese gardens or temperate ones,” he points out. “Out context is one that favours an equatorial rainforest-like garden because the plant themselves grow better and they blend in with the surroundings.”

With these ideas in mind, Dr Thomas drew up his own design for his Wilby Road garden in the late 90’s that would be created around his existing 1930s house, open courtyard and pond. When the garden was done, some 200 forest trees towered around the 26.000 sq ft compound, layered with shorter fruit or flowering trees, followed by ground plants like ginger flower plants. “The other thing I wanted to have was some fragrance in the garden so I picked trees like the Michelia chempaca,” he rattles off, before showing you the variety of wild plants he picked from the jungle rather than commercial nurseries.

The garden is less than 10 years old, but it looks like the house was built within a decades’ old tropical forest. The house adds to the credibility – a 30’s style single-storey original wing and a newer, curved bedroom block that was virtually carved out of a hill on his land. The top of the hill slope serves as its roof – way before rooftop gardens became vogue. The rooftop garden has tea leaf bushes and flowering trees, and giant yam plants with their elephant ear-shaped leaves – which birds had seeded, says Dr Thomas, since he doesn’t recall planting them. The garden gets weekly visits from a few hornbills, in fact, a stamp of approval, if you wil;, for the natural rain forest eco-system he has created.

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Posted in Gardening People in Singapore, Gardens I visited, Interesting News, Newspaper features, Trees, Tropical ornamentals

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‘Community in Bloom’ Ambassador Award & Friends

Posted on September 10, 2008 | Leave a comment

Just last week, I have recently been informed by the Community in Bloom (CIB) of the National Parks Board that they have officially launched two new initiatives designed specially for the avid gardeners of Singapore, namely, the ‘CIB Ambassador Award’ and the ‘CIB Friends’ scheme.

I find the debut of the ‘CIB Ambassador Award’ and the ‘CIB Friends’ scheme very timely. The number of plant-lovers and gardening enthusiasts have been on the rise with the start of the CIB programme that allows Singaporeans to garden as a collective group in the green spaces around their homes and organisations.

Hence, the ‘CIB Ambassador Award’ and the ‘CIB Friends’ scheme will serve as excellent ways to recognise those who have contributed the promotion of gardening to Singaporeans from all walks of life.

 

The ‘Community in Bloom’ Ambassador Award

(http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118&Itemid=85)

Quoting from the CIB website, the CIB Ambassador Award recognizes individuals who have contributed through various means and channels to foster the love for gardening to the people in Singapore. CIB Ambassadors are volunteers with passion, who go the extra mile to spread the gardening bug and help others enjoy gardening. They contribute time, effort and/or resources regularly and actively engage with the community to facilitate the community’s gardening-based initiatives.

In terms of criteria, nominees for the CIB Ambassadors Award should fulfilled some or all of the following criteria:

  • Shared gardening knowledge to the community – facilitated or provided gardening ideas and tips through seminars, talks, sharing sessions, articles in media, web-based gardening blogs or forums, opening-up community gardens for learning, etc.
  • Facilitated gardening-based community projects – helping community groups in housing estates, schools and organisations to set up or sustain their gardening projects through providing guidance, resources, materials, etc.
  • Promoted the love for gardening – organised initiatives that resulted in greater awareness towards the benefits of gardening, engaged the public to spread gardening during road shows, exhibitions, community events, websites, blogs, etc.
  • Conducted themselves positively – in a manner that resulted in a sustained positive impact on gardening.

CIB Ambassador Award winners will be determined by a selection panel. Winners are selected from nominations based on their record of achievements and extent/impact of contributions made. Winners of CIB Ambassador Award will receive a plaque at the Clean & Green Singapore 2008 launch ceremony.

Nomination for CIB Ambassador Award is now open and must reach NParks by 24 Sep 2008. To nominate, download the nomination form from the following link:

http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/docs/CIB/CIBA%20Award%202008%20Nomination%20Form.doc

The completed form can be sent back to the CIB via e-mail (communityinbloom@nparks.gov.sg) or fax at +65 67621383 or snail mail to:

Secretary, CIB Ambassadors Award 2008
National Parks Board
Raffles Building, 1 Cluny Road,
Singapore 259569.

 

The ‘Community in Bloom’ Friends Scheme

(http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119)

The second new initiative is the ‘CIB Friends’ which is a scheme that provides opportunities for individuals to play a part in fostering the love for gardening among the people in Singapore by volunteering their time and effort to help others enjoy gardening. Individuals who have a passion for helping and volunteering can sign up to be CIB Friends.

Volunteers who sign up as CIB Friends can contribute in the following ways:

  • Host visits to Community Gardens – Volunteers can help to facilitate and guide visitors during visits to community gardens
  • Contribute gardening articles or write-ups to gardening blogs and newsletters - Volunteers can share their ideas on community gardens, gardening or plants through writing articles which will be posted in NParks website
  • Conduct gardening talks – Volunteers with gardening experience and knowledge can share their knowledge at the sharing sessions held at various locations
  • Facilitate the setting-up of community gardening projects – Volunteers with gardening experience and knowledge can help community groups set up community gardens through the sharing of basic gardening skills (theory and hands-on), working out suitable garden layout and selecting suitable plants for the new community garden
  • Help maintain community gardens – Volunteers can take part in helping to maintain community gardens in charitable homes through planting, weeding, etc
  • Promote gardening during exhibitions – Volunteers can help man CIB exhibition booths put up by NParks during community events, to promote gardening to visitors.

Active CIB Friends can look forward to the following benefits:

  • CIB Friend volunteer pass
  • Annual gathering for the CIB Friends
  • $10 token compensation per volunteering session
  • A CIB Friends T-Shirt
  • A chance to enroll in Gardening-related courses and workshops

To sign up as a CIB Friend volunteer, do email to communityinbloom@nparks.gov.sg the following details:

Area of volunteer work preferred: (1 or more)
Name:
Age:
Contact Number:
Mailing Address:
Occupation:
Language proficiency:
Gardening / plant knowledge:
Availability (pls specify day and time):

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Green Culture Singapore rated top again and New Feature Articles!

Posted on June 10, 2008 | Leave a comment

First and foremost, HitWise just informed me that Green Culture Singapore has been awarded the Hitwise Number 1 Award winner for the quarter ending ending January – March 2008. During this period, Green Culture Singapore ranked No. 1 based on market share of visits among all Singapore websites in the Hitwise Lifefestyle – House and Garden industry.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all members and visitors for their support for Green Culture Singapore. Click on the link on award shield for more details:

As usual, we have two new gardening feature articles that have been uploaded to the Green Culture Singapore website for all gardening enthusiasts to read. The articles for the month of May were both written by myself – one focussed on the torch ginger (Etlingera elatior) and another is a book review written on my recent purchase of a kids gardening book by the Royal Horticultural Society.

Happy Reading and Gardening!!!

Light up your Garden with a Torch Ginger

The torch ginger is an indispensable plant for an ornamental tropical-themed garden or a herb and spice garden.The plant itself makes a great garden landscape plant, its flowers have immense ornamental value and its young flowering shoots are an important spice. Various parts of the torch ginger plant also have folk medicinal uses. It even has a place in an eco-garden especially as its flowers can attract sunbirds. With so many uses, it is difficult to give an excuse of not growing a torch ginger plant. Read this article to learn more about this high versatile ginger!

URL – http://www.greenculturesg.com/articles/may08/may08_torchginger.pdf

Book Review on “Grow It. Eat It.”

“Grow It, Eat It” is a new hardcover book by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) that combines two intimate subjects, the gardening of edible plants and cookery. The target audience of the book is children, ages from five to eight years old. It is a lavishly illustrated book with colourful pictures and its contents are simple and concise. There is no technical jargon in sight. All the projects, presented in a step-by-step manner, can be done at home or school where most of the materials are readily available. Read the thoughts Wilson has after reading this book.

URL – http://www.greenculturesg.com/articles/may08/may08_growiteatit.pdf

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Posted in GCS Feature Articles, Interesting News, My Thoughts..., Vegetables

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