Category Archives: My Thoughts…

Some things from my head…

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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I was “gardening” all day long.

Posted on May 31, 2008 | 1 Comment

Today was an exhausting day for me but one that was very fulfilling. I was “gardening” all day long or more exactly, involved in various gardening-related activities which started at about 10 am in the morning which lasted only in the evening.

The first event was community planting at HortPark which commenced at about 10 am. I was so tired out by work in the past week that I overslept quite a bit and had to take a cab to rush down to Hyderabad Road. The skies were overcast and that meant quite a comfortable day ahead without the glaring sun that was well-suited for outdoor gardening.

My friends, namely, Albert, Chong Ren, Eng Ong, Phillipe and Xuan Hong, were also there to support the community planting event organised by the Community in Bloom (CIB) at their display plot at HortPark. Shirley from CIB invited us from Green Culture Singapore to introduce us to gardening enthusiasts from the various community gardening groups. It was nice to be able to meet up and interact with fellow community gardeners!

Take a look at the pictures below that are saturated with lots of smiling faces that I took during the community planting event:

It is a good initiative by the CIB to organise community planting sessions at the CIB plot at HortPark. In my opinion, this serves as a good opportunity for community gardeners from various groups to come together to know each other. After the casual planting activity was over, we were treated to some refreshments and I felt quite pampered as the CIB has ordered some Delifrance coffee and tea as well as some pastries. How nice right?

We then adjourned to the Fruit Room located below the Visitor Center at HortPark for a talk by Dr Varughese Phillip from the Agri-Veterinary Authority (AVA) on the fertilisation of plants. He covered some basic knowledge on plant nutrients, the types of organic and inorganic fertilisers that can be used to feed our plants and ways to spot nutrient deficiencies in our plants. These are something that would be useful for beginners. I was happy to meet up a friend, Ms Rosalind Tan, our famous Madame Butterfly from Alexandra Hospital, whom I have known from doing gardening, at the talk.

The activities at HortPark ended roughly at about 1 pm and I was back in my lab in NUS to do some labwork. I guess I was a little slow with the work on hand but I knew I cannot rush through the cell culture work that I have planned to do. I had to be meticulous and focussed with what I was doing and that took me a full two hours. It was around 3 pm when I was done and I had take another trip via a taxi to fly me down to Bishan Community Library to attend a talk that was organised by GCS, CIB and the National Library Board (NLB) at 3.30 pm.

The speaker of the talk was Mr Gan Cheong Weei, a fellow member from the GCS discussion forum. As mentioned before, he is a butterfly enthusiast as well as a avid Nature photographer and in this talk, Mr Gan shared with members of the public on how to use the popular “point and shoot” digital cameras to take good plant pictures. It was very well-received, I must say as the room was filled. The talk was concise and definitely not too technical. The tips given throughout his talk were very useful as well.

It was about past 4 pm when the talk ended. I was then pleasantly surprised by an invitation to visit Madame Butterfly’s home. It was a long-awaited visit that I had been eagerly looking forward to go on. The notion of the visit erased the fatigue and pain from a throbbing headache that were probably a result of a rather hectic day.

Rosalind’s house was easy to spot from a distance because when we were near it in the car, I could see her signature broad-leaved fig tree (Ficus auriculata) that fronted her porch. Her broad-leaved fig tree, now several decades old, was a sight to behold where it majestically stands as the main focal point of her garden.

Rosalind also brought me on a tour of her garden where I expectedly saw many butterfly plants that were grown to serve as a source of food for her caterpillars. I also got to see her caterpillar nursery where she nurtures caterpillars until they pupae. These were then brought back to Alexandra Hospital’s grounds to be released into the butterfly garden there.

What our Madame Butterfly has done – bringing her work back home – is evidence of how serious and passionate she is in her work at Alexandra Hospital. Most people leave their work at the office after work. She doesn’t. She is indeed a gem of Alexandra Hospital, our local natural heritage and Singapore.

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Posted in Events, Flowering plants, Gardening People in Singapore, My Thoughts..., Tropical ornamentals

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My Gardening Textbook

Posted on April 29, 2008 | 1 Comment

For those who have known me from the Green Culture Singapore discussion forum when it started about three years ago, they would have been able to tell you that Wilson Wong at that time is basically a farmer and he knew nothing about most ornamental plants and trees. I wasn’t too keen about these plants then.

But in recent times, I declare that I have picked up quite a lot of knowledge and nowadays, I am able to identify most of the common plants grown in Singapore via both their common and botanical names, as well as, the families they belong to. I haven’t stopped learning yet and I hope I can get to know more about the greenery around me.

Interest is definitely an important factor that has been crucial that helped me to accumulate this huge amount of plant-related knowledge but there is yet another factor that I also be given roughly the same amount of credit is the existence of a very comprehensive pictorial tropical plants handbook published by the National Parks Board entitled “1001 Garden Plants in Singapore.”

This book is now in its second edition. I have written a book review on the first edition of this book which has been published on the Green Culture Singapore website some time back. In its second edition, the number of plants have nearly doubled from a thousand and there are still many plants that have yet to be listed.

Although there are still some mistakes, I guess nothing done by humans is totally perfect. I can safely say that the authors and NParks have done their utmost to ensure the information contained in the book is correct at the time of publication. I also noticed that the errors did get corrected with each printing.

As I have mentioned in the book review that I have written, this book goes by the popular saying, “A picture tells a thousand words.” The book’s numerous pictures have helped me to associate the plants I see so often with their names, both common and botanical and later, remember them. The first edition of the book in my possession has fallen apart. It goes to show how many times I have flipped the book just to check and verify the identities of the plants I saw during my nursery trips and other gardening-related activities.

It has another very important use. Because the book is armed with many colorful pictures of plants, one can just flash the picture of the garden plant one is looking for at a local plant dealer and he will instantly know what one wanted. This works better than mentioning a string of English or Latin names which many of our nurserymen are not familiar with.

This book has been lauded (at least by me) a successful publication at home in Singapore. It has also been recommended to Australians living in the warmer northern states in the issue number 5 of the Subtropical Gardening and Landscaping in Warm Climates magazine. I feel proud as a Singapore gardener as a result.

A virtual version of this book is now available – check out NParks FloraWeb which has been launched in January 2008 on NParks’ corporate website. This database of tropical plant information will be updated regularly to include the latest information.

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Posted in Flowering plants, Houseplants, Miscellaneous stuff..., My Thoughts..., Trees, Tropical ornamentals, Vegetables

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GCS’ First Gardening Workshop

Posted on April 26, 2008 | Leave a comment

Today marked Green Culture Singapore’s (GCS) first attempt to conduct a gardening hands-on workshop. During the past two to three years, we have been working closely with NParks’ Community in Bloom and the National Library Board to dish out gardening sharing sessions which involved only talks at the public libraries all over Singapore.

Our first gardening workshop’s title was “The Art of Airplants” and the synopsis is given below:

We’ve all heard of how indoor plants can be used to complement home décor. Often plants are chosen because of the touch of nature that its green colour brings and also for its therapeutic appeal. But have you ever heard of using plants that do not root in soil as a home décor ornament?

Also known as air plants, this workshop gives you the opportunity to learn more about the uniqueness of air plants as well as the basic day-to-day caring needs. More importantly, get your hands on these plants to creatively install them as your office or home miniature setups and scapes that will soon be the envy of many. Brought to you by Green Culture Singapore and NParks.

For those participants who have attended this workshop, I am sure it was totally a different kind of experience from other talks they have attended previously. As an observer and assistant to the session, I noticed it was very much like an art class more than a gardening class. Participants were involved in squeezing out their creative juices and getting their hands busy to make the little bamboo ornament which doubles up both as an airplant holder as well as a pencil holder that can be used to decorate a dull corner at home or the office.

An example of the bamboo ornament that was to be made by participants during the workshop.

I thought, since we have touched on the growing of airplants in the past year in a talk done by Xuan Hong, why not have a workshop that will introduce to people ways to use airplants to decorate the home? Like what I have mentioned in the opening of the session, we have seen for the past 10 years after airplants have been introduced to Singapore, we have only witnessed that few ways of displaying airplants – gluing them on rocks, seashells and driftwood logs as well as tying them to branches of trees. Nothing more.

The intention of this session was hence to introduce new, creative and tasteful ways of displaying one’s airplants. As one can see from the pictures I have taken during the session, Phillipe Noor (on the GCS forum, his userID is Wild Ginger), our instructor in-charge of the session, have shown brilliant examples of how one can turn cut bamboo sections into beautiful airplant holders.

The myriad of possibilities presented by Phillipe that can be used to display airplants nicely at the home or office working environment.

Our talks have largely been rather technical and “how to” in nature and that can be difficult for some newbies to follow and also can put off others. Saturday’s session was our maiden attempt to bring in the lifestyle element to our sharing sessions and aimed to share with others the bit on how we can “enjoy” our plants and gardening. We hope more people will be drawn to take up gardening because plants, as we all know, can be used to brighten up one’s home and can be an enriching past time.

At the same time, we also wanted to bring across to all participants that plants are also living things where we also share with everyone the proper care and the right conditions that need to given to the plants so that they grow healthily and look their best.

Participants happily working away with the guidance from Phillipe to make their own decorative airplant holder.

Last but not least, I must thank Phillipe, who has worked intensively over the past one week to make this workshop possible. He has put in much dedication, effort and time that were put in where he actually went through all the trouble to source for the several meters long, thick bamboo poles, that were all sawn up into manageable sections for the session. One must also take a look at the professionally done up pamphlet he has prepared as well. All the materials required for the workshop were put into a neat, simple brown paper bag that participants can conveniently carry home their creations after the session.

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Posted in Events, My Thoughts..., Tropical ornamentals

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The Singapore Gardening Society 72nd Anniversary Dinner

Posted on April 5, 2008 | Leave a comment

Thanks to Victor’s invitation, I got to attend the 72nd Anniversary dinner of the Singapore Gardening Society held at the Four Seasons Hotel, which was held yesterday. It was a significant event because the occasion marked the society’s start to set up a study grant to help students by providing a source of sponsorship for them to pursue a career in horticulture and related disciplines in Singapore.

The cheque presentation ceremony in the presence of Mr John Tan (SGS President) on the right with Prof Leo Tan on the left (Chairman, Garden City Fund) and Ms Grace Fu (Senior Minister of State for National Development & Education) in the center.

This is a much needed and welcomed opportunity because now, it can give passionate individuals a chance to pursue and become properly trained for their future jobs which is instrumental to build up a force that is necessary to help Singapore succeed its aim to be a “City in a Garden”. If I can turn back time, I would have opted to be trained in horticulture or botany.

I think Singapore should also consider providing the relevant undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses again. The local universities now no longer provide relevant undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses and the most nearby place people can do so is to fly to Down Under.

At the mean time, we have the Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology (CUGE) that was recently set up by the National Parks Board and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency. From the website, CUGE is described to “serve as the lead training provider for all levels of the landscape industry workforce.  It uses the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) System to train and certify skills training and facilitate career development in the landscape industry.” Maybe in the future, it may expand its training to provide undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses? I do hope so.

CUGE also does research, but it is more industry oriented. With effect from 1 April 2008, CUGE expanded its roles to include a research arm and efforts will be focussed on the four major areas – urban landscape operations & management, new dimensions of urban greenery, environmental studies & urban ecology and socio-economic studies.  More can be read from their website: http://www.cuge.com.sg/

 

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Vegetable farmer no longer…

Posted on January 15, 2008 | Leave a comment

As much as I can recall, it should be around at most a year ago since I got bitten by the tropical ornamental plants bug. Today, I officially declare that I am a carrier of the tropical ornamental plants fever. For those who knew me, I am better known as a vegetable farmer. Come to think of it, I was still a rather staunch vegetable and herbs grower a year ago and I won’t be able to imagine that today, I will be so interested in heliconias, ornamental bananas, spiral gingers, cannas and bromeliads…

Why the change?

What is the main reason that caused me to cross the boundary that I drew for myself in the past? Below is a self-explanatory quote which I found from my reading of the Backyard & Garden Design Ideas magazine, an Australian publication, which I have fallen in love with.

Low-maintenance: Not many of us have the luxury to spend time dead-heading the flowers, pruning or tidying the garden. Tropical garden plants are mostly very low-maintenance as dense planting disguises fallen leaves, makes neatness unnecessary and covers up times when some plants are not looking their best. (Issue 5.6)

Vegetable and herb gardening can be very time-consuming and tedious as it requires constant attention to ensure that there are no pests and diseases affecting the plants at nearly all stages of growth. I felt that I want to enjoy a garden and not toil in it.

Still a beginner…

I am still learning the ropes of how to design and plant a tropical themed garden. People who know me often shake their heads when they see me shift a plant around in the garden. At my worst, I can do that several times within a day! Call me a bad designer, but I am treading a fine line between what you would call as a plant collector and gardener designer.

Collector’s plants are exotic and hard to come by. Their availability is really unpredictable. Planning a garden with exotics can hence be very difficult. You can always allocate a space in the garden plot for an exotic plant but when would you know that you will get it? Even if you land your hands on one, is the size and look of the plant appropriate?

The style of tropical gardens are mostly informal in nature. I still remember I was trying to plant a tropical garden as if I am planting a vegetable and herb garden! Vegetable and herb gardens are usually quite formal in their format here.

Work started on the smaller garden which was aimed to become a tropical paradise in April 2007. Look at how dense the grass that was growing on the disused plot!

Landscaping of the community garden took place in July 2007. It was an attempt to obscure one side of the garden which looks into the mainly vegetable and herb garden. The vegetable and herb garden can look awful at times when seedlings are being started as bare soil is clearly visible.

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