hoya multiflora - 'Shooting Stars'

costus pink crepe

costus laevis bud

Clerodendrum incisum - "musical notes"

Native to Nigeria, the Clerodendrum incisum or "Musical Notes" (derived from the shape of the buds) is a hardy versatile plant that is drought resistant and blooms in full sun as well as in the shade.

Passiflora caerulea

white flower garden

I have always imagined what it would be like to have a scented garden consisting mostly of white flowers. It may result in a sensory overload. I recall flipping through some landscape books and coming across one garden consisting just green foliage and white flowers. Although that scene involved using perennials like white roses, peonies, lilies etc, I am sure we could recreate something similar with the use of tropical plants which bear white flowers and which are hopefully scented. These are some plants I can think of:-

1. ginger lily (Hedychium coronarium)
2. spider lily
3. Congea tomentosa (White Congea) (Vine)
4. Gardenia (Shrub)
5. White hibiscus (Shrud)
6. Jasmine
7. Champaca
8. Plumeria obtusa
9. Sedap malam (tuberose)
10. Hoya
11. Cat whiskers
12. brugmansia
13. muraya
14. Clerodendrum chinense
15. Fiddlewood
16. White Alpinia
17. White Thunbergia
18. White crocus
19. White orchids

shanghai tang

Ever stepped into the boutique Shanghai Tang, only to be greeted by this all too familiar yet wonderful scent of the ginger lily? The signature scent of the boutique comes from the Hedychium cornonarium and the Hedychium coronarium var. chrysoleucum (pictured left) , otherwise known as the butterfly or ginger lily. Although the plant is popular with many gardeners, it is seldom planted or incorporated into the landscape because it is not terribly hardy and tends to droop over after a heavy downpour, thus rendering a messy appearance. I have not been too successful with this plant and I suspect that it is probably more particular about its soil conditions as opposed to the other gingers. So far, those which I have grown in pots appear to be surviving, though they could probably do with a boost to give it a healthier look. I recall seeing those at FEF with plump rhizomes on the surface of the soil. For some reason, I can't seem to get it to look or grow that way.

Anyway, I would definitely love to incorporate this into my garden and grow it en masse because it is probably the best scented plant to have in the garden.

bring on the dragon

It looks spectacular, but unlike the king of fruits which has a pungent aroma (or stench, depending on which camp you belong) and distinctive taste, the dragon fruit or Pitaya is comparatively bland and mild. Even the plant in itself isn't anything to should about. Still, the dragon fruit has managed to make some headway into our fruit baskets, thanks to commercial farming of the same. I tend to prefer the red variety, especially when it is served and eaten chilled!

costus spiralis 'strawberry bud'

This is just an update on the Costus spiralis 'Strawberry Bud' which has started to bloom after being planted in the ground for more than a year. Some costuses take a far longer time to bloom than others!

heliconia dinosaur

Eric gave me this hybrid, Heliconia pogonantha x mariae 'Dinosaur' about a month ago. It is also commonly referred to as the Heliconia Dinosaur. It is, as its name suggests, one of the largest heliconias around which can grow several metres tall and produces large and impressive pendulous blooms. Eric decided to discard his collection because he thought they were ugly and a bitch to maintain and cut down due to its highly fibrous trunk.

I on the other hand, am easily excited by anything wild and exotic, so taking in his castaways seemed like the right thing to do. So far, one of the rhizomes has started to shoot. Hopefully the other would follow suit.

afgekia mahidoliae

Ever come across words which you think you cannot pronounce just by looking at them? I experience that all the time particularly with scientific names, which as you know can be particularly long. Perhaps i'm just a little dyslexic. But till today, I still have problems uttering names like costus "LUCANUSIANUS" or "HEDYCHIUM LONGICORNUTUM".

Maybe I just lack confidence. Maybe i'm just so afraid to get it wrong or to be embarrassed by my mispronunciation. After all, the names are in itself not easy to remember, let alone pronounce. Although I am often amazed by people who know their plants, I do get annoyed when I hear people rattle off scientific names at nurseries, amongst friends etc. It just sounds so darn pretentious. Why should they even assume that people know what they are talking about? And why can't people just refer to the plants by their common names? Everyone knows what a Butterfly Ginger is but not everyone realises that it's also known as Hedychium coronarium.

I remember coming across this somewhat pudgy civil-servant looking woman several times at WF just vomitting all the names she knew. All she got from some of the staff were blank stares! But she didn't relent and insisted on referring to the plants by their scientific names. So the staff had no choice but to look these names up in order to understand what she was looking for. I've seen quite a few plant snobs in my lifetime, but none could quite compare to this obnoxious tart!

Anyway, here's the name of a plant which unfortunately, does not appear to have a common name. The Afgekia mahidoliae.

Little is known of this small genus of large perennial climbing shrub which is native to Asia. I know that there are two forms; pink and purple flowering form, and that Lyndi has a specimen growing somewhere in her collection. According to what little information I found from the internet, it is considered to be a rare tropical plant found in limestone mountains in the western side of Thailand. Like the Vigna caracalla, it is also a climber in the pea family (Fabaceae). The plant possesses purplish and whitish pea-like florets in inflorescences which are usually in blooms during August to November. More information can be found here.

senna alata - candlesbush

Whilst driving around University Road early this morning, I chanced upon this highly attractive flowering shrub growing outside someone's house. It didn't appear like it had been deliberately planted by the owners as it grew awkwardly out of a small planter containing spider lilies (I think). I surmise that it might have germinated from a seed which a bird had dropped. Anyway, I do recall having seen this plant before, possibly growing in the wild somewhere within SAF's training grounds at Lim Chu Kang. Hopefully, I would be able to germinate some of the seeds which I took from one of the many pods.

vigna caracalla - 'cockscrew vine'

I came across this today while surfing the web for tropical garden blogs. I realised that there aren't really a lot of personal blogs out there devoted to tropical plants, which is really a shame because it would be an ideal platform for tropical garden enthusiasts (like myself) to share their experiences and in turn, learn from one another. Anyway, I found a couple of sites which I thought were pretty interesting and informative and have added the links to my blog section on the right hand column. Happy surfing!

Now back to this beautiful vine, the Vigna caracalla is also known by its more common synonym, the "Snail Vine" or the "Cockscrew Vine". This is a leguminous vine from the family Fabaceae and originates from tropical South America and Central America. It is a perennial vine in countries with cooler sub-tropical weather and an annual in the tropics. In many ways, it resembles a much less prettier version of the blue pea and like the blue pea, produces seed pods which are apparently edible. The flowers are also said to be very fragrant. I have yet to see this vine anywhere in Singapore, but like the Thunbergia mysorensis and the Congea tomentosa, this has now been added into my "want list".

Illy's passiflora - Passiflora Incense

I came across this passiflora at Chatuchak Market in March this year. However, by the time I was done with my rounds and preparing to bleed my wallet dry, someone had beat me to it by buying the one and only pot. So in the end, I settled for the P. Lady Margaret.

Thankfully, Illy was kind enough to pop by Chatuchak and get me a pot before returning to Singapore in April. I don't know the name of this hybrid, but I have decided to christen it Illy's passiflora for the time being. This specimen produces large heavily scented blooms and is quite the robust grower. Hopefully the others in my collection (coccinea, pfordtii and lady margaret) will also produce flowers in no time.

costus erythrophyllus aff. grey form

Every time I walk my mutts around the Singapore Botanic Gardens, I always make it a point to take them through the ginger gardens. The thing I enjoy most about the ginger gardens is the fact that there is always something new, waiting to be discovered. This is especially so for plants like costuses which tend to look alike. And the fact that most are un-labelled and not all of them bloom frequently adds to the level of excitement especially when you chance upon something you have never seen before.

I have heard of this costus and seen it on the web, but this was the first time I had chanced upon it at the gardens. I probably never paid much attention to it because the specimens were lurking behind a garden bench which was located deep within.

Unlike the typical Costus erythrophyllus form which is commonly found in the horticultural trade and characterised by dark green upper foliage, this little number has a silvery grey tone which contrasts very well with the dark purple undersides. This form also has spiraling stems instead of the stocky straight stems we see in the usual form.

Hoya globiflora and mindorensis

I don't consider myself to be a die-hard hoya fan, but I do appreciate these plants for their unique flowers whenever they are in bloom. The H. mindorensis is possibly one of the more unusual hoyas around. Although their leaves are not particularly spectacular, the flowers are quite a sight to behold, albeit small. However, my favourite hoya has to be the H. obscura, not just because of it's purplish green fleshy leaves but more for its intense fragrance. It is certainly a plant to grow in a scented garden, along with various other fragrant plants like jasmine, rangoon creeper, gardenia, ylang ylang and the fiddlewood.

SBG's bromeliad park