Do you recall the walks that you took in the Nature Reserves of Singapore and at times along the roadsides, you will find ‘Ribena Berry’-shaped leaves? This is actually the Macaranga plant! If you already know about this plant, many of you would be surprised to find out that what we’ve always thought to be Macaranga triloba, is in actual fact the widespread Macaranga bancana!

The true triloba is really rare in Singapore! They differ in a number of characteristics. Of which, the most obvious is that the stem of the triloba is NOT hollow. In addition to the solid stems, the triloba has thick, erect stipules* and long horns on the fruits, which the bancana doesn’t have.

Stipules* are structures clasping the stem below the leaf stalk

Macarangas usually have leaves dissected into 3-7 lobes. The simple features in my list below might be just the thing you need to aid you in identifying the correct type of Macarangas in Singapore.

How to identify different species of Macarangas

• Solid twigs, not inhabited by ants - M. triloba
• Hollow twigs, inhabited by ants, leaves intensely white beneath - M. hypoleuca
• Hollow twigs, inhabited by ants, leaves slightly waxy white/not white beneath - M. griffithiana
• Stipules red-brown when fresh - M. bancana
• Stipules light green/yellow-brown when fresh - M. hullettii
• Stipules green, very large (about 1.5″) and erect - M. gigantea

Photo added on 21 August 07

Black ants on the Macarangas plant

- by Serena Lee

“Whenever you eliminate the inedible, whatever remains, however unpalatable, must be food.”

- Anonymous

Carnivores, omnivores and herbivores - do you know that the suffix “vore” in those 3 classifications comes from the Latin word, ‘vorare’, meaning “to devour”. The Latin words, ‘carne’ means “flesh” (for carnivore); omne means “everything” (for omnivore); and herba means “grass” (for herbivore). So there, now we know how these terms came about. But there are more “vores” that you may have not heard of, which I am about to share with you.

Let’s start with detritivores. These are organisms that recycle decomposing organic material (detritus), returning it to the food chain. For the gardener, a well-known example of this kind of “vore” would be the earthworm, which consumes rotting plant leaves. This detritus feeder has in fact been useful in gardening. Vermicompost (also called worm compost), an end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by earthworms, is a nutrient-rich, natural fertilizer and soil conditioner.

A folivore is an animal that specializes in eating leaves. The avid gardener would be concerned with some species of this “vore”, which includes caterpillars, locusts and grasshoppers.

And then, there’s a frugivore, an animal that feeds primarily on fruit. Such feeders include many types of birds, insects and mammals such as fruit bats and monkeys. The gardener waiting to taste the fruits of his labour will surely want to be wary of these “vores”, right?

Moving on, there’s also a granivore, an animal that selectively eats the nutrient-rich seeds produced by plants. True granivores include insects (many kinds of bugs, ants and beetles), birds (finches) and mammals. Granivory is especially prevalent in desert habitats, where seeds are persistent.

An insectivore is a carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. You might in fact have such a “vore” in your garden since this group of feeders includes insectivorous plants like the Venus flytrap and several types of pitcher plants.

A nectarivore eats the sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants. Most nectarivores are insects or birds, but there are also mammals, notably possums and several species of bats.

One more “vore” important to gardening is the palynivore. This is an animal that selectively eats the nutrient-rich pollen produced by flowering plants, including gymnosperms. Most of the true palynivores are insects or mites. In its strictest application, this type of “vore” includes all bees (important in gardening as pollinators) and a few types of wasps. With these insects, pollen is often the only solid food consumed in all their life stages.

- by Tio Chieu Yoke

Although I moved into my HDB apartment for almost 7 years now, the balcony area has always been empty until recently. There were plans (which actually was my Mom’s intention initially) to beautify our balcony by creating a garden. However, Dad being such a typical Chinese family man thinks that the area should be left empty to hang clothes on rainy days! Although she managed to talk my Dad into installing those country-styled tiles on the balcony walls, but that was as far as she got in developing her garden since then. Poor Mom!

However, little did Dad realize that his little girl was a Horticulturist in the making - ME! I don’t really know since when exactly, but I was slowly growing to appreciate the beauty of plants, nature and picking off tips on gardening from Mom. Maybe Mom’s “green genes” got passed down to me, I guess. My sis majored in Science too, but she ain’t a “greenie” like me. Anyways, I started work after graduation and with income coming in now, I thought it would be something special for Mom and I to complete the garden project which she had endeavoured years ago, together.

We decided to keep hush about our garden project from Dad first, even though we had already gotten a dryer at home for drying our clothes (we didn’t know what excuse Dad would cook up next for keeping the balcony empty again). Over a period of a few months, we made quite a few trips to different nurseries to check out the types of plants, pots, water features, hardscape…we wanted a garden bench too, to complete the garden look!

The plan was to ‘move’ our garden into the balcony in phases (so Dad wouldn’t even notice the new additions). Some of the plants we bought were later converted to soil-less culture (ie. hydroculture) by ourselves. Sis later got involved in our project and also chipped in and helped out with some of the costs. Soon, Dad did come to realize about our ongoing garden project and much to our surprise, he even offered to drive us all the way to Johor to shop for a nice garden bench, which we would be able to get for probably half the price!

Within 5 months, our beautiful balcony garden was completed and for only under a budget of $500. The plants which we selected were mostly ornamental foliage plants, which can survive in semi-shaded area, taking into consideration the site conditions that we have in the balcony. We also added some little decorative items in our garden to spice up the area a bit more - cute little mushroom houses, a clay giraffe and tortoise.

And guess who in the family uses the garden area the most nowadays? Well, it’s Dad, of course!

View of my balcony garden - a mixture of plants grown in different media (soil-less and soil), surrounding our beautiful rustic looking water feature; garden bench on the other side of the balcony (not reflected here).

More pictures added (13 Jun):

Colour plants sitting at my window sill

Mini garden in a wooden bathtub

Hanging pots on the wall

Potted plants in a rattan bicycle

More hanging potted plants on the wall

Plant hanging at window sill

Garden bench

 More pictures added (16 Aug):

The hanger for the pots

One of my air plants trying to become a candle 

Sheath by sheath,

My fronds take shape

Until I fancy there is life

Within my new-found knees

And freshly-weaved valour,

With which I walk off the edge

To land one dimension higher,

Where the lime moves

Not with the light,

But half a step

Behind Ophelia’s rue,

Till the sheen subsides

And all adventures end,

On a shout of silence

And softly-fading

Hues.

- by Patricia Yap

SOIL

Heliconia typically thrives in well-draining soil that is very rich in decaying organic matter, whereby they derive their nutrients from. Garden loam enriched with leaf compost would be ideal, with a small addition of sand should pack the soil tight enough to ensure proper drainage.

LIGHT

Because Heliconia grow in bright clearings, it would be good if it can be provided with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day, as this would encourage continuous flowering. Lower amounts of sunlight would result in the production of lush foliage, with flowers making a less common appearance. Plants would tend to grow taller and larger with less light. Having said that, there are also species of Heliconia which enjoy shade. Heliconia pendula and Heliconia stricta (’Carli’s Sharonii’) are a couple of such examples.

WATERING

Heliconia love water. They should be watered as often as possible, at least once in the morning and once in the evening. The soil should never be allowed to dry out completely. Rotting of established plants as a result of over-watering is unlikely, as long as the soil is free-draining. In fact, some species of Heliconia can even be adapted to grow completely in water, such as Heliconia standleyi and Heliconia densiflora (’Fireflash’). However, the watering of newly-planted rhizomes is a completely different matter, as they are prone to fungal attackes in excessively water-retentive soil.

FERTILIZER

A large Heliconia can consume enormous amounts of fertilizer, and grow to immense proportions. Bonemal is an ideal choice if one desires to make their Heliconia reach huge dimensions. However, regular fertilizing with slow-release fertilizer of NPK ratio 13:5:13 works just as well (In fact, I don’t even fertilize my Heliconia).

MAINTENANCE

Dead leaves and stems should always be removed. Spent stems should be cut after flowering to maintain the neatness of the colony. Chop the stems as close to the ground as possible. The remaining stumps can be removed by pulling them out of the ground once they have dried up completely. Should the colony produce too many leaves obstructing the view of the inflorescences, leaves can be removed from strategic positions so as to show off the Heliconia flowers.

PROPAGATION

Raising Heliconia from rhizomes

If one were to order Heliconia through the internet, they would usually arrive in the form of rhizome segments. Rhizomes should be dipped in dilute fungicide solution before being planted in free-draining soil. Make sure that the rhizome is not planted too deep, but at the same level at which the plant was originally growing in soil, which can be determined by markings on the rhizome itself. A separate school of thought claims that by planting the rhizomes in a ’soil-free’ mixture of perlite, vermiculite and sterilized potting compost, the chances of successful sprouting would be increased. After planting, the tip of the stalks where the pseudostems were chopped from should be wrapped in plastic and secured with rubber band, to make sure that water does not enter it and cause rotting. This also helps to seal moisture within the rhizome.

Seeds of the Heliconia

SEED

Heliconia seeds are rather difficult to germinate. They have a rather long germination period ranging from a month to a year, with unpredictable germination rates. Yet, this should not discourage people from growing Heliconia from its seed form, as many rare species are obtained this way. Seeds should be scarified with sandpaper before planting, because the seed coat is extremely thick. Rubbing parts of the seed coat till the endosperm is just reached would allow water to enter the seed more quickly, thus shortening the germination period.

- by Ong Chong Ren