My mother-in-law is a durian farmer. She lives in a kampong in Sarawak. Why do I mention her? She has been the single most important influence in my life when it comes to my love for plants, and my love for durian. She actually knows a lot more about plants than I do.

Ancestral trees in the Sarawak “kebun” are generally Durian (Durio zibethinus), and two other important species:

Engkabang (Shorea macrophylla) - which has a nut which yields a quality edibile oil.

Tapang (Koompassia excelsa) a huge tree in which bees make their nests in the forks, a source of honey.

Some of these trees were planted by ancestors 200-300 years ago, and are revered by people like my mother-in-law, together with the memory of the ancestor in some cases. They are also revered for the cash they bring in. One Durian hantu (Durio graveolens) tree can yield 200 fruits and these sell for at least RM$5.00 each in Kuching.

Kondeng my brother-in-law, up in a forest Rambutan tree (Nephelium lappaceum)

Moses my Godson takes a rest from carrying fruit down the mountain.

Recently a huge 200 year-old ancestral Durian tree died in the forest, and my mother-in-law mourned its passing. Her natural response was to take a seedling she had raised from the tree, and plant it in the huge void left by the crashing down of the giant. Did she do it because the government told her to do it? Did she do it because she felt the loss of income? Did she do it so as to mitigate the effects of forest clearance and climate change? No, No, No! She did it because it was the right thing to do.

Can Community in Bloom achieve a gardening culture in Singapore, where our “ancestral” tree are afforded the same level of respect, and our natural response to a “huge void left by the crashing down of the giant” is to plant something to grow in the gap? I think we can. I think that deep within all of us is a little something, which reminds us of the part that we can play in making our city more livable.

Remember the Latin : “Nature magistra artis“.

Nature rules over art.

God’s creation very definitely rules over man’s creation.

- by Simon Longman

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I remembered there is once when I asked someone casually what is it that he likes so much about plants. He gave a superb illustration that it is akin to chasing after a woman. Nothing was said after this statement

I could not explain the love that I have for plants but that statement was imprinted in my heart. Loving and knowing about plants is like getting to know someone closely and constantly having the fresh feel of that intimate first love. This is the kind of love that I have for plants and this has kept me going. There are many plants that captivate me but I decided to highlight this particular one.

This is not the first time that I have saw the Tacca integrifolia flowers and there were incidents when people came up to me and shared with me the beauty of this plant. Apparently, this season has generated some mass flowering in Aug at some of the parks.

When I saw the Tacca integrifolia this time round, I went a step closer and examine the whole floral structure. Upon closer look, there is a structure that is absolutely captivating and the pattern is intricately created. The floral structure is an art piece. Moreover, the flower colour is distinctly unusual and that is what makes it even more beautiful.

Nevertheless, these are fussy ones who enjoy deep shade with a good air circulation with a microclimate similar to a forest, as their natural habitat is the understorey rain forests. Too much heat and dry air kills them.

By Woon Ling Ling  

2 favorite canine past-times are digging and chewing.  Thus, most people assume it’s impossible to have both a garden and a dog.  So, they create a container garden instead.  But dogs will always be dogs.  And especially for puppies, with their inquisitive and mischievous nature, they tear at everything! (even protected ones).

My dog, Jackson, and what’s left of our money plant.

In addition to their innate curiosity, dogs usually break their boredom with some high-energy ‘destructive’ act  - digging.  Although this is largely instinctively, it is enjoyable to them because of the many interesting smells that arise from digging earth. 

In fact, dogs can actually be beneficial to gardens.  It is hearsay that dog pee contains enough acid to burn grass.  Not only does pee serve as natural fertilizers (that breaks down much faster), it can also double-up as a pesticide.  The only reason that dogs pee excessively is to overmark an unfamiliar smell/ another dog’s pee. 

My dog, Ban, in her ‘Flower bed”.

Currently in my home, there are no plants, just artificial ones, which are very much loved by my 3 dogs.  I believe dogs can be trained to love plants.  All it takes is proper training.          

By Sheryl Ng

Remember me saying that I don’t know whether anything will happen to the Hoyas seeds.

Well, something did happened!

2 days later, baby radicles peeped out from most of the seeds, except for those stuck within the drier cracks of the old raintree bark. I guess it wasn’t that hard germinating the seeds after all! It is doubtful though, the remainder of the seeds in the tupperware container will grow, as i read somewhere that old seeds lose their vigour and either contribute to the nutrient content of the soil (in nature) or become specimens of the odd plant person (which is me).

By Lua Hock Keong

My fling with plants has always been at the beginnings of their lives. Not sure why this is so, though i kind of suspect there are green plastids in me in just wanting to see a seed fulfill its purpose (unless it happen to be an invasive!). So when i chanced upon a pile of freshly removed branches from an old tree with Hoya twines and 2 - 3 seed pods, it took little hesitation to take the otherwise wasted pods and back to my workplace for a closer look.     

The pods must have been in near-ripe condition. After a few days, it simply exploded (ok, i am exaggerating a little here) with innumerable puffs of micro-light parachute-like seeds, happily unleashed from their dried-out pod case and threatening to say goodbye with every gust of the air-condition-generated wind.

Quickly scooping them up and putting them into a tupperware container, it took me some time to decide what to do with them… of course, plant them out!

Hoyas seeds

Unfortunately i am looking at hundreds (if not thousands) of restless young seeds and thereafter decided to use an old germination tray that had been containing the dried remainders of some… what else, seeds.. Sticky stuff, the hoya parachute threads. Now i know why after they can stay stuck to a place after finding a suitable landing site - their parachute threads have a penchant for sticking to wet surfaces, whether by static attraction or some organically manufactured glue.

That’s a lesson learnt in refraining from handling hoya seeds with sweaty fingers.     

Using a large sheet cutout from a plastic bag and germinating mix with the help of colleagues, i planted out about 20 of the hoya seeds onto 2 cm of the mix. A large piece of old raintree bark which i scrounged from the raintree avenue just outside the office building provided a substrate to some of the luckier (or not) seeds to simulate a more natural growing environment. After putting quite abit of water on the mix, i waited with zero confidence that anything’s going to happen.

Well, if anything does happen, be sure that I will share it everyone soonest.

By Lua Hock Keong