February 21, 2008 at 8:00 am
· Filed under General
I do.
It affects me badly. So imagine my horror when I went up to the top of Frankfurt’s Main Tower!
View from Frankfurt’s Main Tower
It was well worth it though. The beauty of the vision of Frankfurt’s city fathers in locating and designing the Farmer’s Market became fully apparent. This fully pedestrianised “green river” snakes through the heart of the city along Schillerstrasse, where you can buy the best farm produced frankfurter sausages in the world.
Frankfurt’s sausages
It is such a magnificently simple landscape idea. It consists solely of old weather-beaten Plane trees (Platanus sp.) which are pollarded (heavily pruned) each year back to the same points on each branch, so that the regrowth is like a flat ceiling over the market. It costs the city quite a bit to pollard all the Plane trees each year, but it is worth it for the distinctiveness it brings to the city.
Funny - when I was a boy, I studied French, and the word for “green” was “vert”.
Vertigo - certainly a green way to go for the Frankfurters!
- by Simon Longman
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February 14, 2008 at 8:00 am
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Ok… I got to admit, I wasn’t too enthuse about mom’s plan to re-vamp our balcony garden this year. I mean… I was happy with our first project (see Mom’s Gardening Project blog entry May 17) and I thought that’s it. Completed… Over… Finito.
But I was so wrong. I mean… I knew that some of the plants were not going to last for years but I guess work and all makes me a little lazy since our first garden project. Mom’s the more hardworking among us both and I must say, she gets all the credits for making our balcony garden such a beauty. Many thanks Mom! So, here the story goes…
Weeks before CNY approaches, mom has been “nagging” on what plants to get for the festive period, when to get, where to get, etc. And you think being a housewife is easy, talking about budgeting, planning - the works. The game plan was set. And off we go plant-shopping one Saturday afternoon. It was strategic that we planned to go get our plants 2 weeks before CNY because (1) that’s when plants have just arrived at the retail nurseries; meaning we can get to have more choice of better plant stock (Mom’s mentality of “the earlier is fresher” sort), (2) should the plants we brought back not survive well during their transition from nursery to balcony, we can buy replacement plants rather than having our “just bought” plants looking dull during CNY, (3) no rush – be it crowd or trying to get into the long queue for purchases, (4) more reason to go plant shopping the next week (again! Ha…). Some useful tips my Mom and I use during our shopping trips, to ensure we got our money’s worth:
- Overall – Does the plant looks “leggy” (i.e. bare at the bottom part, but heavy on the top)? Gently shake the pot (applicable to small plant). Does it wobble? If so, chances are it could be an “old” plant left on a shelve too long and/or newly planted (which at times could be that the plants do not have well established roots). Also, shaking could help check if you’re buying back more than just a plant… i.e. those little flies (i.e. pests!).
- Roots – See any roots sticking out? If so, it could be that the plant has not be re-potted (again, left on the shelve too long). Sometimes, you may also notice roots circling around the inner circumference of the pot. This means the roots are pot-bound; plant may not last long or well.
- Leaves – Note that there’s a difference between ugly leaves (in terms of aesthetic view) and sickly leaves. If leaves are overgrown/yellow (due to aging), it’s possible to rectify through pruning. However, if leaves are infested with pests/diseases, DO not buy them home! Sometimes, you have to make a judgment call. For instance, overall of the plant is good, except for a stem among the many stems, you can still consider buying it back, prune off the bad parts and it will be a “new, good” plant.
- Flowers – While it’s very attractive to simply buy back home the pot which has the most blooms, do take into consideration the flowering period. For instance, Mom and I wanted our flowering plants to last at least for 3 week after our purchases; therefore we go for those that have half-open buds. For those needing instant impact, then go for the former.
As mentioned before, due to the limitations in optimum growing conditions balcony provides, we stick to our list of suitable plants that can do well in indoor setting. This means, semi-shaded plants, mostly foliage and evergreens. But we were versatile to play around with a variety of texture and colours from different foliages, hence making our garden a big hit during CNY. And you can bet that in every photo album of my relatives that visited us this year, they would have family shot of us, sitting pretty in our balcony garden. Cheers!
By Shirley Ling
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February 7, 2008 at 8:00 am
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Its been 1 month, and the germinated seedlings are happily displaying their skills in phototropism towards the sunlight streaming through my cubicle window.
It must be an amusing sight for my colleagues to see me bending over little green bits and carefully watering each green bit with a water bottle cap, trying not to disturb the thin layer of loose potting mix.
The more vigourous ones have grown their third leaf, and those who survived the raintree bark treatment had set their thread roots firmly into the moisture-laden corky crevices.
Until today, i didn’t know the species of my hoyas. Perhaps when they grow bigger and mature, i may just find out. But for now, i’ll just enjoy the spectacle of little baby hoyas enjoying their green tan amid the dancing sun specks.
By Lua Hock Keong
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