Photos of my first visit to our garden patch
These are photos of my first visit to the CIB garden at the Singapore HortPark.
What caught my eye were these sunflowers grown by Bob, lining the front of the garden patch. Perhaps we should grow more of these as they seem to be doing well here.
hortpark singapore cib on friday 
I have since discovered that the name of this group is “Bamboo Haus”. Perhaps Bob or the other older members can let it be known what was the reason for this name?
Maybe we can change the name of the group to “Sunflowers” or “Sunflower Gang” instead and decide to grow and permanently maintain a row of sunflowers in the front part of the garden patch from now on, as a symbol of this group.
This is just my initial suggestion. What do the others think?
i can explain the “BAMBOO” but i m as blur as why there is a “haus”. during the very lst meeting, we were asked to group up n name our group. as u can see, there is a bamboo at one end of our plot, hence i named it BAMBOO GROUP.
you know i share the same sentiment with you and since day one, has already keep planting sunflowers to brighten up the area. i ve suggested to hortpark that they should plant SUNFLOWERS line up both sides of footpath which would be very interesting.
hopefully, hortpark could plant more colorful annuals.it would definitely break up the monotony of green.
thanks alot chia! u r a fast worker 🙂 maybe u could upload more pics of other plants such as the blooming ZINNIA LILLIPUT which is a smaller compact double zinnias. it’s bright orange and blooming profusely now. this is an annual meaning it shall die after flowering and seeding.
there is also MULBERRY which leaves can be harvested to make “tootchai” tea.
then there are red prostrating alternathera sessilis that can be harvested and boiled into a detox drink. a sprig of pandan leaf can be added if one finds the drink too “veggie”.
we also have RED BASIL which goes very well with spaghetti or pizza. this herb when grown at my home reverted to green instead of red. however, when i planted it in the garden, it was a glorious deep red.
of course, there are the regular different kinds of basil good for cooking n making “pestos sauce”.
i am trying to grow an assortment of mints. so far there are 3: the common peppermint, the black mint and methol mint. hope to have the variegated pineapple mint, apple mint and etc. there is also LEMON BALM. all these are very good to concoct up a unique cup of minty flavored tea. they can be eaten raw and is a good breathe refreshener.
now i patiently await to harvest the KNIFEBEAN growning at the rectangular meshed support. it’s flowering and fruiting. in about 1 or 2 mths, the bean should form n ready to be harvested.
the dwarf banana is quite deceiving by its tree size. in about 2 mths, the full grown banana fruits would be suprisingly large. (I hope so if they are still there and not stolen.)
unfruited young flower banana buds can be used to make a banana flower salad which is quite crunchy n nice. even the inner soft pith of the banana trunk can used to cook an unique curry dish. it tastes like cabbage.
Gardening is a very “alive” hobby. it’s HANDS ON and continual learning not only the joy of harvesting the crops of your labour but the intrinsic principle behind gardening.
it’s a “honest” hobby. u shall be rewarded with your PRECISE hardwork. precise meaning the tender loving care applied must be just about right. it’s not like u add more fertiliser when u see your plants growing or flowering. by doing so, your exuberance might kill the plants from excessive fertilser.
if u water too much, plant dies. too litte and it won’t perform optimally.
that’s the real meaning of “precise tender loving care ” .
i hope to share with everyone whatever humble plant knowledge and do share yours with us too. 🙂
to you and janet,
WELCOME TO OUR GROUP! 🙂
from bob and all the bambooers
ps: i m quite a computer retard. if not i would ve download and share all our previous plants sown from seeds. pai seh!
Bob, yes will do so later.
I’ll take some time to systematically document all the plants grown in our patch, with their photos, description etc.
Bob, thanks for your welcome message and look forward to meeting and getting to know all the other members of this group from this Friday onwards.