Showing 1 - 10 of 32
Orchids are born to be wild
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 26/02/2012
» While we were staying in a hotel during a family holiday in Prachuap Khiri Khan, the friendly hotel owner suggested that we make a side trip to Dan Singkhon near the Thai-Myanmar border. ''There's a thriving market there for wild orchids from Burma,'' she said. I had heard of Dan Singkhon before, but although Prachuap Khiri Khan is my family's favourite holiday destination and we go there every chance we get, we had never been to Dan Singkhon. It's not because we don't like orchids, but buying orchids taken from the wild is tantamount to encouraging poachers to go back to the forests to collect more plants to sell in the market.
These trees love a sea breeze
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 04/03/2012
» Marc Jacqueline and his wife have acquired a piece of land near Khanom Bay in Nakhon Si Thammarat and want to plant trees around their property to define its borders. ''We were planning to use mango and coconut trees, but maybe we should look at alternatives such as teak or Acacia mangium or Caesalpinia pulcherrima,'' he wrote.
Make the moist of it
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 18/03/2012
» The exact number of trees killed by the floods that devastated nearly one third of Thailand from August last year to mid-January may never be known. But if we take into consideration the fact that no tree is able to remain alive in stagnant water for long, it is safe to estimate that hundreds of thousands if not millions of trees were wiped out. After years of hard labour tending their fruit trees, orchard growers in provinces ravaged by the floods will have to start all over again.
Some plants not as thirsty as you d-think
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 15/04/2012
» Regular reader Ole Tarp sent me an email from Hua Hin seeking advice about his plumeria, or frangipani tree. ''It is blooming beautifully this month,'' he wrote. ''The problem is that it will do so only one month per year.
Make fruitful use of even the tiniest space
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 01/07/2012
» Last week, ''Green Fingers'' discussed some fruit trees that will fit a small yard. Mango trees are usually big, but you can plant one if you want. Just make sure that the sapling has been propagated by marcotting, which means it has been rooted from a mature plant. It will therefore be easier to fashion into a small tree than a sapling which has been grown from seed.
Oh sod it: The way to ensure the grass is always greener
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 23/09/2012
» Vikrom Suebsaeng's one-storey house in Muang Ake was submerged in 2.30m of stagnant water for more than six weeks. The flood took almost everything away and repairs have been estimated at about one million baht. About 70% of the trees and plants on his 325 wah (1,300 square metres) of land have died, the soil has hardened and the grass is gone. ''My worry is not with the trees or plants which can be bought and grown again,'' he wrote. ''I want to have my grass back and would like to have your advice on the most economical way of reviving the soil so that I can have beautiful green grass again.''
The secrets of citrus
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 28/10/2012
» Having a fruit-bearing lime, lemon or calamondin tree is like having a kitchen herb garden. It is very convenient to just pick a fruit or two if and whenever you need it to prepare a dish or refreshing drink. However, what would you do if you had a five-year-old tree that does not produce fruit?
Scientists, Step away from the pineapple
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 16/12/2012
» Arose by any other name would smell just as sweet. Similarly, a pineapple by any other name would still taste like pineapple. But what if the pineapple tastes like coconut? According to an AFP report, researchers from Australia's Department of Agriculture in Queensland are in the final stages of developing a new variety of pineapple which has the taste of coconut. The new variety, to be known as the AusFestival pineapple, is reportedly sweet and very juicy.
Possibilities bloom for gardeners at annual flora fair
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 03/02/2013
» Since I really have no more space for them, buying plants was the farthest thing from my mind when I attended the opening of the eight-day Eastern Flora Exhibition and Contest in Chon Buri, which ended last Sunday. But my resolve vanished when I saw adenium, or chuan chom in Thai, hybrids I had never seen before. Many had double petals and looked like roses, and came in different colour combinations, like dark red bordered by black, or light green splashed with pink. In my mind, I suddenly found space for them on the small balcony in my bedroom, and my husband, ML Charuphant, and I went home loaded with plants.
Once again, Kaset fair blossomed brightly
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 10/02/2013
» The national agricultural fair annually held at Kasetsart University, commonly known as the Kaset Fair, has become synonymous with sweet tamarind. Every year, tonnes of Phetchabun's most famous product occupy a whole block and this year's fair, held from Jan 31 and wrapping up yesterday, was no exception.