Showing 1 - 10 of 20
Ginger up
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 27/11/2016
» Regular reader Paul Schiller sent me a photo of a plant growing in a flower pot at his summer home in Khao Lak, Phangnga province. "Do you know this small beauty?" he asked. The plant was a cluster of lance-shaped bright green leaves, with a terminal pendant inflorescence hanging from each stem. What's attractive about the plant was the unusual inflorescence, which comprised of showy, widely spaced purple bracts. From the base of each bract emerged the long, tube-like pedicel of a small yellow flower. The plant's stems and leaves are those characteristically belonging to members of the ginger family.
Don’t leave it in distress
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 06/11/2016
» Deeporne Beardsley wrote from Tucson, Arizona, to say that she and her husband are volunteers in a local university hydroponics greenhouse. “Today, the abbot of Wat Buddhametta, Ajarn Saraut, showed me two potted bodhi trees and asked why the leaves of one were turning yellow,” she wrote.
Sparing some expense
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 21/08/2016
» When my now adult children were in primary school, bananas were so cheap that we fed kluay namwa to our pet birds. My late father, who was visiting from the Philippines, made it his duty to feed the birds while my husband and I were at work and the children were in school.
No slacking off in hunt for salak
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 14/08/2016
» Roy Cruise sent me an email asking where to find chempedak (Artocarpus integer), salak (Salacca zalacca) and gandaria (Bouea macrophylla) in Thailand. A friend of his in Cavite, Philippines, had asked him to look for the said fruit trees but he has not been able to find them in Mae Hong Son, where he lives. "I was wondering if you had any idea where I may find them?" he asked.
Changing the landscape
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 26/06/2016
» Thomas Loke wrote to say that he does landscaping and hopes to use bromeliads in his future designs. He wants to know whether there is going to be a bromeliad fair this year.
Flowers of flame
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 10/04/2016
» The Tabebuia rosea, or chompoo panthip, on Kasetsart University's Kamphaeng Saen campus in Nakhon Pathom province caused a traffic jam as it attracted people from far and near last February. The trees were planted on both sides of the road and when they dropped all their leaves, only to be blanketed by flowers all at the same time, they were a sight to behold.
All the small things
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 20/03/2016
» Records show that the Japanese have practised the art of bonsai, or cultivating miniature trees in pots and trays, since the 9th century. However, for hundreds of years it remained the preserve of monks and the nobility. It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that it gained popularity at every level of the Japanese society.
Trumpeting the invasion
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 13/03/2016
» The herald’s trumpet or Easter lily vine (Beaumontia grandiflora aka Beaumontia murtonii, known as hiranyika in Thai) along the fence of the neighbour across the street from my house is in bloom again. The large and attractive white flowers have a lovely scent, especially in the early morning, and I often cross the street to give the flowers a sniff.
Getting it all ship-shape
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 28/02/2016
» Sean G wrote to ask for help with contact information for a phytosanitary certification. “I hear that it is done at Kasetsart University but I can’t find anything online and this is the only article I can find that is relevant,” he said, referring to the May 17, 2015, Green Fingers page titled “Have plants, will travel”.
Why tamarind seems to keep a peeling
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 21/02/2016
» Regular reader Paul Schiller and his wife Beatrix are long-time residents of Khao Lak in Phangnga, where they seek warmth during the cold winter months in their home country, Austria. They were on holiday in Hua Hin recently when they saw an unfamiliar fruit. “Today in Hua Hin, nobody knows this, I got not even a Thai name,” Mr Schiller wrote in his email asking for help in identifying the said fruit.