Showing 11 - 20 of 236
The strength of the land
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 23/10/2016
» I once wrote an article about His Majesty the King's Royal Project for an information and policy studies institute in London, which commissioned me to write about development issues in this part of the world.
Oasis in the concrete jungle
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 30/10/2016
» It rained hard in the wee hours of the morning that day I went to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital two weeks ago. As I walked past the Department of Laboratory Medicine building, a sudden burst of sound filled the air. I stopped to look and listen, and was mesmerised by what I saw.
Desert bloom
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 04/09/2016
» Arun Kumar Paul sent me an email from Kolkata, India, to say that he loved plants like his own life. "I have a few adenium plants," he added, "but I have little knowledge of their culture. Could you give me some ideas?"
Nurturing fruits of your labour
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 11/09/2016
» Many gardeners could not get their plants to bloom, much less bear fruit. Reader Murray Thomas' problem is just the opposite. His potted lime tree is exploding with fruit and more flowers are on the way. "As many as 15 small fruit on a single small branch," he wrote. "The tree is about 1.5 metres tall.
Clearing the air
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 18/09/2016
» I posted a photo of a plant on Facebook and was pleased with the interest that it aroused among some friends. "What is it?" several asked. "Is it aloe vera? Is it malunggay [maroom in Thai]?"
Surviving the desert
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 25/09/2016
» In last week's Green Fingers, I mentioned that most plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen during the day but sansevierias do just the opposite: They purify and freshen the air at night while we are asleep. How do they do it?
Let the sunshine in
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 02/10/2016
» A Filipino friend of mine who lives in the US was enamoured with a plant he saw on Facebook. It was rather expensive but he bought it anyway. The seller was in the Philippines so he had it delivered to his sister, with whom he stays during his visits home.
Not just the bee's knees
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 24/07/2016
» Following the column on pollination two weeks ago, regular reader Bob Neylon wrote from Pattaya to say that he had a small vegetable garden as well as many fruit trees and shrubs. A couple of years ago, he bought a hive of the stingless variety of bees from the local agriculture department to pollinate his plants. "They have been OK but no real big deal," he wrote.
Embracing bee season
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 31/07/2016
» I was standing on the veranda of our country home when I noticed a swarm of little white butterflies milling around the canopy of a rainbow eucalyptus. The tree was in bloom, and as I watched the butterflies fluttering from flower to flower, I could not help but marvel at the wonders of nature. Where did the butterflies come from? Other plants were in bloom as well, but why were they only attracted to this particularly tree? I had no doubt in my mind that the flowers were also pollinated by bees and other insects, but why were they visited by only one kind of butterfly?
A shrub with the golden touch
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 07/08/2016
» Some gardeners like to grow shrubs and trees that attract birds, bees and butterflies to their garden. One shrub that bees just can't leave alone is Xanthostemon chrysanthus, commonly known as golden penda in its native Australia. It was brought to Thailand by a Chiang Mai plant enthusiast who fell in love with it at first sight during a visit to Queensland in Australia, and named it rak raek pob (love at first sight).