May Flowering Trees ( Part II )

Yesterday I took an afternoon off to visit the Sarawak State Library ( Pustaka Sarawak ) and lucky I did. I rushed to return the books I borrowed earlier albeit with a fine of 5o cents for not having returned them yesterday.Hmmm...But better things to see outside the library.
I came across two flowering trees just around the library building. At the inset is a cu view of the inflorescence of the Rain Tree ( Enterolobium saman).
A ideal tree for car parks and big open spaces. There are home to a lot of wildlife and a wonderful host to ferns and orchids. Observe how the leaves curl by late afternoon. Over here the tree is sometimes referred to as 'Pukul Lima' ( Five O'clock Tree) to depict its particular habit of folding in its leaves as evening comes and will stay asleep in that mode throughout the night till the next early morning sun when its leaves slowly opens up to a new day. The inflorescence are in clusters, forming a gossamer web of delicate pink feathery flowers. The rain tree can reach a height of 20 m and its wide canopy can have a diameter of 20 m too. ( Please click at the inset to enlarge the photo)

Long Shot view of the Rain Tree ( Enterolobium saman ) outside the Sarawak State Library.

A few yards away from the library I saw a line of Tembusu ( Fagraea fragrans) trees in full flower. What differentiates the flowers of the Tembusu to the Rain Tree are in the strong fragrance that they exude to the atmosphere all around. Walking past the trees is like walking through a long corridor of perfumes. The inflorescence's are in clusters of sweetly scented long-tubed flowers that will appear white initially and will fade to cream as they age . I find these trees very prevalent in Kuching but not in other towns of Sarawak though there are native to this region. They are splendid ornamentals and wonderful trees to grow in big parks and open spaces as they can reach a height of 30 m.

LS View of flowering Tembusu Trees around Sarawak State Library park compounds, Kuching.

If a bird must be, she must be

Today I decided to have plenty of rest. I've been very busy the whole week that made me feel stressed but all for a good reason of which I'll speak about in later postings. Since we came to Kuching last week the front garden has given us much delight unceasingly greeting us with its colourful blooms . It has now become a popular spot for birds to perch and sing. Today Inul, our cat caught a chick from the garden and brought it in the house to show me. Before letting it free I took a close up view of it and reminded of a poem I wrote a long time ago. If a bird must be, she must be.

Windswept Lawn

Like a bird one day

I was out in the open air

rested on a tall casuarina branch

and looked onto the ground

It was a small garden

recently mown

the grasses were dense

dry and brown

The place was quiet

a little breeze blew

moved the silent leaves

and branches too

The house looked firm

friendly and warm

so I flew

to a lazy rattan chair

sat relaxed and heartily thought;

Here's indeed a place to rest

to seek a peaceful mind

a mind that will

remember and recall

this windswept lawn

the trees and house

I wish to be my own.

MOOD

Back to Bintulu

After a 10 hours journey through Sarawak's green countryside we arrived at 7.00 pm yesterday evening ( 27/4) in relative darkness at our farm in Bintulu. Throughout the whole journey the skies were cloudy and we encountered light showers briefly towards the middle part of the journey. Before leaving the house in Kuching I had a short morning workout in the garden. Planted plants where necessary and applied manure heavily to some of the beds. I was very happy to see the planting results to the front garden so far. Thus after I finished the early morning workout I took this close-up image of a pink canna ( inset) and the front garden too before departure. Canna blooms will last for about a week because other buds on the flowering stalk will open up in succession.

The front garden with orange flowers of the ixora coccinea at the foreground and two pink canna blooms in the middle background.


As usual our two cats Inul and Mama Daisy joined us to make this their 14th trip to Bintulu in their record breaking attempt for the most travelled cats in Sarawak. More stories of their adventure can be gleaned here.

On this trip we visited the town of Sarikei with about half of the journey covered. I insert below a picture of Sarikei 's express boat terminal. In the days of river transportation the terminal was very busy because it was the only means of travel to and out of the town. While today the mode of travelling by road is more popular it cannot yet replace the express boats for upriver or downriver destinations .

Boats at Sarikei Express Boat Terminal


A river scene at Selangau, the last leg of the journey.

Most longhouses or 'kampungs' in Sarawak are sited along major rivers to capitalise on its water resource for drinking, bathing, washing, cooking, etc,. and for means of transport.

The farm at 7.00 pm showing a new moon on the western sky.

Orchids at Satok Flower Market

On every Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning when the weather is fine it's pleasant to be at the Satok flower market. The flower market exists only during the weekend when the shopping crowd gathers for the best bargain on food and other domestic essentials that are the prime appeal to the shopping experience here. And the flower market is just another delightful add- on to the shopping fiesta which originally started on Sundays but over the years has moved slightly forward due to popular demand. At the flower market new plants varieties are regularly showcased by nursery owners around Kuching. Today I was extremely impressed by the rich and spectacular collection of orchids available for sale. You can have a good idea of the many varieties by clicking the video below.( Note: The quality of the video may not be excellent. Guess it must be my nervous hands and too eager feet. Anyway , hope you'll enjoy it :))

Close up of 'Normah Orchid' above was taken at the Padawan Wild Orchids and Pitcher Plants Centre sometime ago.

Kuching Garden Progress

20 April'09

Our front garden in Kuching is now about 1 year 4 months old. The planting progress photographs are shown below. Up to this point my initial design concept is more or less achieved. Just this month I added one cordyline plant, variegated yellow in colour for that golden sparkle to the garden. Now every morning I'll take a brief excercise at the front porch and then go for a bicycle ride around the neighbourhood. It's good for the health.

20 April'09

4 Dec.'08

7 June'08

30 March'08

18 Dec.'07

Trailing Parasol

Who's that wearing the Chinese Hat at the fence? Her face red in the hot sun? Looking chubby all day long? Are the Dragon girls in town? Like light umbrellas or a hundred beach umbrellas shielding us from the hot sun, these tiny inflorescences of the Cup and Saucer plants ( Holmekioldia sanguinea) are having a fantastic time trailing along my south fence . It was not easy for me to get them established since five months ago. But once set, they spread along the low fence fast albeit with a little help from a caring hand. Now my idea of having a fence that is glowing in orangy red inflorescence's daily is achieved. On closer look the Holmekiolda sanguinea plant has crimson trumpet-like flowers ( here looking like cups) that protrude from a base of orange-red calyxes -that resemble saucers. This Cup and Saucer plant is best grown in the open sun and needs support like the metal fence to encourage its trailing or shall I say foraging habit. I'm inclined to believe after seeing this tiny success that the Holmekioldia is an excellent tropical trailer for small urban gardens.

Scenes around the Sarawak Museum Garden

Today I went to see the Sarawak Museum grounds.  The Sarawak Museum building has stood the test of time since it was built in 1891 by Charles Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak.

This is the view of the garden area of the Sarawak Museum seen from the back of the building. The Sarawak Museum building is in the middle ground of the picture. The tall building in the background is the Merdeka Palace, a 5-star hotel within walking distance of the museum.

The road sign indicates other buildings located close by the museum ground. This is the gradual climb  leading to the front of the museum building.

Walking up the small hill on which the museum is situated I met a line of the tropical and native palm of Sarawak called the  sealing wax palm ( Cyrtostachys renda) having orange sheaths. This variety is unique because normally the prevalent variety is the red coloured ones.

An interesting garden feature within the museum garden grounds. There are plenty of blooms that caught my attention today like the official flower of Malaysia called the hibiscus ( Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) or the shoe flower grown by the many colours and varieties as shown below.

A Drunken Sailor in Kuching

It beats me why this beautiful creeper is hilariously called  'The Drunken Sailor'.  My best guess is that its flowers first appear as white then gradually changes to red as it stays older.  It's a hardy climber and can reach pergolas, fences and roofs of building in quick time.

A CU View the 'Rangoon Creeper' flowers on a Kuching wall.

The flowers are fragrant indeed and due to that is referred to also as 'red jasmine' on account of its jasmine-like petals and strong scent. Otherwise it is commonly known too as the 'Rangoon Creeper'(Quisqualis indica) which probably indicates its tropical origins i.e. Rangoon ( Myanmar, previously Burma)

Red frangipani flowers

While shopping at Gambier Street in down town Kuching, I stopped by the jetty to watch the serenity of the Sarawak River and the rustic and historical 'Astana' on the opposite riverbank. The Astana is the official residence of the Governor of Sarawak now. I was taken aback by the blood red colours of the above frangipani species planted in planter boxes in front of the shophouses area. I have often seen pink or a mixture of pink and orange colours but pure red colours are hard to come by.