Is this a cycad?

 
 
 
Does anybody recognize this plant? I bought several small seedlings about two years ago from a retail outlet located in the shopping mall of 1 Utama and planted them in the Secret Garden on the roof. The plants grew and produced bulbous stems topped with closely clustered pinnate leaves. They look like cycads but I have not been able to identify them. The species has meanwhile disappeared from the market. This seems rather typical of the Malaysia horticultural market--somebody brings in one batch of plants (in this case probably as seeds), sells the lot, and moves on to something else. Some introductions persist while others fade out. This one may persist.

What monocot is this? Agavaceae

 
 
 

This plant has been in the Secret Garden of 1 Utama for several years. It came as tufted plants with stiff sharply pointed leaves. I planted one tuft in the cactus bed with other plants of arid climates because it looked like an agave. I planted another in a wet place. The plants thrived in both places but surprisingly it was the plant in the wet place that flowered. It produced a long slender inflorescence bearing a series of flowers, but failed to set fruits. The identity of the plant is a mystery. A friend has suggested Bromeliaceae, the pineapple family, but I think it is closer to Agavaceae the century-plant family.

Which Crinum lily is this?

 
 
This crinum lily was growing in a friend's garden at about 1000 m elevation at Genting Highlands near Kuala Lumpur where the climate is noticeably cooler than in Kuala Lumpur. I transferred some bulbs to the Secret Garden of 1 Utama (climatically in the lowlands, at about 100 m elevation), where it grows and flowers regularly, but whereas in the highlands the flowers open fully and face sideways, in 1 Utama they open less widely and face downwards. I thought this might be Crinum kirkii but the inflorescence stalk is long and carries the flower head way above the rather short cluster of leaves.

Solanaceae - Browallia?

 
This is a flowering creeper I found in a nursery in Bidor about two years ago. It flowers freely and is quite vigorous. The leaves are rough to touch. The plant does not produce any fruits, so it cannot be native to Malaysia. My guess is that it belongs to the family Solanaceae because the flowers remind of Browallia.

Tulip gentian, Eustoma gandiflorum, now in Kuala Lumpur

Here goes! My first attempt to put a picture in my blog, following the advice of Autumn Belle.

This plant appeared in a nursery in Sg Buloh last month. The flower looks like a rose but the leaves are simple and opposite. After searching in the botanical literature I narrowed the options down to the family Gentianaceae. Sure enough it turned out to be the 'tulip gentian' a species ranging from Southern USA to the northern part of S. America. It should thrive in Malaysia. The flowers come in a range of colours.

New horticultural plants in Malaysia

I make it a habit to regularly visit plant retail nurseries in Sungei Buloh at the northeastern edge of Kuala Lumpur to look for new plants. Every month there is something new. I buy the new plants to test in my various projects. Sometimes they do well, sometimes they fade away. The amazing thing is that new things keep coming in, and usually without any name.

What I would like to do in my blog is to feature new plants as I find them so as to build up a record of their appearance in the local market. I hope these pictures will prompt colleagues to provide identifications and clues about the origins of these plants.

I have not yet learnt how to post pictures in my blogs but this will be rectified in December when my son will be in KL to help me. In the meantime I have upgraded my access to broadband and my son has put a picture of myself in my profile.

Growing Papilionanthe hookeriana, the Kinta Orchid

The Kinta Orchid used to be so common that it was called the Kinta Weed. It used to thrive in the ponds created by tin-mining activities in the Kinta Valley. Now it is rarely seen in the wild. In nature it was associated with floating islands of aquatic vegetation formed by Hanguana malayana, a monocot with erect clusters of large leaves 1 m or more tall. The orchid has long slender stems and these stems were supported by the leaves of the Hanguana. The orchid inflorences would emerge when the orchid stems were about level with the tips of the Hanguana leaves.

In cultivation, Papilionanthe ochids including 'Miss Joachim' the national flower of Singapore, is tied to wooden posts. I have done this with the Kinta orchid, using posts 7 ft tall. However, the orchids, now 4 - 5 ft tall, are not flowering. I wonder if they need to overtop their supporting posts before they will flower. Does anybody have experience with this?

I am growing these orchids on the 30,000 sq ft rooftop Secret Garden of 1 Utama. The garden is open Saturdays and Sundays 10 am to 6 pm. Entrance is free. Yesterday I conducted a tour for a visiting group of Canadian garden feature writers and publishers, and they were very impressed. Canadians have probably the best gardens in the world, in Vancouver, so if Canadian garden feature writers say they are impressed, we have reason to celebrate.