The Tropical Spice Garden

Penang, Pearl of the Orient, situated off the Malaysian north west coast, is a favourite destiny of many tourists, many of whom are from Europe especially UK and Australia. Some of them come on their yearly visit to reminiscence the colonial times and their stay here in the days of the world war two. In the case of the Australians, Penang Island and Butterworth across the channel housed the Australian airforce bases in the 60’s. One could go further back and imagine the times of the spice trade when Penang Island must be a thriving port of call. So it is fitting that we discover another gem on Penang Island, The Spice Garden.

One would think that there is no need for a formal spice garden as Penang has for years being a destination for even local tourists to visit botanical gardens and then laze on the beaches. The Penang Botanical gardens is the oldest botanical gardens in the country (look up Gardenasia issue no. 3) and from there we can follow trails up hill to the Penang Hill, another holiday destination. The trails up will give us the flora and fauna view of this rich Island and as the temperature up the hill changes, so does the flora. But not all have the stamina to climb hills and not all spices can be found on Penang hill and the botanical gardens. Obviously someone realised that we would appreciate having everything in a manageable area where we can sit and browse and enjoy a garden and yet have the jungle atmosphere. That is what The Tropical Spice Garden in Penang is all about.

A touching tale in Johor

In early October this year, our sister publication Laman Asia received a call from the headmistress, Puan Hajjah Masenah Bt Ishak of primary school, Sekolah Kebangsaan Parit Bilal in Johor. It had won second place in the regional competition for landscape architecture and Laman Asia was invited to do a write-up for that accomplishment. Garden Asia decided to tag along.

It was with great pleasure to discover a garden, especially in a school, utilized in such a manner to benefit everyone involved. This was no mere garden for the sake of beautification or enhancement, this was a garden used in its most fullest sense, to cultivate the knowledge within each plant, to understand the various rationalizations of the methods in which it was constructed and of course to enjoy the beauty which it brought to the school. 

Propagation of Cacti

One of the more enjoyable aspects of gardening plants is their propagation. Whether to a hobbyist or professional propagator, propagating plants is a rewarding endeavour. Due to the ease in propagating cacti, they are easily available in the nurseries.    

One of the most simple techniques for propagation of cacti is by stem or leaf cuttings. Sand is commonly used as a rooting medium. Columnar cacti should be stood up in an empty container to heal off, so the stems do not bow up. Often during the healing process, roots begin to form on columnar cacti in the absence of direct light.

Camouflage

Many months ago a young couple moved into a house they purchased and renovated. The garden has a lawn already turfed but the garden was sparsely planted. On one side of the lawn raphis has been planted but has grown to be quite straggly. But the most concern was the manhole covers which was unsightly and needed camouflaging. However they would not want a garden that needs to be nurtured and maintained, as both are busy executives. Garden Asia came up with some ideas and helped them to chose suitable plants and now the garden has grown and they can continue to add more plants if they wish to and has more time to spend on the garden.