: Then and Now.

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In the midst of a 21st century concrete jungle of Singapore, I protected myself with a green jungle, giving reprieve and enjoyment to my overseas friends. I had a gardening column in a website which provided a lot of information on "How to grow in a tropical island"

Here are just some of my plants.

Johor Ferns give a good carpet cover

I grew the bird's nest fern from a little seedling, and put it under a big tree.

Blue ginger for curry, Thai and Chinese dishes.

Peace lily.

The others are local herbs.


Native plants do not need much taken care of, they don't need much water, and are excellent plants to grow when you don't have the time for plants that need TLC.

When you visit Singapore, and go out to the west, you will come to the Nanyang Technological University. You will see many manicured gardens. You will also see a patch of green. Depending on who or what are you, you will see it as either a piece of natural paradise, or a piece of eye sore.

This is a legacy left by me after living 16 years there. What started was similar to the allotment in UK. The university didn't like the residents to plant any where, and after lots of negotiation, they gave us this plot. Unfortunately, it was at a slope and under big rain trees whose canopy blocked the sun.

Friends came to plant and left frustrated by the plants failing to grow. I was the only one undeter, I didn't care if people stole my bananas, because I didn't like to eat them or took the leaves, the pandan leaves as I didn't use them. But I did care when they pulled up my clumps of lemon grass. Any way, I had fun getting my fingers dirty.