Sunday 2 October 2011

My Tropical Toilet

A pink phalaenopsis hybrid
Much as I love English country gardens and the range of plants that can be grown in Britain I miss tropical gardens. I had a garden on the roof of my house in Bangkok, and grew a huge variety of orchids, palms and other tropical flowering shrubs and foliage plants.


Of all the plants I grew orchids were my favourites, and I had a fairly big collection. These were given to my father-in-law when I left Thailand. They now decorate his garden in Kanchanaburi in Western Thailand. I am going to Thailand for three weeks in December so will visit his garden then. Meanwhile here in the UK I have taken steps to add a touch of tropicality to our house here.

I have purchased or been given about twelve varieties of orchid, mostly phalaenopsis hybrids. After a little experimentation I have found that the bathroom is the best place for them. Most have re-flowered or continued to bloom since acquisition.

I will feature one variety of orchid at a time as they come into peak flowering condition. Meanwhile, here is one bathroom windowsill of phalaenopsis hybrids and a close up shot of one of the pink flowers.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I adore tropical flowers! have you any idea where I could get plants as great as yours!!??

Bangkok.Ian said...

I got most of mine from either garden centres or supermarkets. I have never paid the full price though. Wait until the first flush of flowers begins to fade and buy at a discounted rate. Sometimes the shop will reduce the cost, other times I have asked for a discount.
An orchid doesn't look very impressive without flowers so some have been a real bargain. After a few months or weeks another flower spike shoots up and it looks fantastic once more.
Don't forget to feed your plants and they will repay your care like mine have.