dokmaigarden

The data from the press do not correspond well with what we can experience, the worst cool season ever. The Doi Inthanon mountain for instance is empty, the Chedi and Ratilanna hotels downtown are empty too. I agree it is hard for quality tourists to find the interesting spots, but there are many. The problem is that uneducated people try to give advice to educated people. To short-cut the filter of incompetence we need one (not hundreds) superior national tourist website containing all attractions and restaurants, preferably each page controlled by each venue. Then there is a direct-line between tourist and attraction, no incompetent middlemen. To make such a tourist site you need a well educated staff.

Ketsanee Seehamongkol, Dokmai Garden, Chiang Mai

Yes, it is tricky to ID something when the viewer has no picture of it. We do not even know if the orange plant was the fragrant one, or if the viewer saw an orange plant and then sensed another fragrant plant nearby. I agree that Canna has hardly no fragrance. Michelias are lovely, but they are hardly orange. An orange flower which is out in masses right now in Chiang Mai is Saraca indica, but the perfume is quite discrete. Since the viewer lives in Chiang Mai I invite her to Dokmai Garden in Hang Dong to sniff around. We have nearly 1000 species on display, including all three mentioned previosuly, so it is possible she will find what she seeks here.

Cheers, Eric

www.dokmaigarden.co.th

www.dokmaidogma.wordpress.com

Dear Jim,

Most welcome to Dokmai Garden, Chiang Mai. We have nearly 1000 tropical plants on display, of which 500 are signposted with names and facts in three languages. We have about 100 climbing species, so we should be happy to give suggestions. Open Tue-Sun 10-17.

Cheers, Eric Danell, scientific consultant

www.dokmaigarden.co.th

www.dokmaidogma.wordpress.com

Dear mushroom lovers,

We need to know more about the texture of the mushroom. Clavarias and Ramarias are brittle, while Xylarias are more 'woody' in their texture. There are some 72000 fungal species described in the world, but an estimated 1.5 million undescribed species remain, many in the tropics. Fungi are normal components of the soil. Their ability to degrade dead plant tissues is due to special enzymes in combination with an ability to mechanically break up tissues, something bacteria can not do. The fungi only become harmful if they degarde your house, or parasitise your plants. In this case, you seem safe.

Cheers, Eric Danell

Trying to visit the site of Dokmai, my virus controller gave me the following message:

The website at www.dokmaigarden.co.th contains elements from the site ciqx.in, which appears to host malware – software that can hurt your computer or otherwise operate without your consent. Just visiting a site that contains malware can infect your computer.

Good to be careful, but I had no problem/warning visiting the Dokmai site just now - and I have a lot of sophisticated "sniffer" stuff installed. Looks OK to me.

We are sorry about the virus, which caused our webhotel problems for a week. Even the police got their site infected, but we are safe and sound now. Welcome to visit our website, which contains a map and a list of 790 plant species. Eric Danell & Ketsanee Seehamongkol, Dokmai Garden.