Gardening On The Islands

[GermanPrimrose]

Hi

Thanks Jim

HA! That's what I like best - finding stuff in my garden I haven't really noticed. Great find, Joe!

Do any of you grow mirabilis jalapa? Is it hardy in your island climate?

Greetz

GermanPrimrose

Edited November 30, 2011 by GermanPrimrose

[samuijimmy]

hey jimmy i just got done looking through your album to see if i could spot, and hopefully name, a couple of plants in my yard.

i will try to get a couple of photos but i only ever use my iphone so quality is an issue.

i'm really perplexed about a bush growing around my yard. it was obviously planted there specifically but never taken care of so it's quite pathetic really, nothing much to look at but it has the most intoxicatingly wonderful fragrance that only happens at night but it's not a night blooming jasmine. it's more like an abelia based only on the flowers but i used to live in an area overgrown with honeysuckle and they are fragrant all day. 5 of these neglected bushes planted around my houses are enough to perfume my entire large (by local standards) yard. interestingly enough, there probably aren't even 8 or 10 flowers on any of the bushes, one bush in particular isn't even flowering. i want to start paying them some attention because they are amazingly fragrant. love it. comparing photos online and the plants in my yard are absolutely pathetic. less than 10 flowers on the entire bush whereas an abelia can and should have dozens if not hundreds of flowers.

it's an evergreen, one "bush" is barely over a foot tall and i've got another at 7 or 8 ft tall. each bush is at least 5 years old. since they've been there for longer than i have i can't really change the soil but i'd like to start giving them some attention to encourage more of it. i think they are pathetic now due to the land owners "management" style. for the first year i lived there, he would basically come to the house once every 6 months and scalp/hard prune literally everything, even the grass. nothing would survive this guy. i asked him not to come back anymore and all living things are much happier now.

Yeah Iphone and Ipad images do not look good on the "big screen" another reason I got rid of my Ipad...

This plant sounds like the one Thai's love to use as a hedge... not quite the the same as Abelia, but some what close... I actually don't like it, or its sickly smell (to me... but then too I don't like the smell of Gardenias, which most people seem to love ) The leaves look a bit like privet, flowers smaller than what I remember Abelia flowers were like...

It could be Wrightia religosa, just glancing through my book,(Plants for Landscape Architectural Uses in Thailand) but then too it could be Murraya paniculata??? No Thai neighbours around at moment to verify... but I just took a picture of what I think it might be.... not many flowers at the moment. I will try to post image when I have a bit more time.... But you can try too!

Sounds like you need a fertilizer program to get your plants up to snuff!

Now back to sorting pictures for the TV calender.... which is what I started doing ... no more interruptions please!

JIMMY!!!!!!!!

nailed it on the first guess! it is wrightia religiosa for sure!

this one was definitely throwing me for a loop. so many similarities to both night blooming jasmine and abelia's. i will buy you a cold beer sometime, you saved me quite a bit of googling tonight haha.

had no idea it was as common as the link states, can't remember ever smelling this fragrance here in nearly 6 years now. thanks jimmy!

oh I am so good.....

One cold beer....? I think we are up to a case by now!

I am on KP tomorrow, hoping I might make it to the Organic farm, if I have time... other things to do too...

[samuijimmy]

Hi

Thanks Jim

HA! That's what I like best - finding stuff in my garden I haven't really noticed. Great find, Joe!

Do any of you grow mirabilis jalapa? Is it hardy in your island climate?

Greetz

GermanPrimrose

Think I have seen the purple version around, just one of those plants that is not very photogenic ... so I tend to by pass.... but then too I have probably hundreds of pictures of plants that get locked in to series of images, and I never find the time to sort them out....

I just did a quick Google on it,

Mirabilis

Some of the more colourful ones look OK, not sure that I have seen them here.... I'll keep my eyes open!

[GermanPrimrose]

I have the first one on this page: http://dracaena-drac...rblume_rotpink/

And I collected seeds of the second one. The seeds look like mini grenades

For a while, I had the impression that they open shortly before the rain. Then I read up on them, and they close during morning and reopen during 4-5pm. They stay open all night and even smell a little!

As the seeds spend winter in the garden unharmed and bud around Mai, I don't have any work with them. They spread if I let them and have conquered a whole qm. For fun, I dug out one of the tubers and keep it in the house just to see whether I can get it to sprout in spring. But probably the seeds are quicker.

Next I'll try for more colourful hybrids by sowing the yellow-red seeds into the same place. I think I have some white ones somewhere, too...I'm saving seed listing for winter.

Jim, those double flowered hibiscus are so great! I guess they come in more colours than just peach, right? They do not look like the hardy type so I'm guessing rosa sinensis...possible?

They look like a real GP must-have

Edited November 30, 2011 by GermanPrimrose

[sbk]

I had a whole bunch of these, they are called Marvel of Peru or obviously enough, Four O'Clocks in English, dton ban yen in Thai I think, They cross pollinate too, but they didnt' get watered one very hot dry season when I was visiting the US and died, along with my very large sweet basil bush

[GermanPrimrose]

Oh, that's bitter. Irrigating is a big issue in your climate anyway as I understand. Were you able to save some seeds at least?

Sweet basil? Do you mean tulsi?

I know some of the usual basil varieties as Thai basil, Genova basil etc and also have a tulsi/holy basil here right next to me on my desk. I'm curious to lear about the varieties you have in what is to me "over there".

Am I allowed to post pics as I am not living in Thailand? Probably only pics of individual plants as my garden can't be interesting to you guys

[sbk]

Sadly, it was sweet basil, grown from seed I had brought from the US. Staff and hubby didn't water as needed.

[GermanPrimrose]

I get it now: "Sweet basil" is the name of the common basil (the one we get to buy in pots here at discount supermarkets). That took a while, sorry! I thought you were talking about a basil variety with a really sweet scent as there are some

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil

Are you from the US?

Is it difficult to get sweet basil seeds in Thailand?

Edited December 1, 2011 by GermanPrimrose

[samuijimmy]

I get it now: "Sweet basil" is the name of the common basil (the one we get to buy in pots here at discount supermarkets). That took a while, sorry! I thought you were talking about a basil variety with a really sweet scent as there are some

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil

Are you from the US?

Is it difficult to get sweet basil seeds in Thailand?

Sweet Basil or what is also called Italian Basil Seed is sometimes available... this year I could not find locally here (Samui or Koh Phangan, the "garage" in Tonsala "no have" this year) They did have it a couple of years ago, and it did well from April until about October or until the rains came....

One needs to prevent it from flowering and going to seed.

The local Hydroponic Greenhouse guy grows it near me...I know he gets his seed in BKK...

It's easier to get off him, than pinch it and weed it! His was still hanging in there when I saw it the other day.... but under plastic.... and too this year so far we've not had much rain on the islands.

Perhaps next year we'll make you our source of shipping seeds...

Edited December 2, 2011 by samuijimmy

[joe84330]

tesco has those seeds, quite a few. not in the normal gardening aisle but on the far end, close to the helmets and water pumps.

they probably had at least 10 packets of sweet basil seeds. not sure i'd count on any good germination rates from seed sold like that but it is what it is.

[samuijimmy]

I have the first one on this page: http://dracaena-drac...rblume_rotpink/And I collected seeds of the second one. The seeds look like mini grenades :DFor a while, I had the impression that they open shortly before the rain. Then I read up on them, and they close during morning and reopen during 4-5pm. They stay open all night and even smell a little! As the seeds spend winter in the garden unharmed and bud around Mai, I don't have any work with them. They spread if I let them and have conquered a whole qm. For fun, I dug out one of the tubers and keep it in the house just to see whether I can get it to sprout in spring. But probably the seeds are quicker.Next I'll try for more colourful hybrids by sowing the yellow-red seeds into the same place. I think I have some white ones somewhere, too...I'm saving seed listing for winter.Jim, those double flowered hibiscus are so great! I guess they come in more colours than just peach, right? They do not look like the hardy type so I'm guessing rosa sinensis...possible?They look like a real GP must-have

Quote German Permrose:

"Those double flowered hibiscus are so great! I guess they come in more colours than just peach, right? They do not look like the hardy type so I'm guessing rosa sinensis...possible?

They look like a real GP must-have "

I have a number of red flowering ones too. About this time last year I made a hedge of them easy to take cuttings, pencil sized stems about 30 cm long, stuck in the ground... now about 2 metres (6-7 feet).

Last week end I saw a pink flowering one at a resort....which I had not seen before... (oh I must remember to carry pruners along with me, at all times! ) I will head back there one day and do some "pruning"! ... of course give them a different coloured one in return...

I just did a quick web search and could not find the ones I have... perhaps will have more time if the rainy season comes this year! Not sure if it would be "sinensis" or not... I have another one that looks like a Japanese Lantern...

Many of these varieties one never sees in garden centres here, so it's a matter of "horse trading"

Edited December 2, 2011 by samuijimmy

[GermanPrimrose]

Hi,

One needs to prevent it from flowering and going to seed.

that's probably what you should NOT do - why not keep one batch flower-free and trimmed and another one for seed-winning? You could make your own seed.

Perhaps next year we'll make you our source of shipping seeds...

Well, that's an option - I know where to get masses of well-germinating seed baggies.

Basil cross-pollutes, doesn't it? I keep Sweet/Italian Basil, Tulsi ("Holy Basil", really sweet in the true sense of the word), Thai Basil, Greek Basil, African Blue Basil, "Green Pepper", Variegated Basil (green+white leaves), and Anis Basil in pots (slug protection), and as they stand in the same sunny corner, I guess the seeds I collected will show some surprises. Hopefully tasty ones.

The double-flowered hibiscus is definitely rosa sinensis, let me give some Google references:

http://hortuscamden....-var.-variegata

http://www.almostede...pexd.asp?id=610

I would have to keep it in pots and carry it into the house. Well, sooo worth it.

Red + pink sound great!

I will head back there one day and do some "pruning"! ... of course give them a different coloured one in return...

That's what I do, too. Everybody happy!

I swap a lot with garden friends throughout Germany. One of them gave me this beauty here this year:

http://www.profimedi...-0009458717.jpg

They never open their flowers totally. I love the colour and really hope that it blooms next year. It's only about 30 cm tall but at least it's said to be hardy.

Ah, do think of those pruners, Jim

I saw the cut-down crown of a cherry tree lying on the ground for 3 days and hadn't any pruners in my bag. Now they're gone. It's the time to get Santa Barbara twigs for the vase which will bloom around Christmas. They say it brings good luck. However, the trees and shrubs are budding so eagerly due to our untypically mild autumn that I doubt they'll wait until Christmas. It's on Santa Barbara, 4th Dec, that people get those twigs. I might start cutting some, too, as a first . It's a catholic tradition, but I don't really care.

Have you heard of those Dutch breedings, 'Newbiscus'?

Greetz

'Permrose'

Edited December 2, 2011 by GermanPrimrose

[samuijimmy]

tesco has those seeds, quite a few. not in the normal gardening aisle but on the far end, close to the helmets and water pumps.

they probably had at least 10 packets of sweet basil seeds. not sure i'd count on any good germination rates from seed sold like that but it is what it is.

Oh missed this one this morning Joe, well the last pack of sweet basil I got has turned out to be the Holy Basil, said sweet on pack... not what I was hoping as the Italian kind...no picture if I remember....

Cannot remember if I got at Tesco or where now, but I know the racks you mean... too many things that don't do well here...

That's what happens when you have National buyers, trying to supply stores in different areas, they used to do that in Canada, Toronto, buyers picking stuff for Vancouver, (totally different climate) would be the same for U.S.A as well.... Attention Walmart Shoppers! Buyers from California supplying stores in North Dakota!

[itishothere]

As a warning, when you buy those seeds in Tescos, check the sell-by date. I didn't. Turned out they were 3 years out of date, and you won't beileve this, but not a single one germinated!

[GermanPrimrose]

So Holy Basil is known in Thailand, too - do they also put it within the entrance area?

[samuijimmy]

So Holy Basil is known in Thailand, too - do they also put it within the entrance area?

There are a number of herbs the Thai's use... having close to a door or kitchen would be convenient! I believe it is the Holy basil, they use the most, as they Italian kind we know, they don't seem to like.... that's grown for us "farangs"!

Cilantro, is commonly grown and used, here, as is Dill... there are a few others, but I am not familiar with them, some actually taste OK.

Then there is the leaves of a very thorny small tree, they use which if one gets scratched takes days to stop itching & heal... Perhaps SBK knows the name of it? I don't like the taste of it... but quite commonly used by the Thais... definitely an acquired taste... something her hubby would not have to water... once established of course

As for seeds germinating, even seeds that are a few years old would have some viability, especially when vacuum packed.... Percentage would drop.... it's a matter of TLC when they are sown... not letting the dry out etc Covering with some shade cloth sometimes helps, while they germinate.... also prevents the chickens and birds eating the seed...

[sbk]

You don't mean Kaffir lime do you jimmy?

[samuijimmy]

You don't mean Kaffir lime do you jimmy?

No, Kaffir lime leaves taste good compared to the plant I mean.... This tree has much smaller lighter leaves and a lot more thorns..(having mental block on leaf formation term (Penical? (sp)...it's not coming to me and spell check not helping!) Tons of them growing around me here, I get bitten every time I walk close to them....

OK, just went out and got a pic of similar leaves! They use the new leaves of this for cooking too.... Leaves on the plant I mean is similar to this, but a bit finer, I am surprised the plants I mean have been removed... yeah! perhaps the neighbours feed up with being bitten too....

Posted here: pic of prickly herb tree!

Edited December 3, 2011 by samuijimmy

[sbk]

The leaves on the itchy plant are smaller and finer than this? same dark color?

[samuijimmy]

The leaves on the itchy plant are smaller and finer than this? same dark color?

yeah, I just tried to change the picture title, when I realized I missed changing title, my time was up to edit the picture link! Yes you are correct ... I will find the real McCoy... bound to be some around still around!

Leaf formation similar!.... taste

[samuijimmy]

hey jimmy i just got done looking through your album to see if i could spot, and hopefully name, a couple of plants in my yard.

i will try to get a couple of photos but i only ever use my iphone so quality is an issue.

i'm really perplexed about a bush growing around my yard. it was obviously planted there specifically but never taken care of so it's quite pathetic really, nothing much to look at but it has the most intoxicatingly wonderful fragrance that only happens at night but it's not a night blooming jasmine. it's more like an abelia based only on the flowers but i used to live in an area overgrown with honeysuckle and they are fragrant all day. 5 of these neglected bushes planted around my houses are enough to perfume my entire large (by local standards) yard. interestingly enough, there probably aren't even 8 or 10 flowers on any of the bushes, one bush in particular isn't even flowering. i want to start paying them some attention because they are amazingly fragrant. love it. comparing photos online and the plants in my yard are absolutely pathetic. less than 10 flowers on the entire bush whereas an abelia can and should have dozens if not hundreds of flowers.

it's an evergreen, one "bush" is barely over a foot tall and i've got another at 7 or 8 ft tall. each bush is at least 5 years old. since they've been there for longer than i have i can't really change the soil but i'd like to start giving them some attention to encourage more of it. i think they are pathetic now due to the land owners "management" style. for the first year i lived there, he would basically come to the house once every 6 months and scalp/hard prune literally everything, even the grass. nothing would survive this guy. i asked him not to come back anymore and all living things are much happier now.

Yeah Iphone and Ipad images do not look good on the "big screen" another reason I got rid of my Ipad...

This plant sounds like the one Thai's love to use as a hedge... not quite the the same as Abelia, but some what close... I actually don't like it, or its sickly smell (to me... but then too I don't like the smell of Gardenias, which most people seem to love ) The leaves look a bit like privet, flowers smaller than what I remember Abelia flowers were like...

It could be Wrightia religosa, just glancing through my book,(Plants for Landscape Architectural Uses in Thailand) but then too it could be Murraya paniculata??? No Thai neighbours around at moment to verify... but I just took a picture of what I think it might be.... not many flowers at the moment. I will try to post image when I have a bit more time.... But you can try too!

Sounds like you need a fertilizer program to get your plants up to snuff!

Now back to sorting pictures for the TV calender.... which is what I started doing ... no more interruptions please!

Here is a close up picture of what I think is Wrightia ... the plants are not looking so good, as they have not been sheared or fertilized!

Wrightia Flower Pic here....

Edited December 3, 2011 by samuijimmy

[samuijimmy]

The leaves on the itchy plant are smaller and finer than this? same dark color?

yeah, I just tried to change the picture title, when I realized I missed changing title, my time was up to edit the picture link! Yes you are correct ... I will find the real McCoy... bound to be some around still around!

Leaf formation similar!.... taste

OK here is the picture of the right plant, I meant to show... I knew I would not have to go too far to find it....(must have that second cup of coffee, before posting! )

It's name is something like, "Shuk Om" in Thai. Not something most westerners would like... I don't think... sort of sour a taste... I suppose one could acquire a taste for it!

It's thorns are very vicious, and is the one SBK mentioned... itches for days...

Picture here:

[joe84330]

hey jimmy i just got done looking through your album to see if i could spot, and hopefully name, a couple of plants in my yard.

i will try to get a couple of photos but i only ever use my iphone so quality is an issue.

i'm really perplexed about a bush growing around my yard. it was obviously planted there specifically but never taken care of so it's quite pathetic really, nothing much to look at but it has the most intoxicatingly wonderful fragrance that only happens at night but it's not a night blooming jasmine. it's more like an abelia based only on the flowers but i used to live in an area overgrown with honeysuckle and they are fragrant all day. 5 of these neglected bushes planted around my houses are enough to perfume my entire large (by local standards) yard. interestingly enough, there probably aren't even 8 or 10 flowers on any of the bushes, one bush in particular isn't even flowering. i want to start paying them some attention because they are amazingly fragrant. love it. comparing photos online and the plants in my yard are absolutely pathetic. less than 10 flowers on the entire bush whereas an abelia can and should have dozens if not hundreds of flowers.

it's an evergreen, one "bush" is barely over a foot tall and i've got another at 7 or 8 ft tall. each bush is at least 5 years old. since they've been there for longer than i have i can't really change the soil but i'd like to start giving them some attention to encourage more of it. i think they are pathetic now due to the land owners "management" style. for the first year i lived there, he would basically come to the house once every 6 months and scalp/hard prune literally everything, even the grass. nothing would survive this guy. i asked him not to come back anymore and all living things are much happier now.

Yeah Iphone and Ipad images do not look good on the "big screen" another reason I got rid of my Ipad...

This plant sounds like the one Thai's love to use as a hedge... not quite the the same as Abelia, but some what close... I actually don't like it, or its sickly smell (to me... but then too I don't like the smell of Gardenias, which most people seem to love ) The leaves look a bit like privet, flowers smaller than what I remember Abelia flowers were like...

It could be Wrightia religosa, just glancing through my book,(Plants for Landscape Architectural Uses in Thailand) but then too it could be Murraya paniculata??? No Thai neighbours around at moment to verify... but I just took a picture of what I think it might be.... not many flowers at the moment. I will try to post image when I have a bit more time.... But you can try too!

Sounds like you need a fertilizer program to get your plants up to snuff!

Now back to sorting pictures for the TV calender.... which is what I started doing ... no more interruptions please!

Here is a close up picture of what I think is Wrightia ... the plants are not looking so good, as they have not been sheared or fertilized!

Wrightia Flower Pic here....

yep that's the one for sure. the land owner here is a puzzle, he had this place landscaped when he built these houses, including those wrightia religiosa, bananas, coconuts, ferns and a number of other things but he refused to tend to anything. unless by tending you mean cut everything back to nothing and let nature sort it out. nothing was flowering or blooming, not the bougainvillias or wrightia or anything really. i asked him not to come back anymore because we don't even pay him the rent. we've only been in this house for 3 years now but we get loads of people stopping to take photos now.

[GermanPrimrose]

Hi,

OK here is the picture of the right plant, I meant to show... I knew I would not have to go too far to find it....(must have that second cup of coffee, before posting! )

It's name is something like, "Shuk Om" in Thai. Not something most westerners would like... I don't think... sort of sour a taste... I suppose one could acquire a taste for it!

It's thorns are very vicious, and is the one SBK mentioned... itches for days...

Picture here:

Jim, I tried to find the plant you showed: It looks like a Leucaena leucocephala.

http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&client=firefox-a&hs=p3q&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&gs_upl=271766l272449l0l272805l3l3l0l0l0l0l236l594l0.1.2l3l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1024&bih=1092&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=QpfcTv-3HoiXOveh5asP&q=%22%20Leucaena%20leucocephala%22&orq=%22%09+Leucaena+leucocephala%22

http://www.exot-nutz-zier.de/Samenliste/Samen_L/Leucaena_leucocephala/ProductDetails7193.aspx?Category=1&SubCategory=12&ProductDetailsTemplate=

Only problem: I can't find any hints towards spikes! So I am probably on the wrong track. My second idea was Enterolobium contortisiliquum but same problem: no spikes. Or maybe I am too daft to find those hints.

Greetz

GermanPrimrose

[samuijimmy]

hey jimmy i just got done looking through your album to see if i could spot, and hopefully name, a couple of plants in my yard.

i will try to get a couple of photos but i only ever use my iphone so quality is an issue.

i'm really perplexed about a bush growing around my yard. it was obviously planted there specifically but never taken care of so it's quite pathetic really, nothing much to look at but it has the most intoxicatingly wonderful fragrance that only happens at night but it's not a night blooming jasmine. it's more like an abelia based only on the flowers but i used to live in an area overgrown with honeysuckle and they are fragrant all day. 5 of these neglected bushes planted around my houses are enough to perfume my entire large (by local standards) yard. interestingly enough, there probably aren't even 8 or 10 flowers on any of the bushes, one bush in particular isn't even flowering. i want to start paying them some attention because they are amazingly fragrant. love it. comparing photos online and the plants in my yard are absolutely pathetic. less than 10 flowers on the entire bush whereas an abelia can and should have dozens if not hundreds of flowers.

it's an evergreen, one "bush" is barely over a foot tall and i've got another at 7 or 8 ft tall. each bush is at least 5 years old. since they've been there for longer than i have i can't really change the soil but i'd like to start giving them some attention to encourage more of it. i think they are pathetic now due to the land owners "management" style. for the first year i lived there, he would basically come to the house once every 6 months and scalp/hard prune literally everything, even the grass. nothing would survive this guy. i asked him not to come back anymore and all living things are much happier now.

Yeah Iphone and Ipad images do not look good on the "big screen" another reason I got rid of my Ipad...

This plant sounds like the one Thai's love to use as a hedge... not quite the the same as Abelia, but some what close... I actually don't like it, or its sickly smell (to me... but then too I don't like the smell of Gardenias, which most people seem to love ) The leaves look a bit like privet, flowers smaller than what I remember Abelia flowers were like...

It could be Wrightia religosa, just glancing through my book,(Plants for Landscape Architectural Uses in Thailand) but then too it could be Murraya paniculata??? No Thai neighbours around at moment to verify... but I just took a picture of what I think it might be.... not many flowers at the moment. I will try to post image when I have a bit more time.... But you can try too!

Sounds like you need a fertilizer program to get your plants up to snuff!

Now back to sorting pictures for the TV calender.... which is what I started doing ... no more interruptions please!

Here is a close up picture of what I think is Wrightia ... the plants are not looking so good, as they have not been sheared or fertilized!

Wrightia Flower Pic here....

yep that's the one for sure. the land owner here is a puzzle, he had this place landscaped when he built these houses, including those wrightia religiosa, bananas, coconuts, ferns and a number of other things but he refused to tend to anything. unless by tending you mean cut everything back to nothing and let nature sort it out. nothing was flowering or blooming, not the bougainvillias or wrightia or anything really. i asked him not to come back anymore because we don't even pay him the rent. we've only been in this house for 3 years now but we get loads of people stopping to take photos now.

Sounds the same as my land owner... his wife comes up with all kinds of "good ideas" .... then it goes to pot...

I used to help, but given up, in the "common areas".... stupid ting tong farang.... no nothing.... Not my job! She can get on with it...or not....

[samuijimmy]

Hi,

OK here is the picture of the right plant, I meant to show... I knew I would not have to go too far to find it....(must have that second cup of coffee, before posting! )

It's name is something like, "Shuk Om" in Thai. Not something most westerners would like... I don't think... sort of sour a taste... I suppose one could acquire a taste for it!

It's thorns are very vicious, and is the one SBK mentioned... itches for days...

Picture here:

Jim, I tried to find the plant you showed: It looks like a Leucaena leucocephala.

http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&client=firefox-a&hs=p3q&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&gs_upl=271766l272449l0l272805l3l3l0l0l0l0l236l594l0.1.2l3l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1024&bih=1092&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=QpfcTv-3HoiXOveh5asP&q=%22%20Leucaena%20leucocephala%22&orq=%22%09+Leucaena+leucocephala%22

http://www.exot-nutz-zier.de/Samenliste/Samen_L/Leucaena_leucocephala/ProductDetails7193.aspx?Category=1&SubCategory=12&ProductDetailsTemplate=

Only problem: I can't find any hints towards spikes! So I am probably on the wrong track. My second idea was Enterolobium contortisiliquum but same problem: no spikes. Or maybe I am too daft to find those hints.

Greetz

GermanPrimrose

That sure looks like it.... I made sure not to get close enough to get "bitten"... perhaps I had another "senior moment" !

[joe84330]

hey can someone please tell me an english name for the large, green broad leaf plant that the thai's call "bonsai"?

no, it has nothing to do with what we call bonsai. i've got an absolutely beautiful specimen in my yard that showed up by accident, or providence i suppose as the birds must have dropped it into my garden. when it first showed up, i wanted to keep it but not where it had started growing, so i pulled it and placed it elsewhere. not only has it grown back in the same exact spot but it's come back large and in charge. i'd like to know what it's called!

[GermanPrimrose]

Joe, can you show a picture? IPhone quality will do.

Greetz

GP

[joe84330]

Joe, can you show a picture? IPhone quality will do.

Greetz

GP

sure, attached. i just took this from the top down, it stands 6ft tall and nearly that wide.

considering i pulled (or thought i did) that plant approximately 6 months ago, i'm really impressed with it. seems determined to be there so i'll work around it.

the people i talked to called it bonsai, so i asked them to write it in thai just to make sure i wasn't misunderstanding anything and it is what it is.

[samuijimmy]

Hi,

OK here is the picture of the right plant, I meant to show... I knew I would not have to go too far to find it....(must have that second cup of coffee, before posting! )

It's name is something like, "Shuk Om" in Thai. Not something most westerners would like... I don't think... sort of sour a taste... I suppose one could acquire a taste for it!

It's thorns are very vicious, and is the one SBK mentioned... itches for days...

Picture here:

Jim, I tried to find the plant you showed: It looks like a Leucaena leucocephala.

http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&client=firefox-a&hs=p3q&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&gs_upl=271766l272449l0l272805l3l3l0l0l0l0l236l594l0.1.2l3l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1024&bih=1092&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=QpfcTv-3HoiXOveh5asP&q=%22%20Leucaena%20leucocephala%22&orq=%22%09+Leucaena+leucocephala%22

http://www.exot-nutz-zier.de/Samenliste/Samen_L/Leucaena_leucocephala/ProductDetails7193.aspx?Category=1&SubCategory=12&ProductDetailsTemplate=

Only problem: I can't find any hints towards spikes! So I am probably on the wrong track. My second idea was Enterolobium contortisiliquum but same problem: no spikes. Or maybe I am too daft to find those hints.

Greetz

GermanPrimrose

That sure looks like it.... I made sure not to get close enough to get "bitten"... perhaps I had another "senior moment" !

Well I went to take a closer look today and got bitten in the process... this plant does have thorns, although I am sure in the earlier part of the year they are much finer and hurt more...

Here is a picture of the thorns Definately thorny! click here! :o

:It is the same plant... but there seems to be a number of plants with this type of foliage / leaves! They pick the new growth to use for cooking...