Blooming difference in tropics and temperate zones
Straits Times Forum 11 May 10;
WE THANK Mr Lee Huan Chiang for his Forum Online letter, "Let the flowers bloom in one park to draw tourists", last Friday.
In Singapore's tropical climate, flowering of trees and plants is usually rather transient and triggered by a long dry spell followed by sudden heavy rain. Most of the time, the local climate is uniformly wet, without prolonged dry spells, and so intense flowering periods are few and far between. In addition, such rainfall patterns are very difficult, if not impossible, to predict in advance.
Rainfall-cued flowering is different from the seasonal flowering experienced in temperate countries such as Japan. For these reasons, there are no plans to specially dedicate a park to flowering trees in the hope of having them flower at the same time and creating a new attraction for tourists.
Nevertheless, we have planted many clusters of flowering trees to add a concentration of colour in our parks. For example, there is a row of Lagerstroemia speciosa trees (also commonly known as Rose of India) at West Coast Park. Several of them flowered last month and provided a visual treat for park visitors.
Nigel Goh
Director (Parks)
National Parks Board
Let the flowers bloom in one park to draw tourists
Straits Times Forum 7 May 10;
AT THE end of the drought period in March, many of us saw a beautiful sight along highways where many flowering plants began to bloom.
This extraordinary natural occurrence was not concentrated on one spot but instead spread around the island. The flowers were of beautiful shades of pink and covered almost the whole tree.
Singaporeans and visitors from other countries fly to Japan and South Korea to see the Sakura blossom in April. What attracts them is the concentration of flowering plants within a park. People are awed by the magnitude and size of such beautiful plants with flowers covering each and every branch.
We could do the same in Singapore by planting a lot of flowering plants in a designated park. When the trees bloom, their beauty will not be less than that of Sakura gardens in Japan. With such a park, we can add to our tourism brochures a walk under the flowering plants.
Can the authorities please consider this proposal?
Lee Huan Chiang
