Special Visitors

Last Sunday, we had some special visitors. Mr Rob Cantley, CEO of Borneo Exotics, his wife Diana and a few local pitcher plant enthusiasts came to see my son’s collection of pitcher plants. I think Rob was in Singapore for some meeting with Nparks about next year’s Singapore Garden Festival, and he took the opportunity to visit the homes of some of the local enthusiasts and give some consultation.

My son is crazy about pitcher plants - thanks partly to my friend Dr Tan Wee Kiat’s children books on the subject. Wee Kiat even took the trouble to bring him to some of the little-known places in Singapore where pitcher plants can be found in the wild. My son and his buddies at Green Cultures Singapore the regularly chat about pitcher plants online. Sometimes, they jointly purchase plants from overseas suppliers such as Borneo Exotics. Occasionally, we have strangers dropping by to exchange or buy plants. I am quite surprised that there so many young Singaporeans who are passionate about this carnivorous plant. I understand that many of them live in high-rise apartments. I heard that some even rent space in local nurseries to keep their prized collections.

I am quite happy that my son is so passionate about his pitcher plants. For one thing, between this hobby and his kayaking training, he has very little time left for playing computer games like most teenagers do. I often hear friends complaining about how their kids are hooked on computer games. I think my kids have never even touched an Xbox or Playstation before. I also think it helps to develop his social skills, something his parents seem to lack.

One small price we had to pay is that, with his hundreds of pots of pitcher plants and my wife’s stag horn ferns and other plants, our house looks like a jungle. In fact, when my car is parked in porch, there is hardly room for one person to walk into our house. We even have a huge wooden frame tailor-built in front of our house for hanging pots and climbers.

Anyway, back to the visit. I am afraid I don’t know enough about the topic to share with you; although thanks to Wee Kiat’s book, Jack and the Carnivorous Pitcher Plant, I am no longer intimidated by names like Nepenthes, Rafflesiana and Ampullaria. I even know the difference between and upper and lower pitcher!

All I can do is show you some photos. By the way, I think Rob and Diana will be giving a talk about growing pitcher plants in an urban environment at GardenTech2007 next month. You may be able to see some photos of our home at that presentation.

Another quiz for you guys. What is the name of this carnivorous plant? It’s my favourite. I think it’s much prettier than the pitcher plant.