Rama IX

Since we are back in Bangkok we’ve decided to cross a few more of the must see items from our list. I am still interested in making it to the Rama IX Flower Show, Asia Books, the University bookstore, and the garden district. We were able to make arrangements for some of the shipping (books, etc. will leave on Tuesday and arrive in 2 months) but we are having a harder time with the more fragile items. Our next option will be the business center in the hotel.

Today I took a taxi to the Rama IX Park (2957), in search of the Rama IX Flower Show. Bangkok taxi rules state that the passenger is responsible for the tolls when the driver decides to take the expressway (60 baht) as well as the 45 minute taxi fare (179 baht). When I arrived at the park I had no idea where I was. After walking a short distance through the main gate a man standing about 4 feet away from me welcomed me over a bullhorn – “Hello, where you from?”. I continued to walk, passing food and clothing vendors, until I spotted a more permanent kiosk selling Rama IX Park merchandise. The ladies said hello and ran into the back to get their boss. I asked for the flower show and he said it was over but handed me 3 maps of the park.

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I wandered around and was excited to find that the vendors could care less what I was looking at and what I was interested in. It was a great contrast to our trips through the night bazaar and markets in which the vendors knock you over in the aisle to put a sarong on you.

I am not sure what I was expecting the flower show to be, and not sure that I actually found it, but I definitely had a great day. The park is filled with annual beds and labeled trees. I did find several themed gardens – English, Spanish, Thai, Japanese, as well as a large conservatory-style shade house and a desert dome. This is not a tourist park; it is a place where the locals go to escape the city for the weekend (2820). My best estimate is that there were 10,000 people spread throughout the entire park. Hundreds of vendors sold every type of garden item imaginable: mostly plants, though pots, pottery, water features, fertilizers, tools, and seeds were available.

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Let me first tell you about all of the coolest plants I’ve ever seen:
(2898) is some sort of Euphorbia and in many of the booths it was shown with the poinsettia. We need it for the winter show next year. Variegation is good luck, especially if the plants have a golden variegation. This citrus has variegated leaves and fruit (2887), I also saw variegated banana (2835), and Rhaphis palm (2846). I was enamored with Crypanthus ‘Elaine’ (2930), the finest textured Croton (2917) I’ve ever seen and (2870) what ever this plant is that looks like Hebe on steroids.

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There were also fabulous baby’s breath (2901) hanging baskets, a million new cultivars of Plumeria (2849), as well as many fun, new Aglaonema and Adenium. I am really starting to like the mellow, melon tones as shown in these Ixora and Caladium (2931, 2894). I don’t want to overwhelm this post with plant pictures but I do have many. There were great topiary in all sorts of animal forms, also many fruit and vegetable plants, and water plants. Many good advertising gimmicks and plant display techniques were gleaned.

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It is funny to compare this plant fair to others that I’ve been to – even our May Market. There are always the booths with the fantastic, rare plants, the booths with the common plants, the booth with the gadgets, the kitsch booth, and the man selling the tree trimming equipment. (2836) I did succumb to the lure of these pot/slurpee cup/window box/bowl hanging brackets – 12 for 120 baht (about $.25 each). I also bought 2 books about the newest Plumeria cultivars, several vegetable seed packets, and a couple of small elephant topiary frames. Next time I will be buying plants! I NEED that Euphorbia! KD

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