Five Plants that rarely bloom in Singapore
Happy Leap Day! Leap Day falls on 29th February, which only appears once every 4 years! In the same theme as the rare occasion today, we shall be talking about 5 plants that rarely bloom in Singapore, some even taking more than a decade! Most of these plants are frequently spotted in offices and homes, but we bet you have never seen flowers on them!
1. Tiger Orchid, Grammatophyllum speciosum
The Tiger Orchid, Grammatophyllum speciosum, is an epiphytic plant that can grow into large clumps. The pseudobulbs are yellow in colour and stem-like with many nodes. The narrow leaves which resemble sugar cane leaves can grow up to 100 cm long. The flowers can be up to 10 cm in diameter, and yellow with multi-brown spots, just like a tiger, hence its name. The inflorescence (flower head) grows up to 2 m in length.
Tiger orchids bloom once every 2-4 years, with the flowers lasting 2-3 months each time.
Singapore’s oldest orchid, which is also believed to be the world’s oldest orchid is located at Singapore Botanical Gardens. It is almost 160 years old, planted in 1861 by Lawrence Niven, manager of the Botanical Gardens during that period, a few years after it was re-established.
Tiger Orchid
Photo by: NParks
Tiger Orchid
Photo by: Nparks
2. Swiss-cheese Plant, Monstera deliciosa
Swiss-cheese plant, Monstera deliciosa, is a very common houseplant, made even more common due to its strong presence in social media. They are able to grow extremely tall in the wild (20m), but when kept indoors, are limited to about 2 – 3m tall. They have holes in their large leaves, which become even more prominent as they age, giving them their nickname.
In its natural habitat, the tropical rainforest, Monstera deliciosa is able to easily produce flowers that resemble those of Spathiphyllums, but it rarely does so when kept indoors. Forcing a Monstera deliciosa to flower outside of its typical tropical habitat proves to be difficult. In ideal conditions, it flowers about three years after planting.
It is also able to produce large fruits of up to 25cm in length that resemble maize. The fruits are sweet and the taste is similar to jackfruit and pineapple.
Photo from: http://nzpcn.org.nz/ Photographer: Peter de Lange, 10 June 2006, Sainsbury Rd, Mt Albert, Auckland
Monstera deliciosa fruit
Photo from: Wikipedia
3. Sansevieria sp, Snake Plant
Sansevieria, also known as Mother-in-Law’s tongue or Snake Plant is a very common house plant in Singapore due to its hardy nature and ease of care. It is also famous for its ability to remove pollutants such as formaldehyde and benzene from the air.
Sansevieria plants very rarely bloom, occurring usually in springtime when the plant is situated outdoors. Flowering is triggered when the plant is mildly stressed from drought conditions. The flowers grow along with tall flower stalks, these flowers are fragrant at night when the blossoms open.
Photo by: joyusgarden.com
4. Pachira aquatica, Money Tree
Pachira aquatica, commonly known as the money tree is another plant that rarely blooms. In Singapore, we commonly keep these plants indoors, they are easy to care for, generally quite hardy and due to their interesting trunks, which are braided as saplings. These trunk braids traditionally symbolize good luck and prosperity.
Pachira aquatica, when kept indoors will rarely ever bloom. When kept outdoors, they will produce yellowish-white flowers with petals that curl back to reveal red-tipped stamen. The flowers are replaced by elongated seed pods that can reach 12 inches in length and are filled with edible nuts that taste somewhat like peanuts or chestnuts.
However, we do not recommend planting your Pachira outdoors as it has a high chance of scorching in our hot climate.
Photo by: garden.org
5. Dracaena sp
Dracaena sp plants refer to most of the common plants belonging to the Dracaenaceae family. These plants are usually kept for their highly attractive foliage and forms. They are also easy to care for and very hardy.
Mature Dracaena sp do produce flowers that usually come as a surprise to their owners as they do so unannounced. There have been cases of people keeping their Dracaena plants for more than a decade before they bloom for the first time.
Dracaena fragrans plants are one of the more common Dracaena plants kept in Singapore. They produce flower stalks that emerge out of the centre of the leaf whorl and will grow up to 3 feet in length arching towards the ground. These flowers give off a sweet fragrance in the evenings that can be smelt even from far away.
Dracaena fragrans flowers
Photo by: garden.org
As these plants flower quite rarely, we suggest buying them not for their flowers but as foliage ornamental plants! If you take care of your plants well, they might even flower for you as a surprise reward! Happy gardening!
