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Welcome to this web site about hosta and other ornamental plants
Hello. My name is Wai. I am a retired horticulturist, ex-manager of parks & gardens for 28 years.
My subject of interest is ornamental plants - trees, shrubs, houseplants, you name it! whether in the
tropics, temperate or arid zones. My fascination with plants has become a hobby after my retirement.
My favourite plant is "Hosta", a rhizomatous perennial which grows mostly
in cooler climate. Hosta belongs to the Liliaceae family
with around 70 species, a herbaceous perennial
treasured for their lovely foliage, which has a range of colour - yellow, different shades of green, bluish green,
varied combinations of green and white, green and yellow and golden. Their mauve or white bell-shaped flowers
are borne on scapes. They like a cool, shady, environment with moist but well-drained fertile soil and do not tolerate
drought. A native of the Far East and East Russia, they do not grow naturally in Malaysia. But their
lack is compensated by the multitude of other ornamental plants that I am also going to show on this Web site.
Note that this Web site is prepared in two mirror copies. Addresses of these copies are
hosta.20m.com and
hosta.20fr.com.
Thus should there be any problem with visiting one of these two sites,
please visit the other.
Notice that you can see the enlargement
of each illustration from this web site. For this, it suffices to click
on this illustration. Furthermore, most of the internet browsers that you may
use, including the popular "Internet Explorer",
allow also to download each illustration
to your own computer, where it can be looked at, reduced or enlarged to the
size that you may want, or printed with your own graphical software.
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Hosta
photo-gallery:
Hosta. This is a general view at just a small section
from probably the largest hosta collection in the world -
which can be appreciated in the
Hantaek Botanical Garden, South Korea.
In South Korea hosta plants are visible everywhere,
even on lawns of large cities, such as Seoul.
(Click on this photo to see it enlarged.)
Around 150 km to south from Seoul, near a small town Yongin, there is the
biggest botanical garden of Korea. It is called the "Hantaek Botanical Garden".
In the introductory brochure it is stated, that since 1979 the Foundation
that maintains this botanical garden has collected about 7.2 million plants
of 8000 species including rare, endangered, native, and introduced plants.
This makes it the biggest botanical garden in Korea. Surely it is one of the
biggest botanical gardens I ever visited - and I visited many of them. The
two pearls of this Hantaek Botanical Garden
Hantaek Botanical Garden
are the "Hosta Collection" and the "Lotus Collection". In my opinion each
of these two collections is amongst largest in the world (if not the largest).
There is a photo-page available for interested readers, which is showing
most interesting hosta plants
from the Hantaek Hosta Collections in South Korea.
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Mysteries of Plants:
Although people usually do not realise this, apart from obvious physical and biological
properties, various plants display also numerous mysterious qualities, that are not so
widely known, as they are not researched by modern science. Some of these qualities
are exploited for centuries in Eastern cultures. Also Western culture lately started to
recognise some of them. A best example of such already recognised mysterious quality
of plants, is their telepathic ability. They seem to know what a given person thinks,
whether he/she loves them, and whether he/she has a bad intentions towards them.
Let us now, discuss some of more widely known mysterious abilities of plants:
1. Telepathy. Telepathic abilities of
plants are already well researched by the so-called "alternative sciences".
For example, it is conclusively proven, that when a dangerous person is nearby,
plants show panic, which can be objectively detected with the use of encephalographs
(also known as "lie detectors"). If you wish to learn more about mechanism of telepathy
(thus also about mechanism, which allows plants to intercept human thoughts),
have a look at a Web site entirely devoted to telepathy. The address of this Web site
is as follows (click on this address to shift there):
telepathy.50megs.com.
Especially you can be interested to learn about experiments done on plants
with the use of encephalographs and Kirlian cameras (e.g. the so-called "ghost-leaf
effect, which also is visible in areas where people have amputated body parts),
that are described in chapter C of treatise [7/2] entitled "Story of one pyramid"
available free of charge from that Web site. Mechanism of telepathy itself, is well
explained in subsection L6.3 (volume 7) of the monograph [8]
Totalizm
indicated below.
2. Telekinesis. Mechanism of telekinesis is such,
that it can also be implemented by selected plants. Actually in Malaysia there is an old story
dated around 30 years ago, which concerns of a tree that used to grow near the town of Ipoh,
and which was a subject of a local cult. But it needed to be cut down, because there was a new
highway build through its location. Unfortunately whichever worker come to this tree with an
axe or a chainsaw, the tree somehow telekinetically hurt this worker to make impossible cutting
it down. A similar ability are known to be held by wooden totem poles from Borneo.
More details on mechanism of telekinesis (including non-human telekinesis) you can find in
subsection L6.1 (volume 7) of monograph [8]
Totalizm
downloadable free of charge from
the Web site entitled (click to run it):
telekinesis.50megs.com.
Trees are not the only forms other than humans that produce telekinesis. In subsection
A2.4 from volume 1 of the monograph [8]
Totalizm
cases are described regarding a stone (the subject of Maori worship) from
Atiamuri in New Zealand,
which also displays telekinetic properties. The same subsection A2.4
writes about medieval custom of burying every executioner axe after execution 1000 people,
because such axe started to display telekinetic properties and were able to kill their owner. In turn
subsection C2 of the English monograph [2] describes telekinesis generated by hens to produce calcium.
3. Healing. Plants are also widely known from their
abilities to heal people. Present science rationally explains this healing in a chemical manner.
But the folk wisdom of various nations believes that plants can also heal in a spiritual manner.
For example, in cases of illness or feeling down, New Zealand Maori used to touch healthy
trees, to receive from them the strength and life energy. Actually, if we feel down and touch
any healthy tree, the powerful flow of life energy can be easily sensed by almost everyone.
An example of rather mysterious healing, is discussed on the Web site:
malbork.20m.com.
4. Feelings. It is well known that plants may impact
human feelings. For example every couple of tea or coffee we indulge, is a proof for this,
not mentioning such means as herbal medicine, or marihuana. But no many people know, that
there is also a spiritual link between plants and human feelings. For example, we only lately
started to realise that plants grow well only in an atmosphere of love and approval.
More explanations how feelings work and how they impact lives of these who experience
them (including plants) is contained in subsections
K5.5 and A6 of monograph [8] about the philosophy of
Totalizm
that can be downloaded free of charge e.g. from the Web site
pigs.freehyperspace.com.
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Supernatural
behaviour of plants:
Some plants behave in manners which cannot
be explained within the realm of present science,
and which borders with supernatural. For example,
in countries which harvest coconuts it is widely known
that coconut palms never drop coconuts on heads
of people - as this is explained on the
web page about topical fruits.
In turn a different palm called "Talipot Palm" (see
photographs below) displays strange supernatural
ability to communicate and to synchronise. For example,
in spite that this palm blooms at random every
25 to 80 years, all such palms in existence bloom
simultaneously, fruit simultaneously, and then
die simultaneously. Finding an explanation for
this extraordinary lifecycle of "Talipot Palm" is
very difficult without actually taking into account the
involvement of supernatural.
This picture of the "Talipot Palm" Corypha umbraculifera was taken in Kerala, India.
(Click on this photo to see it enlarged.)
The Talipot Palm has one of the largest inflorescence of any flowering plants in the world.
It flowers only once in its lifetime, from 25-80 years, after fruiting the plant dies.
Almost all parts of the plants are useful, eg. for traditional medicine; food; thatching;
handicraft work such as baskets, mats, hats and buttons. Sacred Buddhist books
were known to have been written on strips of its leaves.
Talipot palm is found predominantly in southern India and Sri Lanka.
Another picture of the "Talipot Palm" or Corypha umbraculifera in bloom.
(Click on this photo to see it enlarged.)
This time the entire palm is shown.
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How my interest in ornamental plants developed:
I studied horticulture at the Waterperry Horticultural School (What's new)
Everything started when I was working. I began with ornamental temperate plants
and knew very little of tropical ones. As my work demands more service than horticulture
I realise I was not progressing very much where plants were concerned. So I decided I had to do something
about it. I started collecting horticultural books, join societies - the Selangor &Federal Territory Gardening Society,
the Royal Horticultural Society (Favourite Links), Hibiscus Society ( Favourite Links) - and reading up.
It was like an addiction, the more knowledge I gained the more I wanted to learn.
The subject
of plants is so vast that one cannot learn all about it in one's lifetime.
One of the topics is "Plants in the Bible" (About page).
Send me an email at chingwc@hotmail.com
Selangor Gardening Society:
You may be interested to know that there is a Garden Society in Kuala Lumpur.
This is a non-profitable organisation, run by volunteers to promote gardening and its
benefits to society. Please note that the Garden Society has a web page. You can see it under the address:
http://garden.maroc.to.
(See also Garden Society from the Menu.)
For more information email:
Selangor Gardening Society: sftgarden_soc@yahoo.co.uk
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National plants and flowers:
Some plants and flowers were adopted as
national symbols. For example, almost everyone
knows that a maple leaf is a symbol of Canada,
whereas tulip flowers are symbols of Holland.
Malaysia also have a national flower as its symbol.
It is the Hibiscus shown on a photograph below.
Hibiscus rosa sinensis.
(Click on this photo to see it enlarged.)
Hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia.
More information about hibiscus, please refer to Whats New Page.
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