Tabebuia rosea - our cherry blossoms!

The Spring or Vernal equinox occurs at about March 20-21 every year. This is the occasion when the sun is vertically overhead the equator. By traditional reckoning, the Spring equinox (春分) is regarded as mid Spring.

In Japan, the Spring equinox ushers in the cherry blossom festival, while in China it seems to appear a month earlier.

For us the closest we get to having a cherry blossom festival is the annual blooming of the pink and white tecomas (Tabebuia rosea and roseo-alba). These South American flowering trees are magnificent when they burst into bloom in a wonderfully synchronized fashion. They have been wisely and strategically planted along various road stretches so tha during this time of year it just a splendid show of these pink and white flower covered trees. I know there is a short but now beautiful stretch on the AYE near Marina, and a lovely stretch along Buono Vista.

Syzy...what?? Syzygium campanulatum

The other colourful event on the roads that never fails to lift my spirits every evening on my drive home, is the florid coloration of that line of shrubs alongside the Bukit Timah canal directly opposite Hwa Chong Jr College.

It took me quite a bit of effort to track down the identity of this beautiful shrub, but I finally found it!! It is apparently the Syzygium campanulatum (variously known as Eugenia oleina and Kelat paya)

The shrub is particularly beautiful as its new leaves are orangey red. The National Parks people did a fantastic job in planting a dense row of these lovely shrubs opposite HCJC. The new leaves are all out and that short drive is so delightful because there is this tall wall of autumny colours flanking you. It's one of the rare occasions that I actually enjoy being caught in the traffic there!

There is a nice blog post about this shrub here...go check it out.

Yellow Flame - Peltophorum pterocarpum

One of the very pleasant surprises on our roads these days is the sudden flowering of the Yellow Flame (Peltophorum pterocarpum). Sometimes they are called the Yellow poinciana, and contrasted to the Red Poinciana (Flame of the Forest). These bright yellow blooms have brightened up some of my long drives on the expressways. If you want to catch a nice display, there is a beautiful scattering of these trees around the Moulmein exit of the northbound CTE (Central Expressway). Go catch it before it disappears.

Jacaranda? - no....

What I had thought was a jacaranda ....was not. A jacaranda has a compound bipinnate leaf, whereas the tree I saw with the large lilac blooms had large simple leaves.

What I saw was the Lagerstroemia speciosa. My mistake.

Flowering trees - flaming in the forest

As we enter into the monsoon season, not many of the beautiful trees we have around are wasting their energy making blooms. Many of them are looking kinda heavy laden with foliage.

I saw a straggly jacaranda (j. obtusifolia) trying to flower....and a lone Flame of the Forest putting out some flowers (poinciana regia). Oh yes ... a couple of the Rain Trees (Samanea saman) have got some of their shaving brush looking flowers out. But the most outstanding showing has been that of the African Tulips (Spathodea campanulata). These beautiful trees are best viewed along the expressways, especially those sections of the BKE and KJE that overlook the reserves.

If you haven't really noticed these, I highly recommend you go take a look. There are wonderful copses of these trees. You can't miss them. They are characterized by these beautifully striking reddish orange blooms against rather dark foliage. They are the only ones in bloom now. They are sometimes called the flame of the forest, but we don't recognize them as such here, as that nickname has been pretty much reserved for the poinciana.

Better go quickly if you don't want to miss this showing. I don't know how long the blooms will last.