Singapore's cherry blossoms

Singapore's cherry blossoms

With the pink flowers carpeting pavements recently, Singapore now has its own version of Japan's signature sakura flowers, or "cherry blossoms".

The rainfall after Singapore's longest dry spell has brought about the flowering of many plants around the island.

Bedok resident Shekar Sinha, 40,said the pink flowers that bloomed at Taman Bedok, near his home last week, was a welcome sight after the dry spell.

The healthcare worker said: "During the dry spell, I would drive around and see a lot of brown, dying plants.

But now the flowers look so beautiful and it feels like you're not in Singapore."

He was so excited, while on a walk through his neighbourhood with his family on Saturday, he eagerly snapped pictures of his wife and kids frolicking in the flowers.

 

FLOWERING

He also noticed many people stopping their vehicles to get a good shot of the flowers along Bedok Road.

The sakura lookalikes are actually known as Tabebuia rosea or trumpet trees, said the National Parks Board (NParks) in a post on its Facebook page on Saturday.

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The wet season has also brought about the flowering of some plants such as the Australian Flame tree and the Cat's Claw Ivy.

Develco Landscape horticulturist Jeana Poh told The New Paper that what triggered the mass flowering was the long period of stress that the plants underwent during the dry spell.

Ms Poh, 40, said: "The plants are taking it as a change of season, from dry to wet, so they are releasing all their fruits and are flowering now because they could not during the dry spell."

Mr Oh Cheow Sheng, director of Streetscape at NParks, which is in charge of landscaping the streets in Singapore, said:

"Environmental conditions such as the recent rain and dry spell could have triggered the mass flowering.

"The flowering period of a plant is dependent on its species, and the blooms are expected to last between one to two weeks.

"This generally occurs between February and April and July and August every year."

 

This article was published on April 8 in The New Paper.

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