New Zealand’s Flowers Impress Thai Visitor

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28490, 21 January 1958, Page 9

New Zealand’s Flowers Impress Thai Visitor

[By CHIRABHA ONRVANG of Thailand.)

Besides the kindness and friendliness of the people, one thing of New Zealand, and especially Christchurch, I will never forget when I go back to Thailand is the beauty of the flowers. In my country we have some flowers similar to some of those in New Zealand, but some here I have never seen before. The Christchurch Botanic Gardens is a place I like very much. Apart from flowers, it reminded me about Koa-Din Park in Bangkok. The water in the Avon river, in which the boys and girls like to row the boats during holidays, is like a little canal of Koa-Din Park. The weeping willows on both sides of the river are also similar to banyan trees in my country which grow along the canal with their branches and leaves bowing into the water. The birds like the fruit of the banyans. I have been twice this week to the Botanic Gardens, although it made me homesick. The big trees there remind me of those in Thailand. Araucaria araucan made me think of the toddy palm in Thailand, from which palm-sugar is made. It often grows on the farms in Petchburi and Rajaburi provinces. Some taller trees reminded me of a tree that grows in the southern and south-east-ern part of Thailand. It is Pararubber. one of Thai’s main exports, besides rice, teak, shorea, obtusa and pepper. The majority of Thai houses, however, are made of teak and shorea obtusa, though bamboo is sometimes used by the poor people.

Some New Zealand native trees are also similar to the trees in my country. Griselinia lettoralis has leaves like the golden and silver leaves which we often use to put into sacred water, although they are smaller leaves than ours. Sophora longicarinata’s leaves are like our acacia, even though they have different seeds. However, I am not sure those trees are the same kind as we have in Thailand. There are also many trees I have never known.

Many kinds of flowers in the rock gardens are.also similar to

flowers in Thailand. I think we have something like vannis. japonica, and sweet peas. The shape and colour of cyclamen, neapolitanum are similar to our globe amaranth. Tiger lilies reminded me of tiger orchids in my cousin’s nursery in Bangkok. They also made me think of various orchids in that nursery which I used to pick to decorate my frock when I went to a party. Since I came to New Zealand I have never seen this kind of orchid. Nowadays Thailand is a country which has plenty of orchids, both native and introduced. TaweeSin Nursery in Bangkok is said to be the biggest nursery in South-eastern Asia. Orchids are now more popular and valuable in Thailand than any other flowers. I cannot compare some kinds of flowers of New Zealand with Thai’s, but I think that many of New Zealand’s are thin while Thailand has thick flowers. Many of them never grow in my country, such as iceland poppy, phlox, summer chrysanthemums, primula, carnations, cornflowers, shirley poppy, geranium, fuchsias, petunia, tulip, golden treasure, sky blue, tedorum, and snowdrop. The popular flowers of Thailand are rose, jasmine, lotus, laurel, ilang-ilang, ixora, zinnia, allamanda, marvel of Peru, globe amaranth, crab cactus, canna, calotropis, nagkassa, gerbera, pudding-pipe, and calours. Those that grow both in Thailand and New Zealand are rose, marigold, sunflower, daisy, dahlia, lorget-me-not, and hydrangea. The roses in the Botanic Gardens, however, interested me very much. We have some of them in Thailand, but they are not as lovely as in New Zealand. I was very pleased with the beautiful colours of the red varieties as well as Pinnochio, Ville de Paris, Helen Traubel, Mrs G. A. Van Rossem, Contessa de Castilleja, Virgo, Mme. Edouard Heriot, Betty Uprichard, Peach, Michele Meilland, Lydia, Lady Fortevist, and Lady Hillingden. How lovely they are! I will never forget <