And the colour is equally well represented in the average Phuket garden – from the pure white of the day and night flowering jessamines, jasmines and bauhinias to the creamy tinted flowers of buddleia paniculata. It is a massive bonus that most of these flowers are fragrant, as though Mother Nature decided that their pallor needed something extra to attract the attention of pollinating insects ‒ or nature-loving humans.
To illustrate the point: the most perfumed shrub in my garden over the years has been the buddleia. Its racemes are insignificant visually, its small grey-green leaves are rough to the touch, and it is fussy about conditions. Nonetheless, the scent of the tiny flowers is rich and intense, especially in the morning. It is a magnet for insect pollinators and with good reason is sometimes referred to as the butterfly bush.
Other white bloomers are more visually alluring. Take the gardenia (cape jasmine). Belonging to the same family as coffee (rubiaciae), it is beloved of florists worldwide because of its large, scented blooms and glossy, dark evergreen leaves. Its matte, funnel-shaped flowers are up to four inches across and are usually creamy white. As a consequence of the work of hybridists, the gardenia exists in any number of cultivars which range from single and semi-double varieties such as Magnifica to the double blooms of Mystery. Preferring acidic soil, the gardenia is a good choice for a container since it is a shallow rooting plant and in the tropics may need some protection from the sun. And it will take readily from cuttings.
The tabernaemontana (what a mouthful of a name!) has much smaller flowers that superficially resemble those of the single-flowering gardenia. Five-petalled and curved, they remind me of propellers and look as though they should be revolving in the breeze. This evergreen shrub also has masses of small, shiny leaves and will ‒ given the right conditions, which means plenty of sun and water – flower for most of the year. Hardier and much more vigorous than the gardenia, it can, given the right conditions, grow into a substantial shrub, even a small tree. Need one add that it is fragrant, especially at night. Easy to propagate from seeds or cuttings, it is, like the gardenia, available at most garden centres. A go-to choice for the Thai garden.
Most famed of all for their perfume is the family of jasmines. The common version, jasminum officinale, was hardy enough to thrive in my London garden. Characterised by pinnate leaves and pinkish buds which develop into star-shaped flowers, it is a vigorous climber which can, if unchecked, reach 30 feet (more than nine metres) in height. But it is not really a shrub for the tropics, and its relatives do better here.
A favourite of mine is the Arabian jasmine (jasminum sambac). Native to Southeast Asia, it is a small shrub which sometimes grows as a vine. The sweetly scented white flowers are borne in clusters at the ends of branches and open in the evening. Granted the right conditions, it will bloom throughout the year. Like its cousin the common jasmine, the flowers are a source of flower oil; hence its continuing cultivation for the perfume industry. Oddly, this jasmine does not produce seeds and needs to be propagated by cuttings or layering.
The orange jasmine (murraya paniculata) is not a vine and thus needs no support. A very vigorous species which will accept most types of soil and semi-shade, it will grow into an attractive and bushy tree some five metres high in three or four years. Like all its family, its small, curved blooms possess a spicy fragrance which attracts butterflies and other insect pollinators. While I am not a huge fan of the oriental propensity for pruning and clipping shrubs into symmetrical shapes and hedges, the orange jasmine will tolerate such treatment and for this reason is widely grown here in Phuket.
So too, wrightia religiosa (mohk baan), a white flowering shrub from the apocynaceae family. Sometimes called water jasmine, it is one of the most popular plants here in Phuket, usually grown as a hedge or arranged as a front line of earthenware pots. I confess I am a little perplexed by this vogue, since the flowers are of little consequence, pendulous and bell-shaped, but miniscule. Moreover the light green leaves are pretty insignificant and unless cultivated in rich soil, the plant has a very open structure. To its credit, it is evergreen and it does bloom for much of the year. And, dare I say, it is yet another of those white shrubs that smells divine.
Perhaps I should revise my opinion…
Patrick Campbell’s book ‘The Tropic Gardener’, described in one Bangkok review as the best book on Thai gardening for 50 years, is available for B500 (half price) to personal callers from 59/84 Soi Saiyuan 13 in Rawai (Tel: 076-613227 or 085-7827551).