The gac fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis) looks much like gigantic red Christmas balls hanging from vines in the garden. It is very decorative, but also edible.
Gac fruits and gac seeds
The gac fruit is a strange looking fellow
Monthly Archives: November 2014
Screw pines start small and become giants
Screw pines (Pandanus tectorius) grow mainly and naturally at the Thai coast, but can be an impressive ornamental plant in any tropical or subtropical environment. At Discovery Garden Pattaya we show large screw pines with their distinct red fruits, have smaller plants and seeds for sale.
Screw pines grow up to 14 meters
The Australian bottle plant is really from America
When I stole some seeds of an Australian bottle plant (Jatropha podagrica) they were stolen themselves from my hotel room… And – another oddity – the Australian bottle plant does not come from Australia, it is originally from America.
I planted my Australian bottle plants around the swimming pool
Baobab: The giant has arrived in Thailand
The baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) is the most famous son of Africa. At Discovery Garden Pattaya we show 12 baobab trees in our “Baobab Alley”. Baobab trees can be purchased at our outlets in Pattaya and Nong Khai, Thailand.
Not in Thailand: This baobab tree I saw in Recife
Thailand: Great variety of passion plants
When I grew my first passion fruit vine in Thailand, I thought my passiflora edulis was unique. I had grown it from seeds I got from some fruits bought at the supermarket. Now we have a great variety of passion plants at Discovery Garden Pattaya from all over the world. They all come with completely different and amazing flowers and fruits.
The flower of passiflora edulis at Discovery Garden Pattaya
Making chocolate from cocoa beans
Chocolate or cocoa is normally not associated with Thailand. At Discovery Garden in Pattaya we grow cocoa and show visitors how to process the beans properly and make their own homemade chocolate. Children and grownups equally are having fun making chocolate in Pattaya. We also sell cocoa plants and seeds.
Cocoa beans come in pods
Soursop was hardly known in Thailand
Only a few years ago Graviolas (Annona muricata or soursop) were hardly known in Thailand. But since the first press reports about the anti-cancerous properties of soursop fruits and leaves appeared, there has been a Thailand wide Graviola frency. At Discovery Garden Pattaya you can see fully grown trees and learn about all the different uses to make of soursop fruits and the tea from the dried annona muricata leaves.
Soursop fruits can be 3 kilos and more
Growing bay leaves from seeds in Thailand?
Can bay leaves (Laurus nobilis) be grown from seeds in Thailand? At Discovery Garden in Pattaya we have succeeded in doing so, but the germination rate is very low. It is much easier to buy a small plant at our Discovery Garden outlets in Pattaya or Nong Khai, if you want to grow your own bay leaves in Thailand or Laos.
My bay leave tree in Nong Khai where the bridge to Laos is located
Incredible variety of guavas
Guavas originate in South, Central America and Mexico. In Thailand they are also called Farang or stranger. At Discovery Garden Pattaya we grow several varieties and offer the seeds of the different varieties as well as plants of all sizes.
We call this pear shaped guava (outside yellow, inside red) Rio Farang