The weekend Chatchuk Market in Bangkok is famous, attracting locals and tourists alike. There are thousands of stalls selling virtually anything you could want, from antiques, to t-shirts; musical instruments to…tropical garden plants and orchids! So on a recent trip to Bangkok, I made the trek to the market. ‘Trek’ [...]]]>

Freshly cut water lillies

The weekend Chatchuk Market in Bangkok is famous, attracting locals and tourists alike. There are thousands of stalls selling virtually anything you could want, from antiques, to t-shirts; musical instruments to…tropical garden plants and orchids! So on a recent trip to Bangkok, I made the trek to the market. ‘Trek’ is an overstatement-all you have to do is hop on the sleek modern skytrain and it delivers you right to the market! This is the first of a few posts where I’ll share photos of all things green that I enjoyed seeing at Chatachuk. Among the most impressive were the nepenthes, caladiums, and orchids!

sprouting seeds

These are the ’sprouting seeds’ of a tropical tree that grows in Thailand. Leaves on more mature growths look like avocado leaf. If anyone know what this plant is please let me know. I’ve looked for seed pods like this in the US, but have only seen the fibrous seed in dry decorative arrangements. Of course I was unable to bring any of these back to the US.

colorful bromeliads

(left) I loved all the compact growing bromeliads, mostly neoregalias, showing perfect color. There are also some Thai caladiums in this photo, that are garnering attention by horticulturists in other parts of the world. We’ll post more photos of these in a later post.

(Below) buckets of water lillies for sale–both flowers and plants were available.

bucket of water plants and flowers

hoyas, with their waxy flowers

a gorgeous display of hibiscus

Tacca-also known as the bat flower

Exotic and unsual whiskered blooms on handsome plants! I’ve seen different types of tacca for sale in US garden catalogs but suspect they would do best in more humid southern climates, or a conservatory/greenhouse up north.