Pak Lan

My hubby, who thinks he's a Japanese gardener, loves plants! He can sit for hours thinking about what plant he's going to plant here, or what color flower would look good there. Our yard really does show the results of all this "thinking". He's had a bare spot that he's wanted to plant a tree in. "Something different", he's told me. Rainbow Shower Tree, Orchid Tree or ??? So a few weeks ago he said he'd found the tree, a Pak Lan. Never heard of it. We went to WalMart in Kunia and he showed me. He and his "friend" the garden manager were fussing over this tree. Now, I thought it was a pretty tree, but couldn't say anything one way or the other. So the tree came home, it was turned, placed, moved, moved again until he figured out the "right spot". He dug the hole and staked it. So with much fanfare, the tree was planted. The only person on the street who knew anything about the Pak Lan tree was Molly, who is Thai. She has a very small "stick plant" of this same tree, and had let me smell the flowers before.

Now please understand that this was two days before his monthly trip to the mainland and I was given "strict" instructions on the watering schedule, the flow of the water coming out of the hose and even how much went into the hole around the tree. Sometimes the pressure is enough to make me nervous. Everyday I was asked about the tree and the watering. One day I was able to tell him that the blooms were opening. Everyday I gave another report on the blooms, the smell and the general health of the tree.

He came home on Friday night, and yesterday was greeted with this...

The tree is covered in blossoms! It didn't die while he was gone, never wilted, never blew over in the wind. It lives!

The glorious Pak Lan tree! Beautiful blossoms that smell like a cross between tuber rose, plumeria and something else. Our whole end of the street smells like it! Really is remarkable.