#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Farming & Gardening In Thailand >  >  The Garden....

## buadhai

I live in a crappy little moo baan outside of Korat. The original intent was to stay here temporarily; only until we found some place of our own. We've been here 15 months now....

In the mean time, Ms. B and I have been busily working on "the garden". When we got here it was a dusty patch of dirt and a mango tree. It looks so nice now we don't want to leave.

Oh, well.

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## friscofrankie

Nothing like livin' amongst greenery and shade.  looks like a wonderful place to sip a beer and watch the world go by...
When we got our house built you're invited for the BBQ, bring a trowel  :Very Happy:   or at least some ideas.  looks wonderful.

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## buadhai

If I had a more permanent place I'd build a pond. When I lived on Saipan I had two ponds and a stream that I built and I just loved the look and sound of the thing.

There's a few shots of it here:

Saipan Pond

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## man with no head

Damn, looks inviting. I can't wait to get over to Thailand on a more permanent basis and get started myself.

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## MeMock

Looks good buadhai, the neighbours house needs a paint though  :Smile:

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## buadhai

> Looks good buadhai, the neighbours house needs a paint though


I hate to say it, but that guy does nothing with his house or yard. He's a fortune teller (mor du) and I guess he spends all day at "the office". Once every few months he hires someone to come in and whack down the weeds and trim the bushes, but that's it.

We have placed a few strategic palms to screen out the mess.

Ah, well. We're only here temporarily!

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## Airportwo

> Ah, well. We're only here temporarily!


Very Profound statement Sir!

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## man with no head

These are recent phots of my 'garden' here in the States:

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## stroller

Not doing much with our "garden":

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## buadhai

I hear that if any of those chickens die suddenly it's OK to just fry 'em up and eat 'em.

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## stroller

That goes for the ducks as well, though we burned the last one which died, it had been ill for a while.

You shouldn't share your duck curry with relatives or friends, or they will turn away from you, so superstition claims.

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## Goddess of Whatever

Mine in Phichit.

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## aging one

What kind of a mine do you have in Phichet. Gold, Silver?

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## buadhai

Another shot. The orchids are going nuts now:

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## Lily

Looks lovely; I'm envious.

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## buadhai

> Looks lovely; I'm envious.


You know, when I lived on Saipan I had a hectare to care for. I was never satisfied until I gave up and created a small corner that was about ten by ten meters and concentrated on that. (The photo GoW Photoshopped was taken there.)

Now that I'm living in the Moo Baan I only have a tiny corner to play with and I find it immensely satisfying. A place to putter for an hour or so a day and a place to enjoy happy hour every evening.

I'm glad you enjoy it.

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## Goddess of Whatever

> What kind of a mine do you have in Phichet. Gold, Silver?


Sorry, I saw your question so late.

What we have, is gold.  :Smile:

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## Goddess of Whatever

Okay, I took some piccies from my back yard in Phichit.  Dad is working on it so hard (I guess), as I posted a piccie of a lawn mower before.

I wish mum could be good doing Somtum but no  :Sad:  so we can eat these papaya when they are ripe only.



This is Noi-Na, not sure what you call in English.  I bring some with me too but it seems Marmite doesn't fancy it.



He likes banana but they are not big enough yet.



There are orange trees but only 10+  left.



There are grape-fruit trees as well but no fruit yet.



I like this one a lot "La-Mud".  I have no idea what you call.

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## buadhai

Noi Na is custard apple.

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## Goddess of Whatever

Thanks.  :Smile:

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## Marmite the Dog

I've never tried Noi Na - They look like hard work to me.

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## buadhai

Nah, very easy. When they're ripe they sort of fall apart and you just eat the soft, fleshy, sweet/tart fruit. Just be sure to separate or spit out the seeds. It's quite a wonderful fruit and easy to grow. 

Once the trees get big they don't produce as much fruit, so it's always best to have a few young ones on line.

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## Marmite the Dog

Do they actually let them grow until they're ripe? Most Thai fruits are barely out of being a flower before they attack them.

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## buadhai

Noi na can be picked when still hard. They will ripen off the tree. You need to check them frequently because when they will get overripe quickly.

If you leave them on the tree until ripe, pick when you see the first little crack in the skin.

If you pick before they are ripe wait until the individual segments in the skin are full and swollen.

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## Thetyim

> Sorry, I saw your question so late.  What we have, is gold.


A few years back they found a gold mine about 20 kms south of Phichit
The temple (whose ground it was on ) the police and the Amphur were all fighting over it.
Do you know what happened in the end  ?

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## Thetyim

> I've never tried Noi Na - They look like hard work to me.


They are probably the easiest fruit of all to eat
The skin just falls off when ripe and there is actually a lot of flesh to eat unlike some of the other silly fruits.

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## Goddess of Whatever

> Do you know what happened in the end ?


์Nope.  I don't pay attention to it much.

Anyone know about this?

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## friscofrankie

> I've never tried Noi Na - They look like hard work to me.


They are worth it.  They do get over-ripe quickly as buahdai said.  very short window.  I only buy one or two at a time.  Gotta eat 'em the day they appear ripe.

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## Marmite the Dog

They tasted ok - gave me an idea though...

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## buadhai

A couple more....





No comments on the anatomy, please, this is a gardening thread....

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## Marmite the Dog

Don't those plants on the table get in the way when you're trying to eat your cornflakes?

Nice spot. I hope you manage to take them with you when you move next month. (Shut it! Just do it!  :Smile:  )

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## Dougal

> A couple more....


I am sitting in my office green with envy.

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## buadhai

This lovely little catalaya blooms quite consistently and has the most delicate little flowers I've ever seen. One of our favorites:

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## Sir Burr

> Another shot. The orchids are going nuts now:


Damn!
How do you get your orchids to flower???
I've bought beautiful orchids over the last five years. Once the flowers have died, that's it, no more.
I haven't had a single orchid put out new flowers. Ever!
I've tried giving them food once a week. Tried keeping them in the shade. Tried keeping them in the sun. Tried everything.
I have now given up and don't buy orchids anymore.
What's your secret?

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## Lily

I love this thread.

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## Marmite the Dog

This is my 'tropical balcony garden'. Impressive, eh?

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## Lily

mmmmmmm....................

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## buadhai

> How do you get your orchids to flower???


Lots of water but good drainage. Fertilize weekly. Lots of sun. The leaves should be slightly yellow. If they are green or dark green they are not getting enough sun.

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## buadhai

Sometimes the garden looks cool at night. I strung some light bulbs in the Mango tree. Ms. B's parents are terrified that this is going to cause a giant explosion destroying the entire neighborhood. I have to turn them off if it rains:



We got this wild Dendrobium from our neighbor who got tired of taking care of his potted plants. (We often "harvest" orchids from the neighborhood garbage cans. People get frustrated when they don't flower again.) This plant has a lovely and delicately shaped flower:



This Phalanopsis really took off when I repotted it. The roots have grown like crazy and it has just shot up a new spike that will have nice flowers in a few weeks.



I don't have room for any more orchids in pots or baskets. So now when I propagate a plant I just tie the new ones to the mango tree. You can see the green raffia I use to fasten the new plants to the tree in the photograph above.

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## Lily

I think you most certainly, were born with a green thumb.

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## buadhai

I'd like to have a pond, but until we get a place of our own big pots will have to suffice. We've got six in our tiny front yard full of lilies, lotus, other water plants and fish.


These comets are pretty shy until feeding time.


These lilies only last for a few days, but I love the way they look and their scent is incredibly exotic.

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## buadhai



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## Marmite the Dog

It's going to look a tad bare when you move out of there, isn't it?!

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## buadhai

> It's going to look a tad bare when you move out of there, isn't it?!


An awful lot of it is portable....

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## buadhai

Rhinoceros Beetle

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## Lily

Do you have to have the water plants in full sun?

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## buadhai

> Do you have to have the water plants in full sun?


The lotus and lily need at least 6 hours of full sun to flower reliably.

In my new house I will arrange the pond and surrounding plants in such a way that at least part of the pond gets no shade at all.

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## buadhai

I noticed this guy when I was misting the orchids this morning. Anyone know the name?

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## Marmite the Dog

> I noticed this guy when I was misting the orchids this morning. Anyone know the name?


I do believe it's called a moth.

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## buadhai

> I do believe it's called a moth.


Is this more British humor or are you being serious?

Excuse me: "humour"

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## Marmite the Dog

> Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
> 
> I do believe it's called a moth.
> 
> 
> Is this more British humor or are you being serious?
> 
> Excuse me: "humour"


Sorry.

Try "Sphinidae _Daphnis nerii_" - Oleander Hawk Moth

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## NickA

^The boy knows his stuff...





Have a look here....

What's That Bug: Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths

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## buadhai

Thank you. Humour first, knowledge after....



> Try "Sphinidae Daphnis nerii" - Oleander Hawk Moth


Thanks. Well done.

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## ceburat

> Originally Posted by buadhai
> 
> 
> Another shot. The orchids are going nuts now:
> 
> 
> Damn!
> How do you get your orchids to flower???
> I've bought beautiful orchids over the last five years. Once the flowers have died, that's it, no more.
> ...


Sun in morning and some sun in evening.  Use sun screen or arrange plants so they get shade from a tree, building, whatever during the remainder of the day. Spray entire plant morning and evening with a mixture  of orchid furtilizer and water.  Only use a weak solution of the furtilizer.  I tried this and got up to the point of having 60 to 70 percent blooming every day.  That was in Mandaue, Philippines. (Cebu area). Not much different then here, maybe the same.

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## LesBonsTemps

> Originally Posted by Sir Burr
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by buadhai
> ...


I now keep two orchids inside -- Atlanta is too far north for outside, but I was quite successful with growing outside in Florida.

I have them in my kitchen window, which gets indirect northwestern light -- some in the morning and more in the afternoon and evening.  When I water, I soak and then let dry entirely before watering again.  Both are now dormant but have put out healthy feeders for the next blooming.

In the meantime, I have a silk fake orchid in the dining room to tide me over.

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## ceburat

Reading thru here I just noticed that Buadhai  treats his orchids differently.  He has more experience than I here so he should know.  Try some plants his way and some my way and see what works best.  I always experiment with plants. I like to tie the plant with the roots exposed or in a hanging pot with charcoal.

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## buadhai

> Try some plants his way and some my way and see what works best.


This is indeed the best advice....

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## Anonymous Coward

I love it when these babies blossom. Only happens once a year because they wait for the temperature to drop,

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## El Gibbon

baudhai

Not to be a pain in the ass, but I had asked for an opinion from the folks at rv-orchidworks.com on a similar plant.  They are a pretty decent resource that was recommended by Curious George.



I had originally thought it was of the cattleya family also due to the shape of the petals. What bothered me was the multiple flowers on a single stem. I had thought they would tell me it was some variant of the Dend. family.

Turns out its ocidium Gower Ramsey (Hybrid) of some type.

Thought you might like to know.

E. G.

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## Junior

anyone know the best thing to remove the sticky syrup from mango trees?  It's dripped onto a wooden deck and is proving to be really tought to remove.  Sorry I'm new - hope I've posted in the correct forum

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## Anonymous Coward

We'll only be in this house for a few more weeks. I imagine this garden will slowly return to the dry, dusty patch that it was when we moved here just over two years ago.


Here's a wide view. A car parks on the turf at night, hence the areas with no grass.


Almost all of the orchids and other plants will go with us to the new house.


The new garden will have a proper pond in addition to the water-filled jars.


This is one of my favorite orchids. The flowers last a very long time. Ms. AC took this photo this morning.


She also took this one. She loves Plumeria. Funny how a change of name can so dramatically change a plant's popularity.


This orchid is also quite prolific in the flower department. It is one of the first we bought after retiring to Thailand.

Building a new garden will be fun, but I'll miss this one....

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## El Gibbon

Great shots AC.

Good luck moving them. My flowers and plants are my best friends, I trust them implicitly..  :Smile: 

E. G.

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## Marmite the Dog

I'm really looking forward to seeing the new garden develop over the next few months.

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## Anonymous Coward

^I'll start a new thread. Looks like it will be "real soon now"....

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## Lily

Yeay!

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## marooned

Brilliant info and garden photos. I especially like the honesty of Marmite for posting the balcony garden pic. 
Yes, nothing as satisfying as plunging one's hands in the dirt for an hour or so everyday and then relaxing amidst the greenery. 
I tried growing some western herbs like basil and parsley, but the seeds wouldn't take. Any ideas on this?

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## Marmite the Dog

> I tried growing some western herbs like basil and parsley, but the seeds wouldn't take. Any ideas on this?


Did you germinate the seeds properly, rather than just bung them in a put with some dirt?

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## marooned

Huh? Germinate? I stuck em in a plant pot on the balcony so the chickens wouldnt get at them. 

Long ago, I read a good article on the placement of plants and trees around one's house. ie plants with names that also mean sorrow, death etc are never to be planted near the home. Superstitious, but then that happens alot in Thailand. Will try to find and post. One house I stayed actually had all the trees in the locations noted in the story. 
one link: Thailand Life - Superstitions about Trees and Plants - 01

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## Lily

I have had mixed success with herbs. They grow beautifully for a while and then suddenly die. I had a great pot of oregano that was spilling over the edges and looking very healthy and then just curled it's toes and died.

The Italian parsley is doing ok, but it is just too humid for the thyme.

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## oldgit

I love Plumeria but wife says it is an unlucky plant and is only seen in temple grounds along with Cannas, so I was not allowed to buy for our garden in Chiang Mai.

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## Marmite the Dog

> Long ago, I read a good article on the placement of plants and trees around one's house. ie plants with names that also mean sorrow, death etc are never to be planted near the home. Superstitious, but then that happens alot in Thailand. Will try to find and post. One house I stayed actually had all the trees in the locations noted in the story. one link: Thailand Life - Superstitions about Trees and Plants - 01


If you follow that load of old bollocks, what do you expect?  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## buad hai

We've transferred some plants to the new garden, so there are some empty pots scattered around the old one. I've seen this cat napping at the bottom of this clay pot but he always leaps out and runs away before I can get a photo. Today I surprised him and took this photo just before he fled.

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## Lily

^He'd make a nice house cat for the new house BH.

We have one just like that. Her name is Juliette.

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## buad hai

^Hmmm. Good idea.

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## WhiteLotusLane

> Her name is Juliette.


 :Very Happy:  

จู๋ เลีย เย็ด ?

(Joo lia yed)  ?  Perfect name in Thailand.   :Very Happy:

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## Jet Gorgon

Beautiful cat. Look at those eyes! Perfect rat catcher.

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## Sir Burr

Yeah, but they will also kill all the song-birds, skinks and lizards. Bastards!

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## buad hai

^Indeed. We have five or six feral cats that hang out at our place, including the black beauty pictured above. They just love all the wildlife in our mango tree....

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## buad hai

Garden's looking good after all the rain. The orchids are taking off:



These light pink dendrobiums are hard to photograph because the color is so subtle:

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## Curious George

^*Very* nice, BH. I love he subtle pink ones, and need to look them up, unless you already have an ID.

Are they possibly _Den erika-toh_?

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## The_Dude

Sounds like it's hard to up-root and leave such a nice garden. Alot of good times I imagine spent there. But your new home will probably be just as nice. Hope to see more pics in the near future of your new developing garden. Do you have running water yet?

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## buad hai

Dude, most of the stuff in the current garden is in pots and easily (I hope) moveable. We'll leave a few things for the people who will continue to live here, but none of them have much interest in caring for a garden.

Still no running water at the new house, but they are about to start building a house next to ours, so we won't have to walk so far to haul it.

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## buad hai

> I love he subtle pink ones, and need to look them up, unless you already have an ID.
> 
> Are they possibly Den erika-toh?


I just don't know. As you know, most orchid sellers here don't do much of an ID other than letting you know what color the flowers are. I took a couple of close ups in the hope that it might make ID easier:

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## buad hai

I found some photos of D. Erika-toh and they seem a bit pinker than the ones pictured above.

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## El Gibbon

BH and CG

I had the good fortune this year to visit one of the larger orchid shows in Thailand, the Chantaburi Orchid Festival.  A great experience that I expressed on my thread.

I bought two very nice violet and white Cat types and was pleased to see there was a tag on each, in Thai of course. Since the ms was off looking at other stuff I bought them and proceeded to wander through the many many displays and shops.

We bought some oncids that had been developed for the queen in the Chang Mai area. No name or provenance of what families or sub specie were used in the breeding.

Once home I check with the ms to translate the name on the two Cats for me.  "Violet" was here reply.  Too funny, Thai orchid growers and some breeders don't do well with specie and sub families. They are the exception rather than the norm from my experience.

I have about 20 different Dend. species of different colors, leaf shape and overall plant shapes. When purchasing I ALWAYS ask the name in the off case the seller will know, the typical answer is  "(xxxthe color) Thai Orchid."

Actually I've learned that I really don't care what it is as long as I can identify the general family. Most Thai orchids I've seen are very hard to identify as they are often cross-bred either by design or ineptitude. I've spent a small fortune on orchid books that are basically useless. You really need to analyze the DNA to get solid specie information, something out of most of our range of possibilities.

Thanks to George's reference to the orchid site I've at least got a reference for most basic families and that's about as good as it gets.

Like butterfly identification, with hundreds of thousands of species populating the planet it is a task that most humans will take to their grave unaccomplished.

E. G.

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## The_Dude

> Dude, most of the stuff in the current garden is in pots and easily (I hope) moveable. We'll leave a few things for the people who will continue to live here, but none of them have much interest in caring for a garden.
> 
> Still no running water at the new house, but they are about to start building a house next to ours, so we won't have to walk so far to haul it.


When I wrote "Up-Root" I meant you. It's hard to leave something (garden) that you made from nothing . Anyway good work!

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## buad hai

Heavy rain here last night and this morning I found these ants huddled together on a mango leaf.

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## El Gibbon

^ My recommendation would be to burn the nest immediately. They make a true mess of young trees and plants. Eventually you will be inundated...

E> G>

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## buad hai

^Yep, all gone now.

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## buad hai

Here's what my old garden used to look like:



Here's how it looks now:



Granted, we took most of the orchids and a few of the potted plants with us, but we left all the lotus and lilies behind. The remaining residents pulled out all the ferns and other plants. They dumped out all but two of the lotus/lily pots and removed the lilies from the two remaining pots.

I guess they don't like to garden....

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## sunsetter

> Not doing much with our "garden":


that would make a nice garden with maybe a deck or a walkway/bridge

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## Happyman

I like green things but have "kiss of death" fingers instead of green ones .
Let me tell you - if I buy a fresh cabbage at the market it has gone withered and yellow by the time I get it home !!!  :Smile: 
My garden is a 20m sq concrete yard with a sort of border down one side - about 1 m X 4.5 m with a betel palm, a papaya and some sort of tree thing.
I have built an aviary around the whole thing ( fitted around the tree trunks- they poke through the top - its 2.4m high.
Got a little fountain in the corner and a kingsized birdbath/water tray on the ground - The floor is paved with about 20 bags of those white marble type stones( about as big as a bantam egg) 
Currently got 7 birds and sit, mekong in hand, watching them for hours!

2 Black throat laughing thrushes - breeding pair - male is my longterm resident and known as "Brain Dead'  cos he thinks he is human and  if I open the aviary door and the house door he will fly in and sit on the top of the computer!

2 Java finches - female - the male died a month ago - old age ! ( or knackered servicing the ladies!)

2 Blue winged leaf birds- breeding pair 

1 watercock that was found wandering around the soi disoriented during a thunderstorm - took him in for the night and he settled in immediatly- so he can stay !

When I can get my head around downloading pics to TD I will run a thread - any other bird nutters out there?( feathered variety :rofl: )

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## Happyman

> Heavy rain here last night and this morning I found these ants huddled together on a mango leaf.


If I see one of these I put a plastic bag around it cut the leaf off take it home and put it in with the birds - all gone in a minute or so !  :Smile:  They luv'em!

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## Told Stool

^ I've never seen a bunch of fireants in Thailand like that.  Sheesh!  However, I have seen a number of them crawling up my legs after they bit me.  Didn't notice them until I felt the extreme pain.  

My garden, or the area around my house, features three bowls, all with little guppy-style fish in them.  There is also a mango tree, a champu tree, and a Chinese apple tree.  All good for the plate about this time of year.

My yard is nearly all tiled, mind you, but I have thought of taking a few of them out and making a dirt area where I can plant some vegetables or something.

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