That special look evaluating the specimen. ๐
Back to the annual Suan Luang Rama IX Floral Fair in Bangkok, Thailand! ๐น๐ญ
I have already shared by succulent impressions in a recent post.
Time to look at the fair as a whole.
Orchids were presented in great abundance, many in bloom.
Prices are predictable - 50 baht (1.4$) for a small plant, 150-250 (4-7$) for a mature plant with abundant flowering. Large and rare specimens can cost much more.
At the end of the fair (Dec 9 - 10), there were big discounts on plants - traders and farmers tried to sell the goods before returning home.
In the photo above - 180 baht (5$) for one plant, three plants for 500 (14$).
Just so you know, not all, but some, orchids smell amazing!
Carnivorous plants are also popular. Monkey cups in a wide range are already familiar to Bangkokians.
The sundews were also presented at the fair.
The last sundews are sealed in plastic containers. I saw representatives of this genus in the swamps of Karelia, old memories.
Fruit trees were also common at the fair.
Durian (the king of the fruits!) in the image, a variety from from Malaysia.
Champada ๐ฎ fruit tree. I had even never heard about it...
The taste of the fruit is similar to the related jackfruit and breadfruit with a hint of durian - wiki
There was one shop selling different types of banana plants. Some of them looked and tasted weird even for Thais. The owners of the shop treated visitors with bananas for free. We tried the red one - great taste, like banana with flavor of wild strawberry.
Banana plants cost 200 - 400 baht (6-12$).
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Water lilies** are probably too usual for Thailand, so I saw them only in a couple of shops.
Roses are very popular in Thailand. They are considered exotic here and grow with difficulty, but there are varieties that grow in open ground in parks.
There were not many hoyas, surprsingly. I saw a hoya shop at Chatuchak Plant Market where you could choose a tiny baby hoya for 10-30 baht (less than 1$) after trying smells of flowers on bigger hoya plants. Loved this...
Camellias are something new at the market. We visited the fair twice and found that small plants for 200 baht (6$) were all sold out, and there was also a demand for larger bushes (400 and more baht).
We bought one camellia, let's see if it survives in the balcony. ๐
There were all sorts of plants and flowers at the fair. For example, bonsai like in the images above. 80 000 baht (2300$) for this specimen.
Cotton plants with burgundy flowers charmed me.
All sorts of blossoming cacti with flowers of marvelous shades...
When we were walking to the fair, we were thinking out loud, like, "nothing is new there, we've seen everything 100 times" but, when we entered the event, we couldn't stop watching and photographing, and quickly lost track of time. As a result, 1 small cammelia, 1 rose of the middle size, 1 small monkey cup, soil and pots were purchased. ๐ We twirled a variety of plants in ะตัั hands; it was hard to part with some of them - after all, we couldnโt buy everything.
More images and stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out the previous ones on my personal Pinmapple map.
I took the images with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G on Nikon D750 on December 3 and December 9, 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand.