Chom Dong Villa and Garden

During the rainy season, from July to October, the garden is at its greenest, and one can admire the many native trees dotted about the garden. We are experimenting with several imported trees which seem to be doing well so far, and the rain would be vital to their growth. These include African baobab Adansonia digitata, Queensland bottle tree Brachychition rupestris, Hawaiian blue latania palm Latania sp., and a row of cannon ball trees Couroupita guianensis originating from South America.

Rain also means the blooming of Murraya paniculata orange jessamine, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis night-blooming jasmine and Leucophyllum frutescens barometer bush.

After a rainstorm the evening air is filled with the chorus of frogs and toads.

July to October

The flower arch on the dam

‘Blue lotus’

Night-blooming water lily

Bromeliads and banseveria

New frond of a bird’s nest fern

The garden has several unusual plants of local origin which flower during the rainy season. These are the creamy ‘montha’ Talauma candolei, the white ‘yeehub’ Magnolia lillifera, the red 'kluay musang' Uvaria cordata Alston, the creamy-white blossoms of ‘moke luang’ Holarrhena pubescans Wall ex G Don and the recently-acquired rose-coloured version.

A stroll through the garden will bring you many unexpected pleasures – the great boulder area with ficus trees atop the giant rocks, held on tightly by their roots; the ornamental waterfall; the par-3 golf course; the bougainvillea tunnel.