THE lush flower farm comes as a complete surprise. One minute we were on a dusty narrow road, the next we were in a world charged with colour so brilliant that the fields seemed to be on fire.
Rows and rows of what later I learnt were flowering annuals, or flowers that have a short growth cycle, but are sought after for their vibrant hues of red, yellow, orange, purple, pink, white — the kind that gives a garden its beauty and character
We stopped by the side of the road and drank in the glorious beauty as farm workers watered and sowed seeds, while others at a quiet corner were packing black poly bags. Further down the road, workers were busy loading the blooms into lorries to be supplied for landscaping all over the country.
Datuk A. Halim Ali, unofficially dubbed the “flower king” of Malaysia, greeted us at the gate with a big smile and eyes shining as bright as petunias.
The man, who has planted flowers for more than 20 years, comes off as humble, yet there is no doubting the pride he has for his farm and the significance of his work to complement the tourism sector and to create a better living environment for urbanites.
After a brief explanation, Halim takes us on tour of the place, explaining that it spans some 50 acres and was formerly a mining pond.
Located in Ulu Semenyih, the farm is self-contained, demonstrating a modern day sustainable flower farm, providing work for some 300 people, most of them living in a nearby orang asli settlement.
We moved towards some workers watering little seed trays of earth embedded with Petunia seeds. Glancing at the trays, Halim immediately tells a worker to stop watering the seeds.
“It’s been over-watered,” he said.
“Petunias are manja and are one of the most difficult species to grow. It needs a lot of care,” he said, adding that its number one enemy was water.
After the seeds are sown, it takes about 15 days for the plant to grow. Once it sprouts, the plants are pinched to encourage branching and a robust growth.
Halim said the Marigolds and Celusias were easier to manage, as we moved on to a row of Cosmos — flowers with pretty little petals and delicate feathery leaves in shades of yellow and deep orange.
Halim said most annuals grew well in full sunlight and that surprised me as I had always had the impression that flowers like these thrived in temperate climates.
It seemed ironic that despite our year-long sunshine, our gardens and parks lack such plants and flowers.
“People tend to have the perception that when it comes to gardens and horticulture, the place to go is Europe.
“Yet they only have a limited period to display their gardens and parks, while we have the entire year to do so,” Halim said.
Unlike conventional plants which require constant supervision, annuals are inexpensive but require a lot of hard work and patience to grow.
“It took a lot of blood, sweat and toil to get this far, but nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing a bed of flowers which a few short weeks before were nothing more than a packet of seeds,” Halim said with a smile.
No comments:
Post a Comment