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Garden spirits at quaint
bamboo house |
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Source: Inquirer |
Author: Tita V. Giron |
Date: 1999-11-19 |
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MUST have been the devas, or garden spirits, that staged the
grand finale of this unique garden tour we had last Monday.
At the end of our leisurely
walk in the garden, our
attention was drawn by a
splashing sound and the
sight of two chirping frogs
leaping out of the blue (err...
greens) and skimming on the
surface of the lily pond like
mini jet skis. Interestingly,
they landed with accuracy
on lily leaves where they paused like stage actors before
disappearing among the greens.
We were told every garden has nature spirits that guarded
plants and trees. Did the devas maybe know we collected
souvenir frogs for a hobby?
Whatever. The devas were, no doubt, very much in evidence at
the beautiful garden around the quaint bamboo house of the
Lazaro family in College, Los Baqos.
Why, for example, did some spikes of a native Phalaenopsis
orchid surprisingly swing from under the cover of leaves, as if
to attract our attention to its spectacular white flowers. Was
that and other unexpected twists accidental? Did the tall ivory
palm shower us with little flowers to perhaps direct our interest
to the Aerides with tiny flowers that had white petals and blue
lips, and further on the inconspicuous flowers of the mini
Ascocenda hybrids?
And why were we stepping on wayward twigs in a very tidy
garden? Looking down once, we discovered beautiful blue ferns
hidden under MacArthur palms. Other ferns and rare plants
came into our view: crested polypodium, curly ferns, feathery
Australian ferns, silver leaf pandakake shrub, dracaena lemo
lime, scarlet-flowered crossandra, sweet-scented jessamines and
henna shrubs.
Allow us to further stretch our fertile imagination. Why the
slight wind wafting scent of some flowers? Following its
direction, we found the dama del dia with fragrant white
flowers.
Exotic palms
This led us to the exotic palms--the golden Veitchii, Hawaiian
palms, walking palm, champagne, fox, spindle, black palm and
the interesting Champindle, a natural cross between the
Champagne and Spindle.
Other rarities we discovered included vanishing old favorites,
the henna plant with subtle scented flowers, the meleguas vine,
two kinds of Clerodendrons, and the purple-and-white-flowered
Strathopantus.
The Strathopanthus, as we learned from our host Carlos
Valeriano ''CV'' Lazaro, was the very same vine which his
grandmother Isolina Calma planted many years ago. She loved
plants and passed her interest on to daughter Jophine, and later
to grandson CV.
Strathopanthus vine and its trumpetlike flowers brought back
fond memories of Ms Calma, known at the College as the grand
old lady of the bamboo house that had become a model of
bamboo architecture. She and her husband, the late agronomy
professor Dr. Valeriano Calma, built the dream house 48 years
ago.
Ms Calma, unfortunately, died in 1997. We consider ourselves
lucky to have interviewed her years ago about their
self-designed bamboo house.
Backyard business
Jophine and son CV eventually turned their hobby into a
backyard business in 1985 and called it the Valesol Orchids.
When CV graduated from college, he decided to be his own
boss and took over the business. He studied orchid breeding,
bought community pots of orchid seedlings, and patiently
raised the baby plants over the years.
It was a great challenge, he told us while we toured his garden.
He experimented on his plants, read books and learned from
pitfalls. Now, 80 percent of the blooming orchids in the garden
have all come from the community pots he bought 10 years ago.
They're now the proverbial ''mother geese that lay the golden
eggs'' from which flowers and now plants are top cut and sold at
the Valesol plant shop located at Robelle garden center along
Calamba.
There's no doubt CV's career is flourishing. He and his garden
have since become models of business success now cited at
seminars and conferences. Besides that, he has been
consistently winning at garden shows and plant competitions.
Furthermore, two of his latest ventures, landscaping and flower
arrangement, are slowly but consistently bringing in customers.
Right now, he's excited over preparations for two forthcoming
projects. The first is decorating the carroza of Nuestra Seqora
de la Salud of Jay Carino for the grand procession on Dec. 5. It
will be a cinch, we're sure, as he proved when he decorated the
Carino family heirloom that was displayed at the recent Marian
festival in Glorietta. All those white Dendrobium and Cattleya
flowers from his garden drew raves from viewers.
For the second big event, the Lazaros' bamboo house garden
will be open to public viewing from Nov. 25-30. During these
dates, CV will sell propagations of his plants at slashed prices,
both at the garden and at Valesol shop at Robelle garden center.
For more information, call CV and Jophine at (049) 536-2463.
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