Koi inspired design

 

I was on a short vacation to Macau and wandering around within the shopping mall of the Venetian Macao when I saw this on a shop window.

This shop specialises in suitcases. On its own, most will not link the vibrant colours on the suitcase to the “living jewels”. There are croc-skin handbags/suitcases, snake-skin handbags/suitcases and what about having a fish-skin handbag/suitcase. I had seen a TV documentary that people actually made clothes out of dried fish skin. Imagine what you can do with a expensive champion Koi who passes on. LOL.

This suitcase is not made of fish skin. Just nice paintwork.

A few weeks later, back home in Singapore. I chanced upon the similar display in a similar shop at Millenia Walk. So, Koi-inspired design seems to be the flavour of the month.

Plants for Koi Pond– Thalia Geniculata

 

I have always wanted to get this plant for my Koi pond but somehow could not find it for sale in the nurseries in my neighbourhood. I saw this plant at the biodiversity pond in a local education institution, Raffles Junior College. This plant is also known as the Alligator Flag – “derived from the fact that the plant can be used to alert one to the presence of an alligator as it swims past this aquatic plant and rustle the leaves.”  - so says the sign posted at the biodiversity pond.

This is quite a tall plant, with broad leaves like those of the heliconia and purple flowers hanging down like mini-bells from a curved stalk. This would be a good plant to grow in pots by the edge of a large pond. Being tall, it can form the backdrop of a pond and provide some shade for the Koi.

Thalia Geniculata at biodiversity pond in Raffles Junior College

A few weeks later, I chance upon this plant again when I visited a friend who had them growing out of a large water filled earthen pot in his roof garden.  He told me he bought them from a local nursery. So it is available locally but have to know where to look!

I will consider getting this plant for a water garden or Koi pond, when grown in pots around the pond’s edge. It can even be displayed as a specimen plant in the middle of a large pond.