Unless you’re a botanist, a horticulturalist, a gardener or David Bellamy you probably will have a complete disinterest in this post. First just let me say, I’m not really interested in botany, horticulture or anything to do with plant life and trees, unless it has some significance to Thailand or is something typically Thai, such as the Sacred Fig Tree. But now just let me say “grapple me grape-nuts”, there is a small tree/shrub which occupies a piece of my garden (see photos below) and for around 6 weeks of the year in December and January it absolutely blows my mind. So, what we talking about here, a coca tree, a marijuana plant, or have I gone soppy with a poppy. It’s none of those, due to my lack of interest in Botany, and a fruitless Google search I can only refer to the mysterious shrub as the “Bubblegum Tree”.
Thailand can boast a diverse and spectacularly beautiful array of flora and fauna, making my Bubblegum Tree appear to be somewhat mundane and ordinary. It’s just and ordinary shrub, in an ordinary garden, in an ordinary suburb of an extraordinary city.
Much like the pulsing, vibrant heart of Pattaya, the Bubblegum Tree saves itself for the coolness of the tropical night, waiting patiently, tightly wrapped, modest and unassuming.
As day turns to night, and the harsh merciless light of the sun is replaced by the cooling, calm glow of the moon, the Bubblegum Tree awakens. If the Bubblegum Tree could speak, it would proclaim as loud as thunder “here I am, come and get me”, but it’s breath would be sweet yet scintillating, it’s tone would be husky and sexual, alluring and irresistible to any would be suitor.
I can’t wax lyrical no more, I can’t speak in a Shakespearean tongue, but I suppose you get the drift. I’ve got a tree in my garden which smells like bubblegum, I’ve never smelled a plant quite like it before. If anyone could tell me what it is I would be delighted.