Unless you’re a botanist, a horticulturalist, a gardener, or seeking a magnificently fragrant flowering plant that’s not cannabis in Pattaya, you will probably 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 connection to Thai culture, 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 are we talking about here, a coca tree, a marijuana plant, or have I gone soppy over 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 plant as the “Bubblegum Tree.”
Thailand can boast a diverse and spectacularly beautiful array of flora and fauna, making my Bubblegum Tree appear more mundane than exotic. It’s just an ordinary-looking little tree in an ordinary garden in a suburb on the darkside of Pattaya.
Much like Pattaya, though, you don’t get to know everything about this modest and unassuming tree until the relative coolness of the night replaces the sun-charged heat of the day.
Then, as the neon signs of Walking Street flicker into life one by one, the tubular flowers of the Bubblegum Tree unfurl, filling the night air with a fragrance that, after a curious sniff or two, can only be described as unmistakably and irresistibly bubblegum.
So, what is this wonderfully smelly tree? I got the answer from reader Bruce in the comments. However, in case I disable comments one day, it’s called Night Blooming Jasmine, also called Night Queen or Lady of the Night.