By Chan Li Leen
Wednesday February 21, 2007
CAMERON HIGHLANDS: A rose is a rose to most people.
A trip to the Rose Centre here, however, might just change one’s mind for this tranquil little garden grows over 100 different types of roses.
According to the centre’s director Chai Keok Chew, few people realise that roses not only came in different colours but also in varying shapes and sizes.
“Some roses have fragrance but even that differs from plant to plant,” said Chai, 55, who loves the sweet-smelling American Rose.
A thing of beauty: Chai admiring one of the many types of roses grown at his centre in Kea Farm, Cameron Highlands recently.
Formerly a vegetable farmer, Chai opened the centre in Kea Farm here some 14 years ago.
“I eventually gave up farming to concentrate on the centre.
“Over the years, I’ve managed to plant more than 100 varieties of roses and over 1,000 types of cacti,” he noted.
Some of the cacti, which he has kept for almost 20 years, have grown beyond the centre’s ceiling.
Although this place is a rose centre, it is filled with other flowers such as the Bird of Paradise, begonia, hibiscus and lavender.
There are a few, such as the Lady’s Shoe and the Jade Vine, which Chai also called the Japanese Blue Butterfly, that are uncommon but extremely special.
Unusual species: Also at Kea Farm is the Lady's Shoe, named so for obvious reasons. —Lew Yong Kan / The Star
“I’m not too sure what is the native country of the Japanese Blue Butterfly but a friend from Australia gave it to me some years back.
“Many rare flowers at the centre were gifts but I also bring them from my overseas trips to cultivate them here,” he added. - The Star.
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