Mid July 2009 saw many patches of purple on the slopes of Doi Suthep. These were Lagerstroemia cochinensis var. ovalifolia trees in flower.
One day in July a working bee of Gum Hak Doi Suthep members welcomed two overseas visitors who asked to help us planting trees at Huey Teng Tao.
Our planting included adding to an avenue of Yang Deang – Dipterocarpus turbinatus around the lake drive.
After lunch we decided to avoid the sunshine and took a walk up the creek to the nearest waterfall. On the way we noticed a few mauve petals fallen on the ground, a sign of Lagerstroemias above.
However it was not until our descent, following a refreshing splash at the secluded waterfall, that we saw the full glory of the flowering trees. This was because our descent was via a ridge where we inspected Afzelia seedlings which we had planted as seed earlier in the wet season.
From the ridge we could look down on the flowering tree tops.
This combination of the waterfall refreshment and a rare close-up look of trees in flower, almost rivalling the red Rhododendron flowers of Nepal was delightful payment for a hard hot morning of tree planting.
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