Flower power

HOW would you describe a plant? That depends on who you ask. A man on the street might point out its pretty, colourful flowers that give off a fragrant scent. A botanist would spell out the scientific name of the plant and its properties. Japanese landscape architect Jun-ichi Inada thinks of plants as "members of a space". He waxes lyrical about plants saying, "they are like interpreters of the day's weather".

He cites the example of how you can tell it is a breezy day, when there are flowers on the ground that are likely to have been blown off by the wind. "Or how about the sound of leaves rustling . . . each plant behaves in a different way, but together they are like a symphony of nature and space," says Mr Inada, 62.

The managing director of Win Landscape Planning and Design was in Singapore recently to prepare for the Singapore Garden Festival from Aug 16 to 24 at Gardens by the Bay.