When we talk about Greenhost, it's not complete if we don’t talk about our iconic plant that is dangling along the front facade and has become a part of Greenhost's identity. Do you know which plant we mean, and do you know the name of the plant? In this blog post, we will take you on a journey to know more about this unique plant and the story behind.

This plant that was originated from Burma, Myanmar, turned out to have 3 different scientific names, namely Vernonia elliptica, Vernonia elaeagnifolia, and Tarlmounia elliptica. Each scientific name has a meaning that represents the character of this unique plant, named Lee Kuan Yew. Elliptica means the leaves of the plant are in ellipse form, meanwhile, elaeagnifolia means pure and clean like olive - as the shape of the leaves also resembles the leaves of an olive tree. People often nicknamed the plant as Curtain Creeper, too, because their vines dangle down like a curtain. Where did the name Lee Kuan Yew come from? It was taken from the name of the former Prime Minister of Singapore who succeeded in organizing an environmentally friendly development project called Garden City in 1967. The buildings that were established in that project were decorated with this type of vines. Since then, the name Lee Kuan Yew has been used as a popular name for Vernonia elliptica.

The journey that our housekeeping team went through to find this plant was truly unexpected. At that time, Greenhost was not as green and lush as it is now. Understandably, it was still the pre-opening phase where the hotel building had just been completed. Hence, Ms. Asri, our housekeeping executive had to rack her brain to look for something that could truly enliven Greenhost’s surrounding, including the room. To add more character and to make it pleasing to the eye at the same time. Ms. Asri decided to walk around to look for dangling plant seeds and this is where the journey began. Of the many different dangling plants, Ms. Asri decided to take home the Lee Kuan Yew seeds. Although she never had the experience of planting Lee Kuan Yew before, she believed that this plant will flourish in Greenhost’s area. Falling in love at the first sight and first choice made Ms. Asri and the gardener team very fond of the Lee Kuan Yew. They check, water, fertilize and trim it regularly. We also have a ritual of cutting the “bangs” of the Lee Kuan Yew every month as a mandatory activity so that the plant still looks beautiful, green, and lush. Do you think we’re doing a good job so far?

For those of you who want to have this plant at home, Ms. Asri said that Lee Kuan Yew's maintenance is quite easy as they are not so dependent on temperature and humidity. Unlike other vines that can only grow in certain season, these plants grow throughout the year and the trunk can propagate from 0.5 until 3 meters. All you need to plant Lee Kuan Yew is just the soil that could easily absorb water and to make sure that it gets enough sunlight. Whereas for those of you who are curious about how the Lee Kuan Yew plant thrives and grows in our hotel, we are absolutely looking forward to welcoming you here. If you want to get a Lee Kuan Yew’s view upon your window, kindly ask our Front Office team to be placed in a room that is located on the east, west and north side along the 1st and 2nd floor. Can you imagine waking up to the lush greeneries just outside your room?