What is a ‘Plant Zoo’?
Several plants have common names derived from the name of animals, the obvious reason being that parts of these plants appear to resemble their fauna counterparts.

A fun way to display such vegetation is to plant them together to create a zoo-theme garden . These can be set up inside a school or kindergarten compound, or even in a home balcony.

Cages and signage…
You can place interactive plant information signage next to each plant. A simple DIY version would be a two-sided circular waterproof disc held up by a vertical garden stake. One side will display a simple quiz question that asks the reader why a plant is called as such. The other side of the disc will contain the answer. The garden stake allows the disc to be rotated easily.

This way, children can embark on a fun journey to discover how these plants got their names. Adults are likely find such information enlightening too!

More adventurous gardeners, parents or teachers can construct simple barricades or cages out of sticks or branches to make the plant zoo look even more realistic.

Selecting plants and sites
For your Plant Zoo to flourish it is important to choose plants that will thrive in the location you wish to display them. A sunny site will allow for a larger range of plants to be grown. Many flowering shrubs require an outdoor site with full sun exposure, while shady outdoor sites will limit you to growing mostly foliage plants and ferns.

Most plants prefer a well-draining site. If your site has heavy clay soil, it will be necessary to improve the soil structure by incorporating organic matter like mature compost. If a particular site is waterlogged, you can try growing marginal plants naturally adapted to growing near the edge of a water body like a pond.

A beginner’s selection of 10 easy Plant Zoo plants

Red Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeeana)
This shrub produces curved inflorescences with red overlapping bracts that look like the body of a shrimp or prawn. Its true flowers are small and white, and bloom from between the red bracts.

Best grown in a semi-shaded to full sun location with well-draining, moist soil.

Cat’s Whiskers (Orthosiphon aristatus) A common plant found in medicinal gardens, the Cat’s Whiskers is shrub that produces either white or violet flowers with long, extended stamens resembling the whiskers of a cat.

Best grown in a semi-shaded to full sun location with well-draining, moist soil.

Cockscomb (Celosia cristata) This plant is commonly seen during the Chinese New Year festive season. Available in red, yellow and sometimes green, the prominent inflorescences produced by the plant have a crested structure resembling a rooster’s comb. Being an annual, it dies away after flowering and producing seed, and therefore needs to be regrown from seeds periodically.

Best grown in full sun location with well-draining, moist soil.

Lobster Claw Plant (Ruellia colorata) The Lobster Claw Plant is a shrub that produces large, fiery red flower spikes that look like the cooked claws of a mud crab, a favourite Singaporean dish!

Best grown in a semi-shaded location with well-draining, moist soil.

Rattlesnake Calathea (Calathea crotalifera) A species of the prayer plant family (Marantaceae), it produces unusual-looking inflorescences which are flat and paddle-shaped with overlapping bracts (commonly light green or yellow) and held erect like the tail of a rattlesnake.

Best grown in a semi-shaded location with well-draining, moist soil.

Peacock Plant (Calathea makoyana) Another species from prayer plant family (Marantaceae), this plant features ornate, oval-shaped leaves with a pattern reminiscent of a peacock’s tail feather.

Best grown in a semi-shaded location with well-draining, moist soil.

Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium)

The Butterfly Ginger is a delightful plant that produces butterfly-shaped flowers that are highly fragant and can be eaten as a vegetable.

Best grown in a semi-shaded location with moist soil such as next to a pond.

Rabbit’s Foot Fern (Davallia divaricata) 

This epiphytic fern got its common name from the hairy rhizome which resembles and feels somewhat like a rabbit's foot.

Best grown in a semi-shaded location with a porous moisture-retentive mix.

Crocodile Fern (Microsorum musifolium) The leaves of this epiphytic fern have an unusual texture and appearance akin to the skin of a crocodile.

Best grown in a semi-shaded location and in a porous mix that is moisture-retentive.

Tapeworm Plant (Homalocladium platycladum)A botanic oddity with flattened, jointed, green stems resembling a tapeworm’s body, it sometimes produces small leaves on alternate sides of the stem which look like centipede legs, thus earning it another name — the Centipede Plant.

Best grown in a semi-shaded, well-draining location.

Text and photos by Dr Wilson Wong