We Decided To Go To The Plant Market Today,

rather than Saturday,

to find it if you are leaving Pattaya to go to Bangkok as you pass the Bangkok Pattaya hospital on your left take the next 'U' turn and the market will be on the left, there is lots of parking space behind it, we are in the car park looking towards the Bangkok Pattaya hospital,

 zooming in,  

 it is possible to see the mini Siam sign,

 plants already packed and ready to go,

 conifers that seem to like the warmer weather out here,

 and some cannas,

 waterfalls to go,

 the number of plants here is almost endless,

 as are the varieties,

 and some even have their own butterflies,

 quite a few do in fact,

 as we found these on another stall,

but this is one stall they should keep clear of, the stall selling insectivorous plants,

water lilies still seem to be in season, three different flowers in each bag,

we noticed these cyclamen on a nearby stall, 

 and these begonias but it was what was in front of them that interested us,

 strawberry's, 

  we had only been chatting a few weeks ago to Nick and Maureen,

 about growing our own strawberry's and here they were, so we bought two pots, one for Nick and Maureen and one for us, 

 a good show of bougainvillea, the strange this about them is that it is the leaves that are coloured, the flower itself is quite small in the centre of the coloured leaves,

 at the end of the aisle nearest the car park,

 there is the area that sells the larger items,

 anyone for yucca? this one is a nice example of Yucca gigantea, a Yucca species that is native to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the eastern part of Mexico, it is also reportedly naturalised in Puerto Rico, the Leeward Islands and Ecuador,

 there are small,

 and large palms here as well,

 a view along the next aisle,

 at the beginning of this one,

 fruit trees are for sale,

 and garden ornaments,

 like these,

 make your garden complete with these two fat ladies, and no I am not being sexist, or would it be fattest? the description is for bingo calling, have a look here at bingo-lingo,

 it almost seemed that everywhere we looked,

 we saw hanging baskets like these, certainly good value for money if you count the number of flowers that you buy,

 the cut orchid stall was just setting up,

 so we bought a couple of bunches for the table for our Sunday lunch,

 and a soon as we did some more customers arrived to buy some,

 a quick look at the cactus stall,

 but there was nothing to interest us,

 the same for one of the aquatic outlets,

 a little way further along, some bromeliads, 

 we were soon into the orchid section,

 as usual there were some real beauties there,

 but I resisted the temptation to buy some,

 roses were still flowering,

 but these were what we had come for,

 some clay pots for our cactus collection,

 the downside was that the seller only had one large one that we wanted, so that was that, he did say though he would bring some more next week, we will see,

 there are of course lots of plant pots for sale both decorated,

 and plain in terracotta,

 and glazed ones,

 plastic to if you like bright colours,

also of interest there are stalls selling garden equipment, seeds and fertilisers or vitamins as they are called,

 as we sat in the truck drinking a ice coffee more rain clouds started to arrive, shades of yesterday at the fishing park,

 in the afternoon Mark called by for a coffee and a chat, then we were off to the weekend night market on Thepprasit Road,

 the sky looking towards Jomtien,

and inland,

 one of the three main aisles at the front of the market near the road,

behind the bar a couple of new vehicles for sale,

 this road leads to the last aisle, the pet section, so I made my way down it,

 looking along some of the food aisles on the way,

 some a bit quieter than others,

 behind me a group of shoppers had just alighted from their coach, 

 the pet aisle with a few customers,

 a few of the stall holders had arrived late,

 or we were a bit early,

 sunset over the market,

 I made my way back to the bar, past the fried chicken stall,

 and into one of the clothes aisles that leads to the bar,

 just one customer this evening when I arrived,

 no sales for the egg seller as he races to beat the traffic,

 but a sale for the ice cream vendor,

 and then he is one his way,

 as the balloon seller walks past,

 there was almost a party at the bar tonight as Jim and Cher,

along with Brian called by, after saying our farewells it was home feet up for some more episodes of Endeavour, then for us off to bed.