And now for something completely different!
A virtual trip this month, leaving winter and all those Christmas preparations behind. Picture extraordinary tropical gardens, sometimes described as the most famous in the world. For those of you who have been to the Far East, or stopped off on the way to Australia, they may be familiar. But for me, when the furthest east I have been is Turkey, finding out about them was a revelation. And there are many ways to visit them virtually, from the Gardens by the Bay website to many YouTube Videos on Google.
The Gardens by the Bay, in Singapore. Multiple gardens, with two huge cooled conservatories (or domes) and eighteen ‘Super Trees’. It was the Super Trees that really caught my imagination because they are so different to anything I had come across before.
The ‘Trees’ then. There are three groves, one of 12 trees and two of three each. They vary from 25 to 50 metres tall; each has a concrete interior, surrounded by a steel framework with planting panels, making one of the most extensive vertical gardens in the world. The tops of the trees expand to make a canopy providing shade to the gardens below.
Eleven have solar panels which supply power to the gardens and power light shows every evening. They also collect rainwater which supplies the domes and the fountains.
They act, in fact, like trees. One acts as an exhaust and cooling system for the domes, venting hot air and circulating cooled air. The tallest hosts an observation platform and roof deck from which you can see all the Bay Area and the gardens. And there is an elevated walkway joining two of the larger trees.
But they’re not just the engines powering the garden. The vertical panels are planted with a rich assembly of plants, including vast numbers of bromeliads, ferns, tropical flowering vines and orchids. The planting schemes on the trees vary in colour, from tones of red and yellow to silver and pink.
Close by are the two conservatories, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Dome.
The Flower Dome is the largest glasshouse in the world without supporting pillars. It features a changing seasonal display of flowers, with plantings from five continents.
It is best seen rather than described. Just type in Gardens by the Bay You Tube on Google and multiple videos come up.
The Cloud Forest is in the second conservatory. It features a 42 metre high ‘Cloud Mountain’, replicating the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountains. You can get to the top by a lift and descend by a circular path which crosses behind the waterfall multiple times.
Wow! And it is COVERED with plants. Epiphytic bromeliads, ferns, clubmosses, insectivorous pitcher plants and many orchids. All around the domes and trees are different gardens. Explore them virtually on the ‘Gardens by the Bay’ website - Floral Fantasy (a third glasshouse), the Kingfisher Wetlands, Sun Pavilion, Heritage Garden, Serene Garden, World of Plants. Like me, you may not be able to go there.
But the website and the multiple You Tube videos can take you there.
Enjoy.