Flowers Galore SGF 2018

Singapore Garden Festival SGF 2018 is running till 03 Aug. Gardens By The Bay have been transformed into a magical wonderland.

(Do read our 2016 SGF experience here)

Video: Let us share our favourite features from SGF 2018. This blog post is photos intensive.

1st tip : Families with young kids,Β  you must visit “Learning garden and Secret Garden (edibles) ” .

Flower Field

SGF 2018
SGF 2018

The sunflowers are a huge magnet for families, get ready your wefies. The grasshopper, bees and ladybird are out in force to share their stories again.

Look closer at the meadow and you will see real bees buzzing around too, they are as excited as the humans πŸ™‚

Meadows are not complete without mouse and some strawman. Look around, there are many gnomes hiding and playing around the meadow.

(Photo below) These stretch of corridor is for new house owners, you will get plenty of ideas to decorate your Balcony. Some designs are ingenious but would require a green finger to nurture and maintain.

From every corner of SGF 2018, look up and you will see some high rise buildings, enveloped by greens and rich flora.Β  Truly, Singapore is a City in a Garden.

The green lawn was inviting and we saw some folks sitting and resting on the greens πŸ™‚

Floral Designing Competition

Award winning art decorations and landscaping are featured here. Mind boggling details and intricacies.

Although some are very abstract, one need not an artist to appreciate the artwork and decorations, many stuffs triggered our curiosity.

Bottom right plant looks like Durian! Thorny too.

So many test tubes, each tube is different, each one holding a life. When they start to sway due to wind draft, quite a picturesque and calming sight.

 

Kids trying to be abstract :p

Photo below conjures image of “motion and strength” to me, the flowers are blooming through the parquet floor!

 

Love The rotating Eye. I thought it was static until I saw petals dropping inside the slow-rotating cylinder.

So mesmerising and intriguing! Go closer and we realised sclera is made of 滿倩星 Man Tian Xing! The Eye feature literally pulled us closer to inspect.

The mini buttons flowers look like Emoticons to me, each one with a different expression.

In general, everyone has different opinions and viewpoints, and the beautiful plants really stretch our imagination.

Besides the main designated exhibition areas, creative displays are dotted across Gardens by the Bay.

WeΒ would not mind getting lost in the forest garden.

This passageway near to the SuperTree Grove makes my heart flutters,Β  over-arching branches have form a green “corridor”.

Some SGF 2018 events and exhibitions are under the Grove.

.. flowers everywhere,Β  from orchids to hibiscus to “trumpets” . Kids know Orchids are Singapore’s National Flower, and they learned that Hibiscus is Malaysia’s.

Landscape Design Challenge

If you have a garden, would you be inspired to craft a Green identity?

Community Gardening

Community “farmers and gardeners” proudly showcase their produce and efforts πŸ™‚

And we saw some huge plants and melons around Community corner, I am impressed that Singapore can grow so much crops (in view of our land constraint). Kids understood that future padi, vegetables might all be housed in vertical farms, where climate, nutrients and water will all be AI automatically controlled.

Kids: Imagine a farmer who does not work under the sun πŸ™‚

Singapore needs to self sustain in producing some greens for our own consumption, majority of our vegetables and fruits are all imported.

Β Β  Learning Garden

First tip, grab the booklet for some challenges. Let the kids solve the clues hidden around the “Learning Garden”.

Learn about the birds and bees, pollination and even seed dispersal in the natural world.

Interesting to know that Nparks are able to pair birds and insects to plants πŸ™‚ Quite a fruitful relationship between flora and fauna.

Flowers need fertilisation and they have ovaries too (thank you bees and butterflies for helping to spread flowers’ DNA)

Kids know about different birds nests. Some nests can be quite elaborate. Do visit our own HDB sunbird story (blog post)

(picture below) These bamboos samples can actually house a bee too.Β  Cute animation to illustrate how insects live.

 

Secret Gardens (Edibles)

Smell, touch, and ask more questions.

Seriously, strawberries and grapes in the tropics! This was a first for many parents too. Innovation means Tropical Singapore can grow all sorts of fruits.

Beyond the exhibition ares, visitors were admiring beautifully curated plant species. You can spot concentration of flowers, just like SGF’s ambassadors, welcoming us along the walkways.

Vanda Valley

Just behind Meadow entrance, lies Vanda Valley. All kinds of colourful Orchids ready to greet visitors. Violet, purple, pink, orange and many more colours.

We spent 3 hours exploring Singapore Gardens Festival SGF 2018 searching for our favourite exhibition and flowers, and we could only cover 60% of the exhibition grounds (SGF 2018 is on 10 hectares of land!)

Kids enjoying their buggy ride. Ride is FOC if you have a SGF 2018 ticket.

Fantasy Garden

We left the best for last. We knew from experience that “Fantasy Garden” is always bewildering, just like walking into a fairy tale setting. Ok, another excuse is we wanted to enjoy the aircon after a long walk.

Spotted a sunset and reflection too, but it is extremely difficult to capture the contrast in our camera.

African Thunder must be the most spectacular, the lightings and visual special effects.

Do take note that your ticket entitles you to one or two domes (Flower Dome and Cloud Forest). You might be interested to know that Flower Dome is running “Orchid Extravaganza” concurrently till 22 Aug. More details here.

We would like to thanks Nparks and Gardens by the Bay for the interesting invite. We had a fun family afternoon together, appreciating the green culture and landscape. It is an eye opening trip for parents too.

We did not shop at Marketplace, but we believed it will attract many families too.

Additional Details :

-SGF 2018 runs from 21Jul to 03Aug, from 10am to 10pm
-We would recommend minimum 2 to 4 hours stay
-SGF 2018 tickets start from $12 + and $6 + for adult and child respectfully
-Buy your tickets online to avoid the queues
-SuperTree Glove (GPS 1.281590, 103.863710)
-Ticket categories would bundle one or two Domes inclusive, if you are going to Cloud Forest, do visit during the “mist release
-Car park will always be crowded (main events are near to Meadows)
*SGF 2018 website https://www.singaporegardenfestival.com

Our photos cannot do justice to the creative landscaping, you must view the exhibits upfront to appreciate the awesome Flowers displays.

More photos uploaded to our Facebook album (link)
Our Gardens by the Bays posts are all documented here.

 

 

Singapore Garden Festival 2014

[ Media Invite ]

From 16-24 Aug, Singapore Garden Festival 2014 (SGF) wil bloom at Gardens by the Bay. Jointly organised by “National Parks Board (nparks)” and “Gardens By The Bay (GBTB)”, this is the first time SGF is held outdoors.

You can expect floral display, landscaping and acquire some inspirations to decorate your balcony, kitchen, and dining table too!

Regardless of which corner you are taking a selfie, there is always MBS, GardensByTheDome’s Domes or CBD in the background πŸ™‚

The main exhibits would be at the Meadow (10min slow walk from Flower Dome). But make sure you spend some time at SuperTree Grove (shopping) and Flower Dome (Orchids Extravaganza)

Refer to the map below or this link.

Butterflies (counted at least 10 real ones) have gatecrashed SGF 2014, and that must be the biggest compliment any gardener can receive.

Truly nature’s endorsement πŸ™‚

The butterfly led us to the grasshoppers, ladybird and dragonflies (the usual mascots).

Weather permits (from rain and shine), plenty of photo opportunities await families.

Flowers (notably Orchids) are spotted around many corners, forming colourful backdrop or simply photo accessories.

Appreciate 15 Fantasy and Landscape Show-gardens from award winning designers. Nature’s art pieces.

Decorate your balcony, perhaps. There are 8 “booths” to spark your creativity.

No shopping for Daddy, but you will get to shop at over 80 stalls selling plants and gardening products. Do take note that Marketplace is in a Free area (no tickets needed).

We can even buy plants designed to attract butterflies πŸ™‚

Indoors, there are “14 Floral Windows to the World”. Cut flowers display and master florists are waiting to thrill, just like a Arts-Nature gallery.

Everyone will get to enjoy the flower art (even decoration competition) in aircon comfort.

In one of the cubicles, Daddy found some interesting and cute plants with animals and insects names!

Crocodile (the leaves got scales!), Stingray, Flamingo are easy to guess, and caterpillar too πŸ™‚

Dining Table concept. Just an idea, maybe someone would really consider decorating their dining area? Perhaps, for starters, you can pluck rose petals from the table, green beans from the chair :p

Ice Queen.

Even the kitchen Island can host your herbs and spices (all plants). Do not throw away your old CRT monitor (and toy soldiers).

Miniature Gardens are new in Singapore Garden Festival. Everything in the garden (six of them) is scaled down, really intricate and pretty!

We spotted Harry Potter’s Greenhouse!

CIB (Community in Boom) are the volunteers in your neighbourhood. Young and old, all are passionate gardeners. They were on hand to show visitors some diy handicrafts, including grasshoppers.

Photography starts early for the kids. Quality is quite impressive.

You can join in SGF’s photo contest too. Click on SGF2014 Fanpage‘s Colours Tab.

We would like to recommend you to pop by SGF 2014 Gardeners’ cup too. This is a friendly competition among CIB teams.

The mini plots of garden offer plenty of opportunities to Scent, Touch, See, Hear and even Taste (5 senses).

Learning Garden will showcase edible plants, herbs and spices. Daddy loves the padi fields.

Fruits vegetables spices Garden Festival

Orchid Extravaganza is held at Flower Dome.

Rows and rows of Orchids to pose and to photograph, but be prepared to queue πŸ™‚

Orchid Extravaganza features some 18,000 Orchids from 40 different species. Love the white Orchids which arches overhead.

Orchids Galore! Natural light seems to make the Orchids translucent.



Are these Orchids too? Daddy’s favourite could be the miniature on the right (scientific name Enchclia Radiata)

Wow purple tongues !

Orchid Kaleidoscope , that 10m tall structure in the center, is the highlight of Flower Dome.

You cannot climb up, but everyone should take one or more selfie inside the Orchid Tower (Kaleidoscope). The colourful Orchids spiral upwards into the opening. Spectacular!
Orchid Kailedoscope

Daddy can stay in Flower Dome for hours just admiring and whiffing every Orchid. Orchid Extravaganza might rival Tulipmania as one of GBTB’s best display πŸ™‚

Do take note that Orchid Extravaganza ends on 21Sep (Singapore Garden Festival ends 24Aug).

Video : Highlights of Singapore Garden Festival

Tips to enjoy Singapore Garden Festival 2014 :

– Singapore Garden Festival 2014 blooms from 16-24Aug (10am – 10pm daily)
– Orchid Extravaganza (Flower Dome) runs from now till 21Sep

– SGF2014 ticket entitles you to free entry at Flower Dome (a good deal), and it is only $10/$14 (Adults weekday/weekend respectively), and $5/$8 for children).
– You can choose to visit Flower dome on another day (check validity date at SGF2014)
– It can be very warm outdoors but it is cool indoors (contrasting temperate). Take care of the younger kids and older folks.

– We started our tour at 8am, that’s why some of the photos do not have a crowd. Gardens by the Bay is packed on weekends! There is still room for strollers and wheelchairs.

– Carpark will be full, do pop by Gardens By The Bay website for parking advise
– Buy your Singapore Garden Festival tickets online at GBTB website to avoid the queue

More updates can be found on the following channels :

SGF 2014 and GBTB Fanpage
– GBTB Orchid Extravaganza
– SGF 2014 website ( a lot of photos and activities are from previous editions)
– Tag away at Instagrams SgGardenFest, GardensbytheBay and Nparksbuzz


(image credit SGF 2014)

Do pop by our friends’ reviews, Cheekiemonkie, Dejiki, BPDG, PrincessDanaDiaries, TheWackyDuo and Miracule.

Hurry ok, Singapore Garden Festival ends this coming Sunday. And Singaporeans like to wait until last minute then throng events :p

Referring to our first simple image, at Singapore Garden Festival 2014, it does not matter whether it is “City in a Garden” or “Garden in a City”. Both are apt for showcasing our pretty island πŸ™‚

More photos can be found on our Fanpage album. Read all our GardensByTheBay stories here.