The Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay

From the oldest to the newest in one single week... Gardens by the Bay, Singapore's latest and most ambitious investment in green spaces opened for a months ago and has since been wondered and admired over all around the world. Just search the name and it pops up in whichever media you might wish.

Of course I needed to see this bold new park. Substantial and built with enormous resources, it is located on whopping 250 acres between the Marina Bay Sands casino, entertainment and business district and the Straits of Singapore. In addition to large, themed outdoor gardens with the much buzzed Super Trees (more about them in my next post), it also has two large conservatories that showcase vegetation from all around the world.  

While I visited, the unrelenting sun kept reminding me about who is the boss in these equatorial areas. After a short attempt, I decided to leave the outdoor areas to another time - if visiting daytime, do condescend to sitting in a large golf-buggy looking vehicle with a roof; you will dearly need the shade it offers. Instead, I headed to the cool and moist Cloud Forest dome, eagerly drinking in the soothing shelter it provided.

The Cloud Forest dome displays plants from tropical mountainous areas from heights of 1000 to 3000 meter. A whole 35 meter high mountain has been built inside it, with water cascading down and creating a misty environment for the plants to thrive. A suspended walkway lingers through the different areas and inside its internal caves; educational signs and multimedia presentations tell about the habitats and the effects of our behaviour on nature - not always a very cheering experience, but then, there's no reason for shutting one's eyes from the sad truth either. Greenery and flowering plants weave their leaves on the sides of the mountain; you can still see the shallow planters their are housed in, but I'm sure in a couple of months they will form an uninterrupted tapestry of varying leaf forms and colours.

It is amazing how a small country like Singapore with just a bit over 5 million inhabitants had the courage and resources to build a green space the Gardens by the Bay. I can't imagine many countries that would put away all millions needed to complete and then maintain the areas; the scale surpasses anything I've seen within the garden area so far, and this is just the beginning - a second part of the gardens will follow in a couple of years. But then, Singapore seems to be seriously committed to its slogan "City in a Garden" and as I noted in my previous post, sees green spaces as an important mean to enrich the quality of life of its citizens. And artificial as it is, Gardens by the Bay is also hoped and expected to create public interest to the remaining mangrove groves and other natural areas of greenery.

As a park, it is the early days for both the Cloud Forest dome and Gardens by the Bay as a whole. Most of the plants, however impressively large when planted, need time to develop their canopies to provide shade and to weave together into a coherent whole. Compared with the Botanical Gardens, the oldest of Singaporean public gardens, Gardens by the Bay gives an absolutely spectacular but at the same time quite hard impression to the visitor; there's too much dramatic architecture and grandeur, too little unattended freedom and soothing greenery. Nevertheless, in my opinion it is an amazing and bold display of the confidence that Singapore and Asia show for themselves and for their future, and therefore I would already call it a "must" for any garden lover visiting or living in Singapore. Just don't forget your sunnies, your hat and your water bottle!

Strolling through steamy Singapore Botanic Gardens

Water is an ever-present feature of the Singapore Botanic Gardens - even if you unfortunately can't jump in, its sound provides a relief in the hot, humid climate.

Midst all moving bustle, we managed to squeeze in a morning walk at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a favorite from our earlier trips to Singapore. Dog-friendly (they even offer bowls to fill from a special tap) and with a good coffee-house, it makes a perfect treat before the equatorial sun climbs too high and turns the gentle activity of garden strolling into a high-endurance sport.

The National Orchid Garden is situated in the middle of the Botanic Gardens. It holds many unusual plants I've never seen before, but unfortunately most of them don't carry any signs to tell their names, which I would expect from a 'botanical' garden.

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With a history reaching over 150 years back, Singapore Botanic Gardens has often been called the "leading equatorial botanical garden" and for long, it has been the uncontested crown jewel of all Singaporean green spaces. It was only this June that its prime position was challenged by the bold, new "Gardens by the Bay" park (more about it in my next post). Starting from quite practical beginnings - its initial task was to introduce economic crops as cocoa, rubber and nutmeg to cultivation- Singapore Botanic Gardens has evolved into a delightful park that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also has world-class plant collections, research and educational facilities and a pronounced recreational agenda.

Groups of Singaporeans - old and young - fill the open spaces of the gardens, practicing tai chi, yoga or Chinese dances.

Walking through the gardens, groups of Singaporeans - old and young, native and immigrant - were using the Gardens as their outdoor living room. Expat moms practiced baby yoga with their mats spread out on the lawns, retirees with silver hair flowed though their tai chi-moves in deep concentration, dignified old ladies danced with red fans in their hands to traditional Chinese music. There was place for everyone, and everyone seemed to be able to enjoy their activities without disturbing each other or being distracted by passers-by.

Heliconias, Costus and other members of the ginger family form a large part of the vegetation - there is even a special section called the Ginger Garden.

For a tiny island nation with population density 457 times higher than my native Finland (!), it is essential to have a well-defined "green" vision about how to provide a sustainable and high-quality lifestyle for its citizens. This is something that Singapore and its government have taken seriously. Its recently minted slogan "City in a Garden" was chosen to express their deep commitment to creating, developing and utilizing green spaces, and they are doing much more than just creating slogans (more of this later...). But already from my short experience here, I can see that Singaporeans don't need any encouragement in embracing and using their abundant and lush gardens. Just like the wonderful Botanic Gardens, these green spaces are already a great public asset for all who wish to enjoy them.   

 

A pearl-pink Calathea loeseneri opening its delicate petals in the darkness of the jungle floor.

Back in action... now as a container gardener

Some well travelled garden furniture and pots - some of them are already into their fourth continent...

After living out of our suitcases for six weeks, we finally moved into our new apartment last weekend. Tired of having frenetically unpacked cardboard boxes during the last few days, I indulged in some serious plant shopping - after all, a gardening girl has to keep her priorities straight. I intently skipped all planning of any color or plant combinations and dived into a temptingly lush nursery I had spotted from a taxi window the week before. This might be more retail therapy than actual gardening, but boy did it feel good to plant a couple of pots and get some dirt under my fingernails again.

A bougainvillea, a Jade Empress palm (Rhapis multifida),  a Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa), a healthy-looking, erect Heliconia and a tiny little Frangipani (Plumeria sp. - I've wanted one for years as I love their scented flowers...) in their new home on our roof terrace in Singapore.

Our first weeks in Singapore were quite stressful; we found out that a building behind the apartment we had signed is going to be torn down in October, which means that we would have be living besides a major construction site for the next two years. And as things go here, builders work from 7 AM until 10 PM, seven days a week, so all our lunches and dinners on longed-for balmy tropical nights would have been accompanied by the less-delicate sounds of jackhammers and drills instead of chirping cicadas. We were extremely lucky to be offered another apartment (normally there is no way out from a signed contract), and we landed with two balconies, several planters and a roof terrace - enough place to enjoy at least some members of the amazing flora here.

More planters to fill on the first floor of our apartment - the question is how to water them, as all water has to be carried through the living room... Any good suggestions?

So what did I buy on my first foray into the local plant world? A couple of bougainvilleas, one delicate Jade Empress palm (Rhapis multifida),  two more robust Lady Palms (Rhapis excelsa), a tiny young Frangipani (Plumeria sp. - I've wanted to have one for years as I love their scented flowers...), one healthy-looking and erect Heliconia and one desert rose (Adenium obesum), all of which can take the somewhat hard conditions of a roof terrace. And no subtle, sophisticated whites for me this time; all my new "protégés" bloom in eye-popping pinks and oranges - well, besides the palms obviously. I'm not sure where this is going (and if I should change my blog name to The Intercontinental Container Gardener), but I'm definitely happy with the journey so far! 

Packing up

Our last days in Seattle (or in Clyde Hill, to be more exact) are running out fast. I've never been fond of saying good byes, so I find it a bit distressing even to blog about anything for the moment. Despite being very excited about all the new waiting us in Singapore, it nevertheless will be sad to leave this chapter of our life behind. The house is almost empty and our container will leave in two hours, and I've been picking up and packing the last pieces here.

You should have seen the moving guys when I explained to them that my pots and planters are coming with me (the ones in the pictures are only a part of my collection, hopeless pot hamster as I am...). They thought I probably was the maddest person they've met, but politely only rolled their eyes to each other. I was lucky to find someone to take care of the plants and wheelbarrowed them over a couple of blocks to their new home. Also, I couldn't help but to dig up my precious double trillium, and send it together with a soft lavender Anemone 'Robinsoniana' to my mother-in-law MaryLou in Sweden, who is a passionate and talented gardener. If the plants survive their postal transport (I couldn't find spagnum moss anywhere so packing paper had to do), she'll surely get them to thrive in her garden near Stockholm. It would be lovely to have some living memories from here greeting us when we go back. But later about that; it is time for a couple of years in the tropics first!  

PS - I won't be updating my blog regularly until things get settled, but then I'll be back with new vigour, and hopefully even a new design for my blog. All the best until then - Liisa.

Househunting in Singapore

I'm just leaving for a househunting - or maybe an apartment hunting - trip in Singapore. On the top of the 'required features' list is a large balcony or terrace for growing orchids. Exotic, and exciting. I'll be back soon with an update from the other side of the world...

Nomen est omen... moving soon to Singapore

It is a glorious spring, probably the finest I've experienced in my four years in Seattle. And I'm too busy enjoying it. The reason is that I'm actually preparing to move to Singapore in July - getting the house ready to be sold, sorting out things to be donated or sold, filling out countless pages of immigration forms, school admission application forms for the girls and who knows what else administrative stuff that always comes with relocating internationally. At least my US driver's license can be easily converted into a Singaporean one;  I've already taken driving tests in Finland, Australia and USA (Sweden luckily let's one drive with a license from another Nordic country...), so told my husband that I'm not taking one single test again but showing all my four license that they can choose from.

So somehow, the name of my blog - The Intercontinental Gardener - really feels appropriate at last. It really was a bit of a joke in the beginning, even if I already then had gardened on three continents. At the same time, I felt sometimes that the name was a bit pretentious, as I've mainly been blogging about my gardening life after I moved to the US, and not so much about other countries I've lived in or even visited. But the name stuck, and now it seems more befitting than ever, even if I'm probably not going to be able to grow much else than orchids on a balcony in Singapore.

I'll try to update my blog somewhat regularly, even if it is quite hard to find time to really sit and think about other than these 'earthly matters' of life for the moment. But that will only be temporary - and I really can't wait to be able to 'report' about all things related to gardens from Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries soon! 

Above - Magnolia salicifolia 'Else Frye' in full bloom in Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.

Peeking through a knot-hole...

I know one is not supposed to peek through other people's fences - after all, that is why they are there, to give privacy from curious passers-by. But tempted by a gorgeous Magnolia in full bloom, I just had to see how the little back-yard completely engulfed by it looked like.

After a while I spotted a tiny knot-hole in the fence and peeked through it. And I wasn't disappointed; old, thick Magnolia trunks gnarled upwards forming a huge, blooming umbrella. In the soft shade under it, a carpet of lush Hellebores were just finishing their abundant show, pips of lily-of-the-valleys were eagerly pushing upwards accompanied by unfurling ferns and sky-blue Pulmonarias. How wonderful it must be to sit on the little wooden bench this time of the year and see the garden come alive under the canopy of soft pink Magnolia flowers. The present owners surely send some deeply thankful thoughts to the gardener who planted it what must have been over a century ago... 

The Royal Azaleas from Korea are out...

I'm full of cold, and in no form of reporting anything more advanced - but the Royal Azaleas from Korea, Rhododendron Schlippenbachiis, are out and just amazingly delicate and exquisite.

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Oh, was there ever a more radiant spring day as today; the sun is out together with the mountain (you need to be from Seattle to know that this means Mount Rainier being free and visible from the heavy clouds so common here) and it is warmer than it has ever been so far this all too soggy year. Just fantastic - now I just need to know why they are called the Royal Azaleas... need to clear my head from this cold before I'm up to any reseach. Sigh.

A borrowed soulangeana...

I've caught a huge cold and feel miserable, so this view from my kitchen windows is about as much I can manage to blog despite all spring ephemerals sprouting up in my backyard.

My next door neighbours' - a couple in their late 80s - amazing Magnolia soulangeana is just starting to open its shell-pink buds. This probably 50 years old tree reaches up to at least 8 meters into the sky and provides a breathtaking show every spring - we live uphill from them and get to admire its large goblet-formed blooms at "eye level", which is fantastic. 

Magnolias must have been the "it-plant" in the 60s when many of the older homes in this area were built; I think they would definitely be a good enough reason to buy any of the houses when they come to the market; you can always redo the house, but you can't buy 50 years of "Magnolia time" in any other way. Unfortunately, most house buyers of my generation don't share my opinion and rip them off from the way of their all too large, new mansions.

Another old house close-by that I could buy just for the sake of the huge Magnolia in front - my definition of 'curb-appeal' is a bit different from most real estate agents, I guess... I would put a wicker chair under it and sip some champagne under its amazing canopy of shell-pink blooms.

A drippingly delicious star magnolia...

A dripping Magnolia stellata in my backyard - she seems to take the weather better than I do...

If you can't beat them, join them - or maybe "if you can't change it, embrace it"? Yesterday, there was a sudden and unusual break in the continuous downpour, but I was too busy and missed documenting one of the most glorious days of this award-winningly wet spring (already over 17 inches of rain so far, compared to the average of 13...). Oh, well, at least now I know the sun still exists; today, it is as grey as ever again.
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A bit irritated on myself for missing out a day of perfect photographing weather, I tried to "embrace what I got" and create some drippingly delicious Magnolia portraits with the help of a new little umbrella that attaches directly to my camera. Alas, it didn't save me from getting drenched, so I had to give up after a while. Here are some of the results, and I hope the rain will tire itself out soon again so that I can make a new try. The Magnolia soulangeanas are out and some of them are just stunning...
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