Flowers of Scotland

One great thing about cooler temperature country is the variety of colorful flowers. In Scotland, there are beautiful wild flowers everywhere. And then there are the planted flowers in gardens and homes. We couldn't get enough of the flowers and visited 2 Botanic Garden - 1 in Glasgow and 1 in Edinburgh.

Here are just a few of the interesting looking flowers. For more of them, go to my Facebook album or Picasa Web Album.

Enjoy the nice flowers but don't ask me what are their names cause I sure don't know.

Singapore Garden Festival 2014

I have been going to the Singapore Garden Festival for the past few years. Usually it is held indoor at Suntec City but this year they decided to have it at Garden by the Bay South which was pretty cool or so I thought.

I first went on a Tuesday with a group. It rained early in the afternoon but by they time we got there, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. Which was the first problem. It was hot. Freaking hot especially with the crowd. So we avoided the outdoor exhibits which was a pity. To ensure that the plants survived the heat and rain, there was also a huge air condition tent to house the rest of the exhibits. But no matter how big it was, it was still much smaller than Suntec. And there was a series of a pavilions and not all of them were air conditioned which means we were subject to the heat. 

One of the outdoor garden display with the air con tent in the background

Another of the outdoor display

The orchids exhibits and contest area were housed separately in the Flower Dome but here again the exhibit area was so much more smaller than Suntec. The orchids were displayed together and there were queues everywhere to see them.

We have to queue (foreground) to go in for a look at the winning orchids entry

The main display for the orchids was in this structure where they planted the orchids all the way to the top on  the inside of this structure. Unfortunately one had to queue to go in and see the orchids.

And this is what the inside looks like. 

So I think they should move the show back to Suntec. If they really want the connection to Garden by the Bay, then maybe hold it at MBS and people can walk over to the Garden if they so wish.

Anyway, here are some photos of some unusual looking flowers from this year Festival and from the Flower Dome.

Tiger Orchid

Mother Nature seems to be having fun with Singapore the past months. First there was this flower bloom all over. Then came the Tropical Swallowtail moth. And now there is this Tiger Orchid blooming all over Singapore.

I first heard about the blooming in the papers. Before that I swear I never even seen a single stalk here in Singapore. Then I saw it at MacRitchie Reservoir, a place that I go so regularly and yet have never seen it before. And suddenly I have friends telling me where they seen it. 

One of the beautiful Tiger Orchid at MacRitchie Reservoir

And on Saturday morning, I saw a big clump at Upper Peirce Reservoir, another place that I go so often and yet never seen the plant before.

The Tiger Orchid at Upper Peirce Reservoir

Some may ask what so special about the Tiger Orchid. After all, there are plenty of orchids in Singapore. Well the Tiger Orchid is supposed to be the biggest orchid plant in the world. Not the flower but the entire plant. And it flowers like maybe once in 5 years.

And the just concluded Singapore Garden Festival has a whooping 300 kg plant on display. Each stalk is approximately 2 metres long. How that for big!

The Tiger Orchid at the Singapore Garden Festival

Gardens by the Bay

Finally I managed to drop in both the Conservatories at Garden by the Bay. I have bee to the Flower Dome previously but not the Cloud Forest. These are the highlights of the Garden by the Bay in addition to the Supertrees.

Since it was the last day of the Tulip flower shows, I decided to go down and take a look at both the both.

Here are some photos from the visits.

This is the flower dome. There is a center area where the flower exhibits can be changed. The whole place is climate controlled to the cool dry Mediterranean region. In addition to the flower exhibits, there are display of plants from all the region such as olive trees, cactus and so on.

The Tulip exhibits with tulips from the Netherlands. Tulips of all colour and size. Beautifully arranged although sadly because this was the last day of the exhibit, a number of the tulips were already withering.

A close up of some of the tulips

Other flowers in the Flower Dome

The Cloud Forest is a stimulation of the mountainous region complete with a 35 metres waterfall and artificial mist. Plants here are those that can be found in the sort of altitude with many species of orchids, pitcher plants and bromeliads.

The main "actions" is on this 35 metres high tower cum waterfall. There is a lift to bring visitors up to the top and slowly walk down the bridge to the bottom while viewing the plants alongside.

Some of the flowers found there

Didn't have time to go over to the Super Trees. Was there last year and took some photos of the trees in the night.

Certainly while the Garden is a bit artificial, it is still worth a visit to gawk at the exotic plants and the colourful trees.

Bougainvillea

The hot and alternate wet weather has triggered a beautiful flower bloom all over Singapore and one of the most spectacular display is at the Bougainvillea Garden at East Coast Park. I didn't even know they come in so many colors and on a same plant too!

Starfish Cactus

My neighbour has a really awesome green finger. He has a few potted plants outside his flats and most of them are blooming amazingly well. His pitcher plant is always blooming. And recently his star flower cactus came out with a flower.

I did a double take when I saw the flower the first time round. At first I thought it was a fake but after a few days when it was still there,  I decided to take a closer look and photograph them. 

This is the star flower cactus

And this is the beautiful flower. Too bad it was facing downward and I did not want to disturb it.

But then hor, I think it has already dropped off. It looks they the owner hung it back on.

Or is it supposed to be this way. It sure look very natural to me especially from the front.

So is it going to open up or it has opened out already and is now closing?

Tree Top Walk at MacRitchie Reservoir

I goes to MacRitchie Reservoir so often sometimes I forget that there is more than the running trails there. Like the tree top walk which I have been up only once. So when the Princess wanted to go there over the weekend, we gladly went. To get to the treetop walk, the nearest carpark is at Venus Drive (the road leading to SICC) instead of the main park at MR. From there it is a short 2 km trek through the trails to reach the tree top walk.

Our objective was to spot birds but sadly there was none to be seen although we heard plenty. The walk across the 200 metres long suspension bridge was over pretty soon as we were forced to keep moving so as not to block other people from crossing the narrow bridge.

The view from the tree top walk. We can see the forest canopy and the reservoir beyond that and on a clear day, the housing estate in the horizon.

On the way down, we spotted this beautiful plant. I think it is an orchid. But I am not too sure though. Any expert out there who can enlighten me?

But we hit paydirt on this trip when we came across a rare sighting. Snakes! According to the Princess, this is a Twin barred tree snake. Don't ask me why it is not on a tree but on the ground. In fact, it was on one of the wooden boardwalk when M spotted it. And it didn't move and just let us snap away.

The other snake was a venomous juvenile Wrangler Pit Viper. This one also didn't move at all and modelled for us!

We also saw the usual monkeys, a tree "dragon" which is actually a type of lizard and some butterflies. All in, a very productive 3 hours there.