The green city Singapore is now celebrating their very own Garden Festival, which started from Saturday, July 21 until August 3, 2018.
The seventh edition of the premier tropical garden and flower show is organised by the National Parks Board (NParks) and Gardens by the Bay. Earlier the organizers announced that a flower basket with 27,000 flowers in 50 varieties of plants will be the main attraction of this event, as it will be the world's largest flower basket.
The festival has returned with 73 tastefully-curated displays by local and international professional and amateur talents, spread across 10.1 hectares, including new horticultural displays with interesting plants and unique blooms.
The theme of 2018 Singapore Garden Festival is "World of Colours!" that represents a tropical rainforest garden with pockets of gardens and displays filled with plants and flowers of various colours.
On the day of the inauguration of SGF orchid show was unveiled at the National Orchid Garden and other parts of the Singapore Botanic Gardens on Saturday and the visitors were amazed to see a wonderland of over 100 orchid varieties. It primes the country to play its role as host for the Asia Pacific Orchid Conference in 2022 and also coincides with the 125th anniversary of Singapore's national flower, Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim.
The famous filmmaker Royston Tan lends his creative touch to Orchid Extravaganza with a floral tribute to the multicultural heritage of the country. Victors can witness the beauty of more than 14,000 orchids of over 120 varieties till August 22 in Flower Dome.
Desmond Lee, the second minister for the National Development and the Minister for Social and Family Development welcomed all the visitors at SGF awards night on July 20 and said, "SGF was born out of a desire to celebrate and cultivate our national passion for gardening and horticulture in 2006. Since then, the Festival has grown by leaps and bounds. In 2016, it attracted over 400,000 visitors. This was twice the number that attended our very first event."
He also assured that next year "we can look forward to the inaugural Horticulture Show at Jurong Lake Gardens, which will highlight the design and cultivation skills of our industry, students, and gardening enthusiasts."
This year, there are two categories to the competition: a) Landscape Gardens that aim to showcase good horticultural design principles and skills, planting concepts and outstanding plants and b) fantasy Gardens that combine creative plant and flower use, stage lighting and props to give an out-of-this-world effect.
Each competition garden received a production budget of about $100,000, and designers along with their implementing partners had to source for materials and plantings on their own.
There is also a Balcony Gardens competition, which will showcase colourful and inspirational displays for apartment owners. This year, there are a total of eight entries in this category and each designer has received a production budget and sourced for materials and plantings on their own.
The Floral Windows features colourful and creative floral window installations, which are designed by local and international floral designers. A total of 14 master floral artists, including three from Singapore chosen through a public competition, competed with 13 floral masterpieces created using cut-flowers and props.
This event is the first garden show that showcases creations from the world's top award-winning garden and floral designers under one roof. The 14-day Premier Tropical Garden and Flower Show have already amazed many visitors and the organizers are sure that it this year's festival will turn out to be the most successful festival.
