Singapore Botanic Gardens

The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a 74-hectare (183-acre) botanical garden in Singapore. It is the only botanic garden in the world that opens from 5 a.m. to 12 midnight every single day of the year, and does not charge an admission fee, except for the National Orchid Garden. The garden is bordered by Holland Road and Napier Road to the south, Cluny Road to the east, Tyersall Avenue and Cluny Park Road to the west and Bukit Timah Road to the North.

National Orchid Garden

The National Orchid Garden is the main attraction within the Botanic Gardens. Located on the mid-western side of the Garden, the hilly three-hectare site has a collection of more than 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids of orchids. One of the many orchids is the national flower of singapore, Vanda ‘Miss Joaquim’ . Also commonly known as the Singapore Orchid and the Princess Aloha Orchid is a hybrid orchid cultivar that is Singapore’s national flower.

Within the Orchid Garden there are a number of attractions such as the following:

Burkill Hall and the VIP Orchid Garden: Burkill Hall is a colonial plantation bungalow built in 1886. It used to be the director’s house and was named in honour of the only father and son pair to hold the post of Director of Singapore Botanic Gardens, Isaac and Humphrey Burkill. The ground level serves as an exhibition area, showcasing information on the different hybrids named after VIPs who have visited the garden.

At the back of Burkill Hall is the VIP Orchid Garden with hybrids of some of the VIP orchids on display. Notable ones include Dendrobium Margaret Thatcher, Renantanda Akihito, Dendrobium Masako Kotaishi Hidenka, DendrobiumElizabeth and Vanda Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Orchidarium: A haven for serious orchids enthusiasts, the Orchidarium houses natural species in a tropical setting.

Tan Hoon Siang Misthouse: Tan Hoon Siang was a descendant of Tan Tock Seng, who was a philanthropist and founder of the Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The misthouse contains a colourful collection of different hybrids. It also has a small collection of fragrant orchids like Vanda Mimi Plamer.

Lady Yuen-Peng McNeice Bromeliad House: Named in honour of its sponsor, the Bromeliad House showcases plants from the Bromeliaceae family, which includes the pineapple. The unique collection of bromeliads on display was acquired from Shelldance Nursery in the United States in 1994.

Coolhouse: The Coolhouse tries to recreate the environment of a tropical highland forest and showcases orchids that are normally only found in the tropical highland areas.

Orchid shown needs identification.

Rainforest

The Singapore Botanic Gardens has a small tropical rainforest of around six hectares in size, which is older than the gardens themselves. The rainforest and its bigger cousin at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve are located within the Singapore’s city limits. Singapore is one of the only two major cities with a tropical rainforest within its city limits, the other being Tijuca Forest in Rio de Janeiro.

Evolution Garden

The 9.9-hectare (3.7-acre) Evolution Garden is located within the Central Core area of the Gardens. It tells the evolutionary story of plant life on Earth throughout the ages. Unlike most other evolution gardens, such as the Evolution House in Kew Gardens, plants like Cycads, Spikemosses and Tree fernsgrow freely and plentifully in the tropical climate of Singapore.

Ginger Garden

Located next to the National Orchid Garden, this one-hectare garden brings together members of the Zingiberaceae family. The garden houses a restaurant called Halia Restaurant. There is also a drop-off point along Tyersall Avenue as well as a waterfall. The garden was officially opened in 2003 and it took over the spot vacated by the previous Orchid Enclosure.

Botany Centre and Tanglin Gate

The reopened Tanglin Gate has been given a new look. Gone is the old cast iron gate; it now sports a more modern silver colour with a leaf motif as its main design.

The two new blocks of offices and classroom in the upgraded Tanglin Core area are known as the Botany Centre. They house the:

• Library of Botany and Horticulture (including the Public Reference Centre);
• the Singapore Herbarium;
• Orchid Breeding and Micropagation; and
• education outreach and workshop classrooms.

The corridors and walkways of the Botany Centre are covered by leaf imprints. There are also a number of wooden carvings scattered around the grounds, and fern-covered vertical walls.

The Green Pavilion is the first “green roof” in Singapore. Weed- and grass-like plants fully cover the pitched roof. It houses the visitor services desk as well as a food court, Inside Green, in its basement.

The offices of former directors, namely Holttum Hall (after Eric Holttum, Director of the Gardens from 1925 to 1949) and Ridley Hall (after Henry Nicholas Ridley, first director of Gardens from 1888 to 1911) were preserved and now serve as the Singapore Botanic Gardens’ Directorate and Visitor Management and Operations offices.

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

The Children’s Garden was named after its main donor Jacob Ballas, a Jewish-Singaporean philanthropist who died in 2004.

Built at a cost of S$7 million (of which $99 million was donated by the Jacob Ballas Trust and sponsors), it is located at the quieter northern end of the Botanic Gardens. It has its own visitor centre with a café. It opened on Children’s Day, 1 October 2007. The National Parks Board claims it is Asia’s first children’s garden. There are play areas like the Water Play area, a small playground, tree-houses with slides, and a maze. There are also interactive exhibits that teach how photosynthesis takes place, and a mini-garden that showcases how plants may be used to make dyes and beverages, or as herbs.

At the Children’s Garden Visitor Centre there is a sculpture by the Israeli artist Zodok Ben-David. Named Mystree, it was commissioned by the Yad Vashemmuseum in 2010. From a distance, the sculpture looks like a tree but a closer inspection reveals 500 human figures.

Although it is part of the Botanic Garden, the Children’s Garden has its own entrance along Bukit Timah Road.

Acknowledgements:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Botanic_Gardens