SINGAPORE BOTANICAL GARDENS

The Singapore Botanical Gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The average temperature is about 88 degrees with high humidity. The climate was quite oppressive, and similar to those three-shower summer days in NYC. Strolling through the gardens was a way to acclimate to the environment.

The gardens were breathtaking, featuring a diverse array of tropical plants, enormous fig trees, Ficus, a small rainforest, and a magnificent orchid garden. Given how precious land is in Singapore, having a 200-acre park in the city center is particularly special. Stamford Raffles, the governor in the early 1800s, had an interest in horticulture and began cultivating crops in an experimental garden in 1822. The current botanical gardens were established in 1859.

The National Orchid Garden features 1000 species and 2000 hybrids of orchids. These orchids vary in color, size, shape, and fragrance. One of the sections includes a coolhouse that displays orchids from the highlands, offering a refreshing escape from the heat and making it difficult to depart! Observing the orchids reminds me of Georgia O'Keeffe and their sensual forms.

There was a collection of Bromeliad plants, waterfalls, and a ginger garden that was not blooming. But who needs a blooming ginger when I have my Scotty to look at?

Multiple lakes including one called Swan Lake which has large sculpture installed in the middle of it called Flight of the Swans, which considering there were no live swans, explained the name of that lake.