Singapore Garden Festival celebrates the community's gardening efforts at official opening

Visitors to Singapore Garden Festival greeted by giant terrarium with more than 200 terrariums created by the community;

17 NParks volunteers honoured in recognition for more than 10 years of service;

60 community gardening groups participate in the Gardeners’ Cup

The 2016 edition of Singapore Garden Festival (SGF), Singapore’s premier international garden show, welcomed its first visitors today. Organised by the National Parks Board (NParks) and Gardens by the Bay, the Festival was opened by Minister for National Development, Mr Lawrence Wong. Morning activities at the Bayfront Plaza of Gardens by the Bay highlighted and celebrated the efforts of the community. More than 200 individuals from 60 community gardening groups under the NParks Community in Bloom (CIB) programme had created the five garden displays competing for the Gardeners’ Cup Championship Trophy. Another 300 registrants took part in the Community Garden Edibles Competition. In a special volunteers appreciation ceremony today, 17 NParks volunteers were awarded long services awards today, in recognition for 10 and 15 years of service.

Introduced for the very first time at this year’s Singapore Garden Festival is the “World of Terrariums” exhibit. Housed in a giant terrarium measuring 360sqm, the exhibit offers visitors the surreal experience of being inside a giant terrarium larger than a five-room HDB flat.  Displayed within the giant terrarium are more than 200 terrariums of various shapes and sizes that had been put together by more than 150 community gardeners, hobbyists, students and NParks staff over the month of July.

Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said, “In April this year, in the lead-up to the Singapore Garden Festival 2016, the community banded together to set a new Guinness World Record for the World's Largest Floral Chandelier. Today, green thumbs all over Singapore created a giant terrarium featuring more than 27,000 plants of various species – the most diverse display of terrariums in Singapore to date. Our community gardeners have also challenged themselves to grow the heaviest and longest fruits and vegetables in Singapore. Indeed, the Singapore Garden Festival has grown to be bigger and better every year. This is only possible because of the unyielding passion of and greater participation from the community – a testament of how much more we can achieve when the community comes together to do their part for our City in a Garden.”

“World of Terrariums” immerses visitors in the experience of being housed in a giant terrarium

Throughout the month of July, more than 150 community gardeners, hobbyists, students and NParks staff collaborated to put together more than 200 terrariums of varying shapes, sizes and themes for the World of Terrariums exhibit. It features more than 27,000 plants, and more than 150 plant species. The World of Terrariums is also the most diverse display of terrariums in Singapore to date, with the largest terrarium measuring 2m in length by 1.2m in width, and the smallest one, a mere 15cm in height and 8cm in base diameter.

The World of Terrariums presents visitors with innovative ideas on how gardening can be extended indoors, from the use of green walls to create a lush cocoon that provides respite from urban living, to mini terrarium gardens that serve as striking green decorative centrepieces in homes.

Unique terrariums to look out for are two large terrarium tanks with the theme “Evolution”, giving visitors a glimpse of how plants have evolved since prehistoric times. “The Land Before Time” is a terrarium that features both aquatic and terrestrial plants, and takes inspiration from what plant life might have looked like during the Devonian period (circa 419 million years ago).

South West CDC wins Gardeners’ Cup

Following eight months of hard work, community gardeners from South West CDC were crowned champions of the Gardeners’ Cup 2016, which saw 60 community gardening groups coming together to showcase their creativity and gardening prowess across five show gardens. In addition to nurturing plants, the gardeners also created many props and upcycled items to embellish their garden displays.

Aligned with the “Floral Wonderland” theme, the teams designed their gardens around the whimsical stories of Winter Wonderland, Lyrical Play, Candy Floss, Fairies Wheel and Topsy Turvy. On 23 July, Candy Floss clinched the Gardeners’ Cup 2016 Championship Trophy, with its variety of colourful and sweet-smelling flowers which represent candy floss swirling around in a candy floss machine, and unique plants such as the Mexican Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), Chinese Juniper (Juniperus Chinensis) and Pink Lantern (Medinilla Magnifica) which can mimic the texture of candy floss.

Community Garden Edibles Competition sizes up the longest and heaviest fruits and vegetables

Building on the success of the inaugural Community Garden Edibles Competition in 2015, the competition that provides a platform for gardeners to showcase their ability in growing fruits and vegetables has returned, more exciting than ever. This year, more than 300 gardening enthusiasts registered for the contest, and were given a choice of using seeds provided by NParks or sourcing for their own seeds.

Participants were recognised for their efforts to successfully grow the longest and largest crops, following an assessment based on size, condition and colour. The length and weight of this year’s harvest superseded last year’s, such as a record-breaking 11.92kg pumpkin compared to last year’s 4.21kg, and an 89.3cm long bean compared to last year’s 79.5cm. These bountiful harvests will be on display at the Horticulture & Community Gardening tent, at Bayfront Plaza.

Community members recognised for more than 10 years of volunteering with NParks

In a special NParks Volunteers Appreciation ceremony, 17 members of the community were recognised for 10 and 15 years of volunteering, and were presented with long services awards.

NParks volunteers play an integral role in helping Singapore to achieve her City in a Garden vision, and appreciate the opportunity to learn and contribute to conservation in Singapore. One example is Ho Ah Chuan and his wife, Helen Ho, who have been volunteering as guides at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve for the past 15 years. One of the many things they enjoy about being an NParks volunteer is the opportunity to train new guides, especially students.

Singapore Garden Festival 2016

From today till 31 July 2016, SGF 2016 will be delighting visitors with its record 80 gardens and floral displays stretching across Bayfront Plaza and The Meadow at Gardens by the Bay. The festival’s sixth edition will be the largest to date at 9.7 hectares – almost double the size of the 5-hectare showground in 2014. Visitors will be entertained with free nightly performances by local musicians such as Gentle Bones, Second Sunrise, VOX and The Codeword. Visitors can also look forward to The Marketplace, a newly introduced non-ticketed area outside Bayfront MRT, which will feature 100 booths offering food, plants, gardening and landscape products for sale.

For more information about SGF, please visit www.singaporegardenfestival.com or Facebook page www.facebook.com/SGGardenFest