Garden in a box

I wrote about my favourite greenhouse in Singapore on a previous post, but right next to it there's another one that shouldn't be skipped either, especially if you like plants and flowers. Right next to the Forest Dome, is the Flower Dome!

Yep, it's yet another wonder we can find in the Gardens by the Bay. The dome is not as high as the Forest Dome, but it spreads more horizontally.

The glass lets you enjoy Singapore's skyline, but the real show is inside! As the Forest Dome, the Flower dome is a huuuuge greenhouse; but while the former focused on the could forest habitat, here you can find a ton of different sections, each showcasing native flora from several parts of the world.

Most of the species are well identified, and there are lots of infographics along the way, explaining the history and characteristics of some of the most peculiar flora, like these baobab trees (they stole the show for me!)

How cool are they??

There are several species of these trees, and if I recall correctly, the reason why they have this swollen trunk at the base is because they store water there. Given that they come from dry habitats, this serves as a protection against long periods without rain.

I don't think I had ever seen one before; seeing how odd they look, I think I would remember! Although they didn't seem to be that big in height, they sure compensated in diameter.

This greenhouse catered to giants and tiny plants alike; not that far from the baobabs we had tiny tiny succulents.

Some of them so small, that there was even a challenge to see if you could distinguish them! Have you ever seen a stone plant??

There were lots and lots of corridors, and I must confess I didn't found any suggested course to do; it was easier to just wonder around a specific section, and choose whatever path would take you to anything that your eyes fancied. I visited the flower dome in December, so there was an added bonus of Christmas decorations.

This upper section featured mainly plants and trees from arid climates. Ramps and stairs take you down, to different habitats.

With such a diversity of flora, it's way easy to miss something. You don't have any time limit though, so you can go back and forth as many times as you like.

As in the Forest Dome, there are countless pieces of nature art, such as the impalas here near the South African part of the greenhouse. I'll try and round them together in a future post, some of them are true gems!

They even have a mediterranean section, with species very familiar to me!

There's a café and a restaurant inside (looking veeeeeery expensive!), where you can take a break from all the flower watching. Since I was in no mood of selling a kidney, I went on admiring the flowers and the view.

Here I was reaching the end of the visit, but the structure on the right from where we left was showcasing a famous painter, that I completely forgotten about - blame my lack of artistic vein, especially in what concerns painting!

But do remember the exhibit was nice, and there was even a kind of videomapping show, a great excuse to sit for a while and relax.

Travelling does makes us richer indeed! As I said before, the Forest Dome is by far my favourite of the two, but don't dismiss this one if you have the chance; besides, the ticket is often bought together and they are next to each other, so why not? ;)

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