Singapore Botanic Gardens 
From Singapore Hotels & Singapore Lifestyle
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Singapore Botanic Gardens, a block from Tanglin Mall, past Gleneagles Hospital, is an excellent place to wind down. This is the mother of all Singapore parks. You can't beat the Singapore Botanic Gardens as a spot to recover from your jet lag, have a picnic or just lie around forgetting you're in a large metropolis.
Spacious and beautifully landscaped, with paved walkways winding around the luscious greenery, the Singapore Botanic Gardens, which cover a 53-hectare (130-acre) spread, are popular for family picnics, jogging or strolling.
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History
Singapore's oldest national park, the Singapore Botanic Gardens, was established by the Singapore Agri-Horticultural Society in 1859 whose main objective was to set up a pleasure park, this 52-hectare garden was handed over to the Government for management in 1874. It is known worldwide today as a living museum of tropical plants - with over 3,000 species of trees and shrubs - and a centre for botanical research.
Following its set up as a pleasure park, the grounds became the Botanic Gardens after the first botanical garden at Fort Canning Park established by Stamford Raffles was moved to this site and Kew-trained botanists were dispatched from England as directors. It was at the Singapore Botanic Gardens that Henry Ridley, the first director (1888-1912), successfully grew the rubber tree he had brought from Brazil as a seedling and who later went on to establish Malaysia's lucrative rubber industry.
The Singapore Botanic Gardens originally acted as a test ground for potential cash crops - such as rubber - and botanical research. Today, they still host a herbarium housing more than 600,000 botanical specimens and a library with archival materials dating back to the 16th century. Staff from the Singapore Botanic Gardens have played a key role in the greening of Singapore Streets. They have created more than 400 orchid hybrids. The Singapore Botanic Gardens is also home to the giant Tembusu tree which is featured on the S$5 currency notes.
Evolution
Over the years, the Singapore Botanic Gardens has added attractions like the Evolution Garden, which showcases the evolution of plant life on Earth over 4,600 million years. Its gazebo, band-stand, orchid garden, lakes and water-ringed symphony stage also helped draw more than three million visitors in 2005.
Singapore Botanic Gardens' jungle of nature trails is the second patch of primary forest left in Singapore - Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is the other. Visitors can enjoy manicured garden beds or explore a four-hectare patch of "original Singaporean jungle", a sample of the kind of forest that once covered the entire island - though Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and MacRitchie Reservoir give a more accurate picture of that. Still, it's worth taking one of the rainforest tours. They usually cost S$15 for a group of up to 15 people, but call ahead because there are free tours at certain times.
Exploring
Singapore Botanic Gardens can be explored in three sections:
The main Tanglin Core features the lush rainforest, Swan Lake, an 1860s band-stand and three bronze sculptures by the British sculptor Sydney Harpley, donated by Singapore's first chief minister, David Marshall, in the 1950s.
The Central Core includes the National Orchid Garden - where over 700 species and over 60,000 of these delicate-looking but incrediby hardy plants are displayed, including the Vanda Miss Joaquim. This hybrid orchid, Singapore's national flower, was discovered in 1893 by Agnes Joaquim in her garden. Also check out Palm Valley, where once a month local residents lay out picnic mats to enjoy open-air musical concerts and dance performances.
The Bukit Timah Core features the Ecolake and gardens of herbs, spices and medicinal plants.
Wildlife
The birdlife of the Singapore Botanic Gardens is surprisingly wide-ranging for an area of its size. Since the early decades of the 20th-century, 80 species of birds have been recorded here, of which 67 are Singapore residents. They include species such as the Racket-tailed Drongos and Striped Tit-Babblers. The gardens are not devoid of other animal life either. The Plantain Squirrel and Slender Squirrel as well as the Common Treeshrew can still be found, while there are reptiles such as the Green Crested Lizard and the Common Flying Lizard.
Other Activities
Depending on what time you visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens, sightings include exotic dog paraders, tree-huggers, brides and grooms posing for wedding photos or that lone office worker having lunch.
Singapore Botanic Gardens contain a couple of decent restaurants, Au Jardin and Halia Restaurant, and there are often open-air concerts at the impossibly genteel Symphony Lake, where a new shell-like stage in the centre of the water has been opened recently (if you want the ultimate posh night out combine one of these concerts with a meal at Au Jardin). Give the visitor centre a call for details of forthcoming events.
Walking at the Singapore Botanic Gardens is possible, but a little unpleasant in the heat, but buses are available.
Visitors' Information
The Visitor's Centre, souvenir shop, partially open-air Cafe Les Amis (for breakfast and light snacks) and the delightful restaurant, Au Jardin set in a 1912 colonial bungalow and serving superlative French fare, offer visitors moments of relaxation.
- Phone: (+65) 6471 7361
- Address: Cluny Park Road, Cluny Road, Singapore
- Admission: free
- Opening Hours: 5.00am - 12.00 Midnight
- Nearest MRT: Orchard MRT Station, then bus nos 7, 77, 123 or 174 from Orchard Boulevard
Images from Singapore Botanic Garden
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References
See also
References
- "Our Green Havens", Pg. S6, Special Report, Little Green Dot, The Straits Times, Saturday, January 28, 2006
