"Share-a-Plant" to mark the return of Singapore Garden Festival in August

The premier tropical garden and flower show will be housed in Singapore’s iconic Gardens by the Bay for the first time

Singapore, 8 May 2014– The return of the premier tropical garden and flower show — Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) – was announced today with the launch of a week-long “Share a Plant” initiative. The launch event, held aptly at Gardens by the Bay (GB), the new grounds for the biennial Festival’s fifth run, got off to a green start with over 100 community gardeners, students, parents and teachers from various schools and organisations coming together with National Parks Board (NParks) and GB staff to pot 1,000 plants. These plants were put on display at a specially created “Singapore Garden Festival Candy Land” structure at GB and will be given out to park visitors as “Share a Plant”.

Everyone Can Garden

“Share a Plant” aims to encourage the appreciation of plants and gardening, which is a key objective of SGF. It also helps to spread the message that everyone – young, old, amateur or aspirational – can garden. A total of 5,000 plants – potted by community and school volunteers from Nanyang Primary School, Loyang Primary School, St Joseph’s Institution, Muhammadiyah Welfare Home and Community in Bloom Gardeners – will be distributed across five popular gardens and parks over the next five days for the public to pick up and share with someone special. Members of the public are encouraged to bring back their plant to the Festival for others to enjoy and those who do so will each enjoy a 20 per cent discount on their ticket purchase onsite.

A mini-competition – Share a Plant Container Garden Competition – will call for people to not just bring back the plant to the Festival, but to decorate or arrange it creatively in a 0.5mL by 0.5mW design of their choice, for example, in a dish garden, container garden or basket. These mini plant displays will be exhibited throughout the Festival, and a panel of judges will decide the winners. Award ribbons such as “Most Creative Display” and “Best Plant Mix” will be accorded to the winnings displays.

The five locations and the respective timings are summarised in the table below.

A Premier Show at an Iconic Location Showcasing the Best of Tropical Horticulture and Artistry

The Festival will be housed at GB for the first time and be opened for a nine day period from 16 to 24 August 2014. Jointly organised by NParks and GB, this much anticipated Festival will continue to bring together top award-winning garden and floral designers from around the world to compete, as well as introduce new gardening elements to excite visitors from Singapore and overseas alike. This will be the first time that the Festival is held both indoors and outdoors, and withthe new grounds seeing a new height limit raised threefold of up to 9 metres,visitors can look forward to even more impressive structures that showcase the best of tropical horticulture and artistry. The highly popular Landscape and Fantasy Gardens competition and the Floral Windows to the World competition will also be returning to the Festival with 28 out of the 33 designers participating at SGF for the first time.

The Festival will span across 2.2 hectares with gardens and floral exhibits uniquely displayed both indoors and outdoors at The Meadow. Over 70 stalls will set up shop along the Supertree Grove for visitors to satiate their shopping needs. Visitors can also delight in the return of the Orchid Extravaganza with award-winning landscape designer Jun-ichi Inada at the helm, featuring orchids from around the world at the Flower Dome.

“Since the launch of SGF back in 2006, the intent has always been to host the Festival at Gardens by the Bay when GB is ready. After four editions of SGF at Suntec Singapore, we are glad to say that the Festival is finally home. As Singapore’s leading horticulture-themed destination, GB provides the natural hosting venue to showcase the best of tropical garden and floral artistry for the enjoyment of the people. True to the Gardens’ promise from conceptualisation, we bring the world of plants to Singapore, and in so doing, present Singapore to the world. Holding the acclaimed SGF at GB marks another milestone in Singapore’s transformation from Garden City to a City in a Garden,” said Dr Kiat W. Tan, CEO of Gardens by the Bay and Advisor to National Parks Board.

“The Festival has been an exciting show that Singaporeans look forward to biennially, and has inspired many visitors to start their own gardens. It has also enhanced the capabilities of our local landscape industry through the knowledge exchange between the overseas designers and local implementing partners. With the displays sited both indoors and outdoors, not only will it challenge the designers, it will also provide new exquisite offerings for visitors in an iconic garden,” said Dennis Lim, Deputy Director, Singapore Garden Festival. He added “We also hope to get more of the community involved in the Festival. Through Share a Plant, we hope that more will be inspired to enjoy plants and gardening.”

Celebrate Community Gardeners

The popular Gardeners’ Cup will return.  34 groups of community gardeners will be split into five teams to compete for the Gardeners’ Cup. From past experience, the competition between the teams is keen, with each team trying to outdo the others with creative designs and well-grown plants. This is a testament to how SGF has evolved beyond a glittery ensemble of world class garden designers into an occasion to also celebrate our community gardeners and showcase their talent and skills. To make things even more interesting this year, each team will design its garden based on one of the five senses – sound, sight, touch, smell and taste.   

In conjunction with the 10^th year that Community in Bloom (CIB) was incepted, a commemorative book that celebrates many of CIB’s best moments and memories will be launched at SGF.

“Community gardening has taken off in a way that we didn’t even dream was possible. It started with humble beginnings but has since grown exponentially – we now have over 700 community gardens and over twenty thousand dedicated gardeners young and old. It is wonderful to see our immensely passionate gardeners showcasing their talent and creativity to an international audience at the Singapore Garden Festival,” said Dr Leong Chee Chiew, Deputy CEO and Commissioner of Parks & Recreation, NParks.

New Highlights and Returning Delights for Everyone to Enjoy

In addition to a new location, this year’s Festival promises fun for everyone, with new and exciting elements introduced to both the competitive and non-competitive components of the show. For example, the Table Top Floral Displays – previously a non-competitive segment – will be present again at this year’s Festival but as a competitive category. Both floral professionals and enthusiasts among the public will be given a chance to showcase their talent and creativity at the Festival. The Home Garden displays with its unique and functional designs will also inspire visitors to incorporate greenery into their homes. 

For those looking for a new gardening hobby, SGF will be featuring six Miniature Gardens created by three recent Gold & Best of Show Award winners from the Philadelphia Flower Show. Such displays feature intricately designed gardens created with miniature plants and furniture which is a new and upcoming horticulture hobby popular in the United States of America.

Ticket Details

To celebrate the Festival’s debut at Gardens by the Bay, SGF tickets have been specially priced for local residents to visit both the Festival and the Flower Dome Conservatory for the same price as previous shows. All Singaporean seniors (≥60yrs) will also be entitled to an additional discount in celebration of the Pioneer Generations’ contribution to Singapore’s nation-building.

Tickets will be available online at www.singaporegardenfestival.com from 2 June 2014. 

Ticket sales at the following places will start on 8 May 2014.

·         Botany Centre and Visitor Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens

·         Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Visitor Centre

·         HortPark Visitor Centre

·         Gardens by the Bay Ticketing Hub

 * All GB Conservatory ticket-holders will be allowed entry into SGF
** All Singaporean Seniors (≥60yrs with pink ICs) will get a 20% discount off
    Weekday Local Residents Rate (i.e. $4 /ticket after discount). Valid from 18 – 22 Aug only.

The Festival is jointly organised by NParks and GB, together with its key partners, Agri-food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), Orchid Society of Southeast Asia (OSSEA), Singapore Gardening Society and Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

For more information, please visit www.singaporegardenfestival.comor Facebook page www.facebook.com/SGGardenFest