Gardening with Wilson

Unlike the first Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) and previous large-scale exhibitions, I noticed this year’s Community in Bloom’s (CIB) exhibition area at the SGF 2008 involved quite a substantial amount of contribution and participation from the various groups from the local community.

The decor and landscape could have been deemed too perfect to the eyes of most visitors. I would not be too surprised because much thought and coordination had been put in by everyone that ensured the success of the CIB exhibition area. The crowd and participants that are involved in the CIB area appeared to be the happiest people in the entire SGF – all because of their love for what they have been doing – gardening.

I have noticed besides just plants, there were quite a lot of garden hardware being incorporated into the CIB exhibition area this time around. They were all crafted out by community gardeners even though some of them looked as if they were store-bought ones. Notably among those that have been featured were the several artistic and meaningful metal sculptures that were done by Mr Richard Ashworth from the Ivory Heights Condominium. Richard’s community garden is one of the winners of the Community in Bloom Award 2008 for the private housing estate category.

Several community groups have also been invited to do some landscaping in the CIB exhibition area. Green Culture Singapore (GCS) was among those that have been invited and  the few of us, namely, Richmond, Teresa, Phillipe and myself were there two days before the SGF was opened to decorate a mock-up balcony garden using a range of plants that had been provided by the nursery engaged by the CIB. Some community groups even carted in their plants and garden hardware taken from their own community gardens to be incorporated into their landscapes!

Located on the artificial wall behind the glass parapet of the mock-up balcony was a beautiful vertical garden constructed by Mr Albert Quek who is also a Community in Bloom Award 2008 winner for the balcony garden category. His vertical garden concept had been featured on Straits Times Life! a few weekends ago. His ingenius creation was made from recycled materials such as bamboo poles and paper egg trays. I have seen Albert at the CIB exhibition area quite frequently and from that, I know he is a committed and highly dedicated person as he makes it a point to be at the SGF whenever he can find the time.

There are also other artistic works being showcased in the CIB exhibition area. It won’t be difficult to miss the  sculptures that have been mounted on one side of a long wall that has been coloured black. The exhibit is known as “Claystellation” and it consists of a series of black and white and black ceramic objects that have been inspired by objects found in Nature. This meaningful piece of work was done in collaboration between the Yellow Ribbon Project and Zech Studio Ceramics. The Yellow Ribbon Project seeks to engage the community in giving ex-offenders a second chance at life.

Amongst the many plants in the CIB exhibit, the passionfruit plant that had been trained up a recycled umbrella structure drew the most attention from visitors. Sourced by Prince Landscape and Nurseries, this specimen gives gardeners an idea on how we can grow and display edible plants ornamentally. I believe it has become a hot item as I have heard visitors asking the CIB staff whether the plant is for sale after the show.

Various community groups have been invited by the CIB over the course of the SGF to come to Suntec Convention Center where they have been given mini-booth areas to showcase their gardens to the visitors of the SGF. Community gardeners who came are a generous lot – not only they shared their knowledge and experience with the public, they also shared cuttings taken from their garden plants as well as seeds. I often see the elderly and middle-aged ladies (we affectionately call them “aunties” here) clustering around these booths where engaged in idle garden chat. Below is the mini-booth space that has been set up by Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

The CIB exhibition area would not be complete if there was nothing to cater to youths. Two simple games that have been thought out by the CIB team could be found near the backend of the CIB exhibition area. I thought these were very ingenius ideas where common game gadgets were very slightly modified to fit the garden festival theme.

Instead of soccer players, the above game used mini-garden tools instead. In place of a soccer ball, the CIB team replaced with it either a seed from a plant or a small fruit, such as a lime. The same applies for the game shown below which employed seeds and fruits of various sizes.

These games had been highly popular with the younger members of the SGF crowd. I saw people, adults included, queuing up to take turns to try their hands on them! There is also IT-based game meant for an even younger crowd – kids – located in the same vicinity where they can use the touch-screen function to plant and landscape their own garden city. The height of the two touch-screens had been fixed quite low so that the children can reach them.