Floriade, second visit - part 3: and more

rosegarden

One of the things I had missed at my first visit was the rosegarden.
It was a bit disappointing, only a few roses smelled nice, the others had no fragrance at all...

Anyway, there was MUCH more to see!

theatre

We walked upon the hill of the theatre.
There was a group of singers on stage and we could hear them clearly.

On the top of the hill we had a great view over the Floriade. In front the Aqua pavilion, in the back the Innovatower, where we entered the Floriade.

Guido on top of the hill

Celtic tree calendar

On a big stone in the middle of the place was an explanation of the Celtic tree calender.
The Celtic tree calendar divides the year in 39 periods of 1 or 10 days, ruled by a tree. Our date of birth gives our life-tree. The calendar has 21 trees, most of them rule a time in spring and a time in autumn. Then there are 4 holy trees oak, beech, birch and olive, those are connected to special days that mark the change of seasons.

The 21 trees are planted in a large circle. Between the middle stone and the trees were stones with dates, pointing to one of the trees.

Guido and I shared our tree

Guido and Ari next to the cypress

cloth-tree

Walking on we discovered the cloth-tree, an oak covered with knitted cloths.

Tourists from all over the world visit here.

Ari was very content with the stroller.
He got a lot of attention and was able to see everything :-)

Wooden shoes, at least six foot tall, in front of the House of Taste.

pavilion My Green World

The building of the Dutch government, called My Green World, is an eyecatcher. It is made from wood and glass.

Inside you can see how it is constucted, almost a work of art!

Inside there were presentations of horticultural innovations, like floating farming. Crops can be harvested more times a years and it needs less space.

In Bangladesh are projects with floating farming for farmers who have lost their ground due to the flood; article about floating farming in Bangladesh.

Outside floating crops too, the red leaves look extra shiny against the white styrofoam!

Ari tired

but unable to nap, each time he wanted to close his eyes for a bit, he heard of smelled something and had to see what was going on ;-)

hemerocallis

Choices

Many buildings on the Floriade had roofgardens. They add green to building, isolate it and help to reduce CO2.

This building was designed and constructed by students of the agricultural education from the South of the Netherlands.

De plants are growing in large containers that gradually go up, with a path next to them, so you can climb to the top of the building.

our route at the Floriade

Floriade, second visit - part 2: Tropical treasures

Another highlight of our Floriade visit was the tropical greenhouse.

Living jewels from all over the world are gathered in this big greenhouse named Tropical Treasures.

The path to the entrance went between high growing bamboo, and hidden within some statues like this Buddha.

A bit further stood this giant crane in modern style.

When we entered the greenhouse it was unbelievable, so many beautiful flowers all around: orchids, passionflowers and many more.
I took lots of pictures. Here a small selection of them, starting with some passionflowers.

above passiflora "Purple Rain Maxima"
Left passiflora "Imperatrice Eugenie", right passiflora "Constance Elliot"

I don't know the name of this koral red passionflower

orange hibiscus

left gloriosa, right ipomoea

giant leaves grow nearly to the top of the greenhouse

and many, many orchids in difrent colors and shapes

I have never seen so many wonderful and beautiful flowers together, truely Tropical Treasures!

to be continued

Floriade, second visit - part 1: World Show Stage

I wanted to visit the Floriade once more, there is so much to see that it is impossible to see all in one day.
So together with my friend Guido and Ari I visited the Floriade again.

Pavilion of China

This is a replica of one of the Classical Gardens of Suzhou. The entrance is impressive:

two lions of stone as gate-keepers

Ari in his natural habitat ;-)

Spanish pavilion

A beautiful modern building, the windows have colored wood on the outside, so the light inside the buildig is colored. Inside is a presentation of typical horticultural produce of different regions in Spain.
Guido and I both were ignorant about the produce of sherry-vinager, so we learned something new!

Bulgarian pavilion

Fragrant roses and unusual borders that are separated with wood.

And a white Buddleja with butterflies:

Pavilion of India

Here was an exquisite entrance. I was smitten by the Ganesha statues, here two of them.

Pavilion of Sri Lanka

We did not go in, but this statue screamed "take picture!", so glorious with the white background!

Nepalese pavilion

Inside was a bazaar (like the pavilion of India) with mainly jewellery and ornaments for sale. Outside were some wonderful statues that were sadly too expensive for my budget.

Pavilion of Indonesia

An other marvelous pavilion!
Two impressive gate-keepers at the entrance:

This was one of the few pavilions where dogs were not allowed inside the buildings. No problem, outside there is enough to see, like this unusual colored waterlily:

I will never see the real one, so it was nice to see a miniature Borobudur!

Pavilion of Ecuador

No pictures, like most pavilions of poor counties (like Sudan, Kenia and Jemen), a bazaar inside the building. Guido found a nice wintercoat for 40 euros, but hesitated to buy it.
I suggested to go on and decide later, if he wanted it we could come back here.
Hours later, when we were on the other side of the Floriade, Guido said at once: "Lets go to Ecuador!", so we went back and he bought the coat.
At our first visit I noticed very nice ponchos of alpaca-wool, but I did not dare to ask the price. When we returned I asked anyhow and was pleasantly surprised by the answer. So for only 70 euros I became the proud owner of a chocolate colored poncho with matching hat. I won't get cold next winter!

Belgian pavilion

The first time we passed the pavilion of Belgium it was closed. At the end of the day, when we returned for Ecuador, it was open. So we walked through the park-like roof-garden. Back inside I saw this advertisement at the videoscreen. Of course I was too late with my camera, so we had to wait for its return...

Ari had a great time at this part of the Floriade, he was extensively petted by an Afghan woman (who is probably looking for a Pekingese herself now), people from Ecuador, Japan, Nepal, India and Afghanistan at the pavilions and many other visitors ;-)

to be continued