Botanical Garden - Lakeside

The Putrajaya Botanical Garden is really huge. During our last visit, we only managed to cover the Morrocan Pavillion, Vine Garden and Heliconia Walk (shown by the the pink arrows in the map below). This time, we were able to cover the Canna Walk and Pandanus Walk located by the lake before it started to drizzle and we had to run for shelter. Sigh!!! Or shall I stay optimistic and tell myself that gives us reason to return to the Botanical Garden again for another visit!!

It was a gloomy afternoon. But we were filled with excitement. We brought some snacks, books, newspaper and a mat with the intention of having a picnic at the Botanical Garden. It has been a looooong while since all 4 of us had a picnic. Our excitement was shortlived, when the drizzle started. Thus our visit only covers area near to the lake side.

Here is the jetty where one can get a boat ride in the lake. As our visit was on a week day, so the boat service was not available. We were hoping to get a ride on the tram. Unfortunately, it was not available too as the tram has been sent to the Prime Minister's residence, meant to be used during the Hari Raya Open House.

Overlooking the lake, is a huge structure with green roof and domes. That is Perdana Putra that houses the Prime Minister's Office.

By the side of the lake is the Putrajaya Lakeview Restaurant. My friend said that the view from the restaurant is spectacular in the evening.

Fortunately, we had those grass-thatched gazebos that provided us with shelter from the rain. It was really nice to sit under those gazebos and enjoy the splendid view of the lake in front of us.

Some beautiful orchids used to decorate a small section at the entrance of the Lakeview Restaurant. As it is the month of Ramadan, we can see an oil lamp has been placed there. I assume it is lit up in the evenings as part of the celebration of Lailatul-Qadr* night.

* Note: During the last 10 days of Ramadan month, Muslims will keep vigil for Lailatul Qadr (The Night of Decree), the night when the holy Quran was sent down. It is believed that angels descend and shower blessings on that particular night, so homes are brightly lit-up with oil lamps.

Tall, splendid-looking pandanus plants greeted us at the Pandanus Walk. Aren't they beautiful?

Bright, vibrant-coloured Rangoon Creeper was found near walkway by the lake.

These are what we found at the Canna Walk. These bright coloured Cannas definitely cheered us up!

Vine Garden, Botanical Garden, Putrajaya

We spent a lot of time walking along the Heliconia Trail and Vine Garden. However, it was the Vine Garden that we truly enjoyed. We saw so various kind of climbing plants & flowers on trellis and pergola. Some of them I have never seen before are the Sand Piper Vines & Tumbergia Bengal. It's so nice to sit under the trellis of these plants to rest our feet and enjoy the beauty of the colourful blooms hanging around us.

Botanical Garden in Putrajaya

Do you know that there are 3 major gardens in Putrajaya, i.e. Botanical Garden (Taman Botani), Agricultural Heritage Park (Taman Warisan Pertanian) and lastly Wetland (Taman Wetland)?

During our visit to Floria Fest 2009 in Putrajaya, we took the opportunity to explore the Putrajaya's Botanical Garden that is located in Precint 2 and had a brief stop at the Wetland too.

BangChik & KakDah, if you are reading this, I am truly envious of all the beautiful gardens you have at your suburb! It's so wonderful to be living in a suburb surrounded by greens.

The Botanical Garden that we visited is HUGE! The completed area that is opened to public covers an area of 63 acres!! Yup, it's not possible to walk around such huge area. However, one can opt to take the tram (unfortunately it was under repair during our visit) or hire bicycle for some adventurous discovery of the garden.

An Overview of the Botanical Garden

The 5 Features of the Botanical Garden

The Garden features 5 key areas:

1. Explorer's Trail (comprises of Canopy Bridge, Heliconea Trail &Vine Garden)
2. Palm Hill
3. Sun Garden (comprises of Sun Garden, Orchid Path & Floral Step)
4. Floral Gardens (comprises of African Collection, Tropical African Collection, Bougainvillea Tunnel, Asia Pacific Collection & Ficus Shades)
5. Lakeside (comprises of Hibiscus WalkPandanus Walk, Canna Walk & Fern Garden)

However, my friends and I were only able to cover the Explorer's Trail, even though we had spent over 2 hours there!!! Even my friend's mom whom we called, Aunt Claire, who celebrated her 71st birthday on the day of our visit, had a fun time walking around this huge park with the help of a walking stick.

At the Canopy Walk

Operation Hours

No entrance fee is charged for the Botanical Garden is you do your own tour.
Bicycles for Hire & Trams are available to bring visitors around this huge garden.

Different kinds of bicycles catering to children, adult & family are available for hire.



The beautiful tiles featuring leaves of various plants are found at the entrance to the Botanical Garden.

A scene taken from the Canopy Walk

We will definitely return to the Botanical Garden to cover the other areas that we have not ventured. Another garden that I am very keen to check out is the Shah Alam Agricultural Park. Heard from fellow photography enthusiasts in our community's forum, USJ.com, that this park features many photography opportunities.

Come, let's visit our local parks!!

Putrajaya Flora & Fauna Festival 2009 (Part 2)

What are the things that I find interesting at the Putrajaya Flora & Fauna Festival 2009?

The Sime Darby 'Celebration of Colours' section is a must-visit. There are many unique flowering plants, for instance the hairy crab look-alike heliconia (see the flower shown below), costus, bromeliad, orchids and birds of paradise at that pavillion.

I bought a roselle plant for the price of RM7 (about USD2). I have been looking for this plant since I read about it at Blur Ting's Growing Vegetable with Ms. Green Fingers and Bang Chik & Kak Dah's My Little Vegetable Garden blog. After visiting the Agro-Ornamental Pavillion, I ended buying bittergourd, cucumber, cabbage and long bean seeds from the same booth. Thee healthy vegetables at that pavillion inspired me to try out vegetable planting. All the seeds were purchased at RM1 per packet.

There are many stalls selling orchids, fruit trees and herbs. Stephanie of Steph's Green Space has asked if there are any sales booth there. Ha ha...there are many! Just bring enough cash when you go there! Shop till you drop or till you broke! Mine is usually the latter! *wink* *wink*

Orchid booth


Herbs booth


Fruit trees booth

I love this magazine booth. I get past copies of gardening magazines at a hugely discounted price!!! These girls are also very friendly. I even told them about the community of gardening bloggers! I wonder if they would offer gardening activities to fellow gardening enthusiasts?

Local fruit booth by FAMA sells my favourite seasonal fruits such as rambutan, dukong, chempedak, mangosteen and durian! The rambutan was priced at RM1.50 per kg!! Gosh, that was the cheapest in town. The other fruits are also cheaply priced except for durian, that was RM8 per kg.

The Agro-Ornamental pavillion is like an edible garden, where every plants displayed here are edible. There are vegetables, fruit trees and herbs. There is a stage set up for cooking demonstration. The purpose of the demonstration is to show visitors how to cook interesting recipes out of the plants in this section. During our visit, we get to taste mint fried rice and that was really good. According to the chef, this recipe is very popular in Mexico.

Entrance to Agro-Ornamental Pavillion

Cooking Demonstration

Tomatoes hanging from stems, surrounded by cucumber with yellow flowers and bittergourd plants . In the background, there are cabbages and pineapple plants.

After visiting this exhibition, I am looking forward to more flora and fauna festival!! It has been fun and I may go for another visit so that I could take a hot air balloon ride there. According to Bang Chik & Kak Dah, it's only RM10 per ride!

Come, let's visit Putrajaya Flora & Fauna Festival 2009!!!

Putrajaya Flora & Fauna Festival 2009

We visited the Putrajaya Flora & Fauna Festival 2009 today. It's a must-go for those who love gardening! You will drool over the beautiful plants on display!!