Gardens by the Bay: Dahlia Dreams

A new year, a new beginning and a brand new floral display at Gardens by the Bay to kick start the season of Spring!

As this year is the year of the Rooster, Flower Dome was peppered with all kinds of roosters, hens and little chicks.

Side note: My mom joked that this is actually the Year of the Turkey cos this year the element for Rooster is Fire, so if you take it literally, it’s 火鸡 a.k.a. Turkey. Haha! Moms can joke too, okay!

And for the first time, I was introduced to Dahlia officially – many different species of Dahlia, in various shapes and colours. Dahlias are such pretty flowers that they are now tied in first place as my favourite flowers, along with Gerbera!

I particularly love this set of three together!

While I preferred the fully opened Dahlias, Lin Ying prefers this version. It’s pretty cute in its own way, and definitely look much neater than the opened ones.

Heading into the main exhibition area, I came across another family of chickens.

These 2D chickens are a cute take from the wooden ones seen at the entrance of Flower Dome. It’s definitely more outstanding and people were having a ball of a time taking selfies with them!

The biggest display at the exhibition is this Pagoda that resembled the Christmas display. The main difference is that this is 3-tier high and appears to be wider. Between this and the Christmas version, I very much prefer this as it’s a lot more colourful and vibrant!

And because it’s only 3-tier tall, it’s a lot easier to get everything into the photo in landscape. Haha!

Another popular spot for selfies and group photos is this nest of yet another chicken family.

While this is not as cute as the 2D chicken family, or traditional like the wooden ones, it’s a good balance of being their in-between! The lights set between each chicken also gives off a beautiful glow, illuminating the chickens resting in the nest.

Once I was done looking at the flowers and displays around the main exhibition, I made my way into the little alley (the one with a fixed entry and exit).

Most of the flowers within this area didn’t really impress me as much, until I saw this.

There were a couple of bonsai plants lined up in this section, and this particular one spoke to me. Don’t ask me what attracted me to it, I don’t know. My photo of it might not be doing it justice, but isn’t it simply stunning?

I’m not sure if this is a type of Dahlia, but I thought the petals are pretty unique! And the colours – Nature’s own way of creating the ombre effect!

Exiting the little alley, this caught my attention – Sunflowers! Blake told me recently that he likes sunflowers a lot because it looks so happy. And I have to agree with him. Don’t they just add some cheery vibes to everything around them?

Before leaving Flower Dome, I made Lin Ying (my GBTB kaki) take photos with me to mark our very rare outing in the year of 2017 and beyond. Whilst adjusting the camera angle, she said we must include the whole pagoda, the flowers and the pond in the photo. Nailed it! Haha!

Other than the main exhibition area, there’s a huge row of floral display near the exit that’s perfect for photo opportunities too. With plenty of space in front of it, you can stop and take group photos without having to worry of anyone coming between you and your camera!

Our first trip to Flower Dome in 2017 then came to an end, sadly.

Nevertheless, I’m keeping my hopes up that the stars will align for us throughout the year so we can go flower gazing together whenever a new display is up!