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In 2009 an announcement was made by our Tourism Minister in the local newspapers of plans to develop and maintain Fraser's Hill as the "Little England of the East". As the town center areas are being spruced up and planted with various types of flowering annuals and shrubs that bloom in bright cheerful colours, in another part of Fraser's Hill, a 0.8ha floral park is nearing its completion. The garden is simply named "Taman Bunga Bukit Fraser" meaning Fraser's Hill Garden.
The development of this RM 4.2 million garden is funded by the Ministry of Tourism. The job is managed by the ministry's Fraser's Hill Parks and Garden Project Team. The team advisor is Dr. Francis S.P. Ng, the international award winning Botanical Consultant with many years of forestry, horticulture and garden design experience who is responsible for the Secret Garden of 1-Utama in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Dr. Ng also lectures at University Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Dr. Francis Ng was with me during our recent visit to the Fraser's Hill Garden, together with 3 officials from Tourism Malaysia, namely Mr Wan Mohd Syafique (Technical), Ms Zahida (Public Relations) and Ms Izati (Photographer). My grateful thanks to them for their warm hospitality and generous sharing of information.
Now, let's take a look at the work-in-progress Garden.....
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This mock-Tudor styled stone building houses an English Tea House. It overlooks the main garden. The "Little Garden" beside is being planted with flowers on raised beds and borders. Some of the flowers here are Mona Lavender, Angelonia, Salvia, Impatiens, Amaryllis, Agapanthus, Hippy Lilies and multi-coloured foliage plants. There is a water fountain and walkways are lined with stone pavers that allows water to seep through and grass to grow.
“A Preview of The New English Themed Garden at Fraser's Hill - Part 3”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on April 16th, 2013.
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A sea of Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender', English Ivy, Agapanthes Lilies and Cleome flowers.
Well, the garden is based on the English garden theme, but don't be surprised that we can't find peaches and apple trees, snowdrops and daffodils here. The plants selection is based on a few criteria:
- their ability to thrive in our tropical highlands, e.g. those that have proven track record of growing well in Cameron Highlands, another hill station and leading producer of temperate flowers in Malaysia.
- flowering plants with plenty of blooms in many colours
- easy to maintain and propagate by gardeners who take over after the project has been handed over to the local town council.
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Cleome hassleriana (Spider Flower
Chinese name : 醉蝶花 ( zui die hua - Drunken Butterfly Flower)
Malay name: Bunga Laba-Laba
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Hedera helix 'Glacier' (English Ivy)
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Malvaviscus penduliflorus (Sleeping Hisbiscus)
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Agapanthus praecox (Lily of the Nile)
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A view of the Tea House with overhang balcony.
The Tea House is located at the hilltop and it overlooks the main garden. It is an "open-concept" tea house with a restaurant, ticketing booth and washrooms. Hopefully they serve real English tea and scones
The site here was formerly an abandoned Mini Zoo. The size of the Mini Zoo is 15 acres (6 hectares) and of this 2 acres (0.8 ha) are now being developed into an English themed garden.
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A sky view of rainforest tree-tops.
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The formal garden design.
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The main garden is situated at the bottom of a valley within an ancient tropical rainforest.
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An ancient Araucaria tree stands tall at the edge of the garden.
Taman Bunga Bukit Fraser is located very near to the Taman Awam (Public Park) and just a short distance away from Ye Olde Smokehouse.
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Close-up of the Araucaria tree trunk with a "face". Perhaps this face had witness a lot of happenings at Fraser's Hill through the years from the British colonial, pre-independence days of Louis James Fraser (1890s) right up to our present 2013. Then it was "Malaya", now it is "Malaysia"!
Read more about this garden in my latest New Straits Times Press article titled, "Spot of England" dated 13 April 2013 here.
This is my entry for Fertilizer Friday, hosted by Glenda at Tootsie Time here.
And for Our World Tuesday, Week 86, the link is here.
Read more about this garden in my latest New Straits Times Press article titled, "Spot of England" dated 13 April 2013 here.
This is my entry for Fertilizer Friday, hosted by Glenda at Tootsie Time here.
And for Our World Tuesday, Week 86, the link is here.
I have long seen your post in MNGC thumbnail, but i haven't the time yet to come here, didn't realize it is already the 3rd part. I guess i should go back to the other 2. Where is Frazer Hill, it is very lovely as planned. English Gardens are everybody's fantasy, i imagine the plants to be planted there will all be existing in real English gardens. It is difficult to grow temperate plants in tropical environments.
ReplyDeleteWell, in our land of eternal spring we can't expect apple trees, tulips, hyacinths, snowdrops and daffodils but we can plant spider flowers, lilies of the Nile and English Ivy.
DeleteWhat a wonderful display. That hill was done beautifully.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
Cher, I'm sure the display will be even more spectacular when the beds are filled with blooming flowers!
DeleteOh WOW! So lovely! I just love the picture beds. And cleomes are always a favorite of mine although they do not grow well here in my dirt. This is such a lovely tour around the gardens.
ReplyDeleteLona, I can't want to see the real flowers on the designed beds. And I am thinking of growing cleomes in my garden after seeing their gorgeous flowers.
DeleteSuch an interesting project, to make an English garden in the tropics. The cleome and agapanthus are stunning.
ReplyDeleteJason, it is like a nostalgic reminder of our colonial past.
DeleteLove the Aggies, but miss the old days where hill stations have salvias, gladioli, roses, hydrangeas and dahlias.
ReplyDeleteSean, it seems that a bug has wiped out dahlias, even in the highlands. In the old days, we could even grow dahlias in the lowlands but not now.
DeleteOh that is so sad. Must be bacterial wilt or verticilium wilt. Very hard to eradicated unless soil fumigation is considered. They do rather poorly in lowlands, but still grow-able.
DeleteDear Autumn Belle, well done on the write up!!! Saw it in the newspaper. Wow, i've never been to Fraser Hill...now i feel like going...very soon, hahahaha ;)
ReplyDeleteArfah, thanks! The best time to go Fraser's Hill is during a weekday when it is less crowded. If you wanna see the new garden, go after the open. Just wait for the newspaper announcement.
DeleteI never been to Fraser hill before! Seems like really small england! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteMalar, I think this is the only colonial hill station left in Malaysia that still has the old English charm.
DeleteSo inspiring, I shall make a trip there soon. Its a worthwhile project and I hope that it is sustainable.
ReplyDeleteStiletto, I hope you could stay in those mock-Tudor bungalows with hainanese cook that serves good English meals :)
DeleteThis is a beautiful Garden, AB. What a treat for visitors who have no opportunity to see an English garden otherwise. The massed plantings are lovely. It must take many caretakers to keep it.
ReplyDeleteJean, they allocated an area for a nursery nearby for propagation, storage. To keep maintenance cost low and for easy upkeep, the selection of the types of suitable plants plays an important role.
Deletesimply beautifully captured shots... lovely!
ReplyDeleteKalyan, thanks! The cool climate in this hill station facilitates the blooming of lovely lilies that won't flower in our lowlands.
DeleteGreat write up! Is this place already opened to the public? A very nice place to bring the family for some relaxation and feast the eyes, mine!
ReplyDeleteJoyce, we have to wait for an announcement in the newspapers. According to previous newspaper reports, it is supposed to be completed in May 2013.
DeleteHi, thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog. You have an interesting blog, I need to come back at some point and read some of your past posts. Your post today about the English themed garden is quite interesting, for me who live in England :-) What we consider an English garden here today is not necessarily what the rest of the world think is an English garden, and quite rightly, it would not be possible either, because of the difference in climate.
ReplyDeleteHelene, thanks for visiting my blog and for the feedback from an English gardener's point of view. To clarify, this garden is English themed not so much for the type of plants that are grown, but rather the overall design of the buildings and landscape, the aim is to blend in and compliment the old colonial English charm of this hill resort.
DeleteOooo I love the idea of the tea house. I always wanted to sit and sip tea with friends while taking in the views of lovely gardens.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Vetsy, especially when the surroundings is cool and fresh, hot tea will be heavenly!
DeleteI got soooo... caught up with Facebook chat on MNGC that I totally had ignored the blogworld..
ReplyDeleteAnyway - getting back to the slow reality of blogging.
And yes - I really enjoy your discoveries and adventures you share here.
Thanks for sharing your valuable informations - they are most likely only found in expensive garden books.
James, yeah, we made a set of wonderful gardening friends at MNGC. It is very fast pace there but blogging is good for record keeping and archiving.
DeleteAWESOME place..
ReplyDeleteThe english style garden was quite lovely
ReplyDeletebut I honestly find the flower mural slope to be quite ugly and tacky!!! I would have preferred it if they'd covered up the slope with wild type flowers instead!
Hi Cyren, good to see your comment here. The slope garden is still work-in-progress and it has not been filled up completely with flowers yet. I hope to see the end product soon.
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