I visited the Singapore Garden Festival 2014and was so inspired to make a Miniature Garden Bento.
One of the top 5 flower shows in the world, the Singapore Garden Festival 2014 returns for this year from 16 to 24 August 2014 at a new location - Gardens by the Bay. A magical garden experience with 50 gardens and flower displays from The Meadow to the Flower Dome!
This year's Singapore Garden Festival features bigger, taller and more extensive garden and flower displays from both international designers and local communities. Over 80 percent of the designers this year will be making their debut appearance at SGF. With height limits being raised threefold so that the tallest exhibits would soar 10 metres high, visitors will be treated to the best of tropical horticulture and artistry. The highly popular Landscape and Fantasy Gardens competition and the Floral Windows to the World competition will see 32 internationally renowned designers.
Among the spectacular exhibits, one that particularly caught my eye was the Miniature Gardens.
There are a total of six intricately designed miniature gardens that use popular fiction as inspiration among others such as Harry Potter's Greenhouse and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Each approximately 0.5 by 1m, these gardens showcase miniature plants (yes real plants!!!) along with intricately designed furniture and accessories. Designed by Deb Mackie, Louise Krasniewicz and Nancy Grube, recent Gold & Best of Show Award winners from the Philadelphia Flower Show, this is a new and upcoming horticulture hobby popular in the United States of America.
I was really impressed at the fact that real plants were used and the designers managed to keep all the tiny details intact. My personal favourite has to be the Harry Potter's Greenhouse #3 miniature garden by designer Louise Krasniewicz.
Made in 1/12 scale, this miniature garden features handcrafted accessories, figurines, planters all made and chosen to represent the plants in the Harry Potter books. Some of you might remember the interesting magical plants raised by Herbology Professer Pomona Sprout in the storybook :)
Made in 1/12 scale, this miniature garden features handcrafted accessories, figurines, planters all made and chosen to represent the plants in the Harry Potter books. Some of you might remember the interesting magical plants raised by Herbology Professer Pomona Sprout in the storybook :)
After viewing all these amazing garden displays and exhibits, how can I not be inspired to make a garden theme bento?
For my Miniature Garden Bento, it was created with mostly food ingredients, with the exception of some of the tiny props including buckets, boxes, books, bench, teddy bear and some accessories.
For my Miniature Garden Bento, it was created with mostly food ingredients, with the exception of some of the tiny props including buckets, boxes, books, bench, teddy bear and some accessories.
Can you tell what I used to make this bento? Here are the answers:
I created the grass patch with broccoli and lettuce. In the little buckets, I added English parsley with flower deco furikake and arare (fried dough). I also placed some red currants in the little crates.
I created the grass patch with broccoli and lettuce. In the little buckets, I added English parsley with flower deco furikake and arare (fried dough). I also placed some red currants in the little crates.
The foot path was made from minced meat and I added ground black sesame along the sides to look like compost.
Behind and beneath the bench, I used alfafa to create the overgrown wild grass.
To have a different texture and height, I added mini thai asparagus at the far end beside the bench, to look like tall shrubs.
The tree was a trimmed broccoli, I added tiny mushrooms at the bottom for details. The 'ground' was a layer of rice scattered with furikake.
So here you have it - a Miniature Garden, in a bento! :) Today's bento was packed in my Black + Blum Sandwich Bento Box from Bento and co.
Singapore Garden Festival 2014
Venue: Meadow, Gardens by the Bay
18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore 018953
Date: 16 to 24 August 2014
Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm
*Ticket includes admission to the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay