SINGAPORE, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) Orchid Show was unveiled here on Saturday at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, presenting more than 700 of the region's best orchid plants.
The National Orchid Garden inside the Singapore Botanic Gardens houses more than 700 orchid plants to greet visitors and to compete for 38 heritage trophies. Those orchids fall into over 100 varieties of award-winning and heritage orchids, among which is the Aranda Lee Kuan Yew, which was named in 2015 after Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
There staged 17 orchid landscape displays at the Orchid Plaza, 13 of which are competitive landscape displays created by local orchid growers and others from Asia Pacific countries. On show is also a special display to mark Singapore's chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, featuring orchids native to ASEAN countries.
Jointly organized by Singapore's National Parks Board (NParks) and the Orchid Society of South East Asia, the nine-day show pays tribute to Singapore's long history of orchid-breeding, and provides a platform for local professionals and enthusiasts to share their skills.
Moreover, the NParks also announced at the opening ceremony of the show to establish the country's first seed bank in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. When completed next year, the seed bank will store seeds from up to 25,000 plant species, nearly triple the amount currently stored in the garden's living collection.
Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong attended the opening ceremony of the show, part of the SGF which will take place from July 21 to August 3.
Wong said in his speech that orchids are an integral part of the Singaporean identity as well as one of the most diverse plant families in the world.
Launched in 2006, the biennial SGF will enter its seventh edition this year.