Vertical Gardening and Orchids in Singapore

I had the opportunity last August to travel to Singapore and China.  I had more time available in Singapore to do a little touring and check out gardening spots.  What follows is what I found interesting.

First, Singapore has embraced the concept of vertical gardening in public spaces.  In the downtown area of Singapore, on the sidewalks along their main streets, are these vertical structures.  On closer inspection,  the structures were designed by mounting cellpacks on their sides and securing them to an underlying metal support system. I've seen a similar cellpack system here in the U.S.  for growing vertically.   I haven't seen a city, though, embrace vertical gardening as public display like Singapore.  I thought they were a little futuristic for my taste, but I nevertheless thought they were interesting and added more green space to a very dense, urban environment.

Second, Singapore has definitely embraced the "right plant for the right place" with orchids. If you haven't had the opportunity to travel to Singapore, the first thing I think most travelers from the U.S. notice is the heat and the humidity. If humidity could go over 100%, it would do so in Singapore. As a Chicagoan, I used to feel that Florida in the summer was about as humid as an environment could get; however, I hadn't traveled at that point to Singapore. What the climate enables them to grow, though, in terms of orchids, is fantastic and they embrace it. There are orchids everywhere. I visited the Singapore Botanic Garden which is located in the heart of the city area and within the garden is the National Orchid Garden. It was rainy during my visit (the humidity again), but the range of orchids (varieties, colors, displays) was spectacular. Here is a picture of my favorite. Apologies, but this one wasn't labeled.

Finally, my favorite plant (again, unlabeled -- don't have a clue what it is).  I love the buds, the color, and the foliage.