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The Hong Kong Flower Show 2012, organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), will be held at Victoria Park from 9am to 9pm daily from tomorrow (March 16) until March 25.
This year's flower show features the hyacinth as its theme flower and "Floral Delights" as its main theme.
More than 350,000 flowers, including over 30,000 pots of hyacinths representing some 20 cultivars, will transform Victoria Park into a colourful wonderland throughout the show period.
Over 200 organisations from 21 countries, namely the Mainland, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, will showcase exotic flowers, landscapes and floral art displays.
The LCSD will also present a spectacular exhibit made up of over 16,000 pots of flowers in the display "Colourful World", whose design is based on the metamorphosis of Hong Kong from a fishing village into a metropolis of international renown. A traditional Chinese-style wooden junk symbolising Hong Kong moves around a globe representing planet Earth. Under the globe, a water feature with a silhouette of the city's impressive skyline will make visitors feel like they are looking at Victoria Harbour. Special lighting effects add to the silhouette, showing that Hong Kong is an attractive place full of vigour and energy by day and night. Surrounding the globe are thousands of hyacinths.
A spectacular sea of flowers comprising more than 15,000 tulips and measuring 290 square metres adds colour and fragrance to the showground, while a colourful floral wall depicting a junk celebrates the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Other main attractions include a mosaiculture display entitled "Tropical Delights", with tropical fruits from around the world decorated with the local costumes of their main country of production; a fun display on the park's main lawn featuring flowering plants and agricultural produce in the shape of a 4-metre high windmill; and a wish-making corner in the shape of Hakka "tulou".
Special plant exhibits including Aquilaria sinensis and Synsepalum dulcificum are also on display.
Displays from the Mainland are equally spectacular, including "Vitality Abounds in Spring" by Beijing Municipal Administration Center of Parks and "The Way to Go, in the Year of the Dragon" by Shenzhen Urban Management Bureau.
The hyacinth is a perennial herbaceous monocotyledon of the genus Hyacinthus in the family Hyacinthaceae. Native to the eastern Mediterranean from northwestern Syria and Lebanon to southern Turkey, the hyacinth is now widely grown all over the world and extensively cultivated in the Netherlands.
The hyacinth has numerous cultivars, with single or double-petalled flowers of various sizes, colours and varieties. The densely packed florets, in shades of red, yellow, white, blue and purple, normally bloom from March to April.
Hyacinths are especially suitable for growing indoors, where their colourful flowers will brighten the house and fill it with a delightful fragrance. Hyacinths can be grown as potted plants, cultivated in water or used as ornamental cut flowers. Small and regular in size and outline, the hyacinth is an excellent choice of bulbous flowering plant for flower beds in spring.
A rich diversity of educational and recreational fringe activities will also be organised for the enjoyment of visitors of all ages, including music and cultural performances, floral art and cooking demonstrations, plant maintenance workshops, green stalls, guided visits, recreational programmes and fun games.
Admission tickets to the Hong Kong Flower Show 2012 are available from now until March 25 at the LCSD's District Leisure Services Offices and leisure venues with Leisure Link services. Tickets will also be sold at the entrance to the Victoria Park showground throughout the show period. Octopus cards can be used to pay for admission.
Admission fees for the flower show are as follows:
* Normal rate: $14
* Children, students and senior citizens aged 60 or above: $7
* Persons with disabilities and minders (each person can enjoy the concessionary rate with one minder only): $7
Concessionary rates from Monday to Friday:
* Free admission for senior citizens aged 60 or above.
* Free admission for persons with disabilities and minders (each person can enjoy the concessionary rate with one minder only).
* Adults in a group of 30 persons or above will be admitted at half rate.
For enquiries, please call 2601 8260, fax 2691 7264 or visit the LCSD webpage at www.lcsd.gov.hk/green/hkfs/2012/en/index.php.
Ends/Thursday, March 15, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:24
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