The Secret Garden

Osmoxylum ( Philippines)

White calathea (Tropical America)

Elephant Vine / Largyreia nervosa (India)

Clock Vine / Thunbergia grandiflora (India)

Hydrangea

Asystasia Hort

Episcia cupreata (Tropical America)

So, the secret's out! I had to find out for myself at the 1 Utama Shopping complex.

When I first heard of 'The Secret Garden', I liked it straight off, just like that! The brochure in my hand got me thrilled. Wow! such a unique name and instantly reminds me of Frances Hodgson Burnett's timeless classic, The Secret Garden. I only read the Ladybird version as that's what the children read! Still, what a story when the lives of the children, Mary Lennox, Dickon, Colin and the adults intertwined and amid some of life's complexities, a secret garden blossomed and finally, family relationships.

I told my daughter, 'Hey! we've got all these under one roof in the sky!' All these as the brochure says:

'The Secret Garden of 1 Utama is an experimental garden using novel technologies to grow 500 species of interesting, rare and unusual plants in an open tropical roof -top environment. The soil medium is based on granulated horticultural carbon (a form of charcoal). Chilled water is provided by sprinklers at night.

The plants in the garden fall under several themes and this guide indicates where the representative theme plants may be found. The name of the plants are provided in small black labels at the base of the plants.

You are welcome to take photographs but please observe that this is a NO SMOKING area.

Visiting Hours : 10am - 6pm. Weekends only. '

So, naturally I armed myself with a camera, stepped out of the lift - a 9 storeys -high. There's a guard house and I signed in.

I resisted clicking right away. Just looked around to soak in the astounding beauty all round me. Such a profusion of colours! Everywhere I looked, my eyes caught something different and beautiful. The senses feast, well aware that 'Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty' - John Ruskin.

It was quiet. And I enjoyed the serenity, knowing that way down below, I had just left the madness of shopping myself!

Pathways meander and are disabled- friendly. Cool misty sprays at different vantage points above took the edge off the humididty. A waterfall cascades behind the osmoxylum and other plants and the little ponds and streams add interest to the entire garden.

Firecracker / Crossandra infundibuliformis ( India and Sri Lanka)

India blue bells / Strobilanthes hamiltoniana (India)

I liked the vines/creepers that formed the pergolas. If I had a book on me, I'd probably had plonked myself on one of the benches and enjoy a quiet read. In fact, the BookCrossing people could do with this as an alternative location instead of being located on the Ground Floor, High Street where there's the noise that doesn't allow one's thoughts to function!

The Secret Garden is the brainchild of the 1 Utama director, Datuk Teo Chiang Kok. Way back in 2000, Datuk Teo had already concieved the idea of a roof -top garden to be integrated with the construction of 1 Utama's new wing. This is to reduce the complex's carbon foot print and to alleviate global warming.

This project was led by distinguished botanist and researcher, Dr Francis Ng who recently was awarded the prestigious David Fairchild medal 2009 ( Plant Exploration) presented by the National Tropical Botanical Garden of the United States.

The garden layout was planned such that heavy trees are located on supporting columns as advised by the structural engineer. The guide was handy as I wandered among the 7 themed sections.

The afternoon sun barely filtered strong through the haze which was still hanging around us. Still, it was noon and the gardeners were taking their break. I spoke to two of them , friendly foreign labour that uphold our workforce. He asked if I had taken enough pictures. I was being watched!! And he showed me the hidden sprinklers among the plants that lessen the workload.

I will definitely revisit The Secret Garden. Verdict - rejuvenating and delightful! What's more, it's hard to keep a secret in when it's so luxuriant!