Cactus Garden Changi Airport Singapore

Where Is The Most Amazing Cactus Garden in Singapore ?

I have written in detail about the Butterfly Garden in Changi Airport Singapore, where I had spent a leisurely afternoon photographing butterflies. But there are other gardens also at Changi Airport Singapore like

• Sunflower Garden
• Cactus Garden
• Lily Pond
• Enchanted Garden
• Orchid Garden

just to name the few.

Each garden at Changi Airport has its own charm and taking you to a different world without taking a flight 🙂 .  I stumbled on the Cactus Garden at Changi Airport by chance.  I was looking for a good vantage point to click some airplanes when one of the helpful staff at the airport suggested I go to the Cactus Garden on the rooftop. Now if you are a regular at desi Traveler, you will know that I am absolutely nuts about cacti and succulent plants.  I have absolute zero regards for people who say keeping cactus in the home is not auspicious per Vastu principles.  I have my own arguments against this theory

1. Almost all cacti are natives of Americas, so they came to India only with the Portuguese and other Europeans, so could not be referenced in Vastu Principles which were penned earlier. Any cacti that you may find outside of Americas is a naturalized species brought there by either humans or birds.
2. In my opinion, these sturdy plants are a symbol of the triumph of strong will over harsh elements and Cacti are plants that grow in some of the harshest terrains on this planet yet they have most beautiful blooms found in nature.

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So leaving the discourse on principles of Vastu for the experts let us continue on our sojourn on the roof of terminal T1 of Changi Airport Singapore where hauntingly beautiful yet thorny plants wait for us to welcome with their spiny smiles.

The first thing you notice as you enter the Cactus Garden is that besides Cactus and Succulent plants there is also a Cactus Pub at the Cactus Garden. What a fitting tribute to the ambassadors of dessert considering world’s favorite tipple Tequila is made from Agave Plants, that are abundantly found in  Mexican desert.  I found many a thirsty traveler sitting quietly and sipping their drinks in the open air pub in Cactus Garden at Changi.

Now if you are wondering what is so special about a Cactus Garden then let me remind you that this Cactus Garden is at the roof top of one of the busiest airport in the world and most cacti and succulents are from desert areas so Singapore is not their natural habitat.  One must appreciate the gardening and landscape team of Changi Airport to do such a fabulous job of maintaining a near perfect succulent habitat that you are teleported to Wild Wild West, and that too without taking a flight.

As I was clicking pictures of Cactus and other succulents on the rooftop garden I could see airliners flying away, landing,  taxing and just waiting for people to arrive to take them to their destination.  I could identify some of the cacti in the Changi Garden e.g this one lovingly known as “ Mother in-law’s Chair“, or Echinocactus grusonii. 

But by any account, I am no expert on Cactus as there are more than 2000 recognized species of Cacti and then there are countless species of Succulents that span across 100s of plant genus across the plant kingdom.

 

BTW if you are wondering what is the different between a Cactus and Succulent, so let me give you some food for thought ( many cacti are edible just as an FYI

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All Cacti are Succulents, but not all succulents are cacti. Go figure 😛 

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The Cactus Garden at Changi showcases more than 100 species of cacti and arid plants from the deserts  of Asia, Africa, and Americas.  I liked the Cycad palms that are from the age of dinosaurs and are still unchanged from that era.  Some of the cacti that have edible fruits like the Opuntia species ( prickly pear) are also grown in the Cactus Garden Changi Airport.  You will also find many Euphorbia that are often mistaken for cacti but are a very distinct genus that oozes a slightly poisonous milky white sap. So never eat or rub these succulent Euphorbia the wrong way.

I would have loved to spend more time at the Cactus Garden at Changi but I had a flight to catch so I went back to my gate and waited for my flight to be announced, but with a firm determination to explore the cactus garden more next time I am at Changi Airport.

Read this post for a full list of activities  to pass time and shopping at Changi Airport Singapore

Location of Cactus Garden Changi Aiport: Departure Transit Lounge, Level 3, Transit Area.  BTW for the smoker types, the Cactus Garden is one of the few areas in Changi Airport where you can smoke. 

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