WOWS & WOES AT THE FLORA FILIPINA III

Flora Filipina, the Philippines’ largest international plant exposition is being held for the 3^rd time this 2012 with the theme “Gardening is More Fun at Flora Filipina.”  The exhibit runs from February 23 until March 12, 2012.  The location for this year is strategic being in the newly built Halamanan ng Mga Bulaklak (HMB) grounds near the Japanese Peace Bell at the Quezon City Memorial Circle.

The Halamanan ng Mga Bulaklak is the botanic garden project of Mayor Herbert M. Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte.  Both are nature lovers.  The Mayor even was a guests judge at the 2006 Cacti & Succulent Garden Show & Bazaar and the Vice Mayor is the sister of the Cacti & Succulent Society of the Philippines, Inc. (CSSP) Chairman Mr. Kevin G. Belmonte. 

Inside the HMB, one will find Southeast Asia’s very first Cacti & Succulent Botanic Garden; its construction was spearheaded by CSSP founding father and eternal adviser Mr. Serapion Metilla.  The Horticultural Society of the Philippines (HSP) also teamed up with CSSP and built a garden of endemic and indigenous plants.  It’s just lamentable that the other plant clubs and societies ignored this patriotic call to join hands and create a showcase of Philippine flora.

Over a hectare in area, the botanic garden is the only regulated part of the Quezon City Memorial Circle: having its own security guard and with a definite opening and closing time (8:00 am-6:00 pm Mondays thru Sundays).  This is to ensure the cleanliness, the preservation, and the well-being of the rare plants within.

            Flora Filipina was first held in February of 2006 in the charming ruins of the San Antonio Church ruins within the historic walls of Intramuros in Manila.  It was the best of the three Flora Filipinas.  It exhibited almost all ordinary, exotic, unique, rare, and endangered Philippine plants with all major and minor commercial growers joining hands to make a historic and epic exposition.

            The Second Flora Filipina was not even a shadow of the glory of the first Flora.  It was held at the Quezon City Hall Orchidarium in 2009.  Just like the first Flora it also lasted for three weeks beginning in the last week of February.

            This 2012, the third Flora Filipina chose the Halamanan ng Mga Bulaklak as its new home.  The theme made the exhibitors showcase the best characteristics of their provinces for which they are famous. 

            The garden city of Zamboanga and the Madayaw sa Dabaw exhibits were very floriferous in their design stating that these places have many beautifully flowered species. The vintas of Zamboanga and the wooden architectures enhanced these sister landscape exhibits. 

            Negros Occidental, particularly its capital Bacolod also known as the “city of smiles” is represented by the husband and wife tandem of Rene and Doreen Dofitas whose specialty are hybrid Tillandsias and other Bromeliads.  They always wow Flora Filipina visitors with their unconventional ways of exhibiting plants.  During the first Flora Filipina, they made a pumpkin man using terra cotta pots with Tillandsia usneioides as its hair.  Today, a mannequin dresses in sphagnum moss with pretty Lilliputian Tillandsias is their exhibit’s centerpiece.

            Palawan is represented by a replica of the Underground River, now one of the new seven natural wonders of the world. 

            Hundred Islands, Pangasinan is a small area that seems to be a Japanese rock garden having fiberglass monolith rocks representing the islands with splotches of plants here and there among the rocks’ nooks and crannies.

            Cavite is represented by the Purificacion Orchids, Inc. which erected two booths: one dominated with ornamental plants primarily Platycerium grande and Bromeliads with elements from the traditional Filipino wooden house with capiz shells as panelings.  Their other booth, one of my favourites, is dominated with rare types like the alba forms of Paphipedilums, the yellow-flowered Phaius, and Catasetums (too bad the flowers have already wilted when I visited the exhibits).

            Malvarosa Orchids, owned by former Department of Justice Secretary & long time Batangas politician Mr. Hernando ‘Nani’ Perez represented Batangas Province.  The exhibit is dominated by Cattleyas and the Cattleya alliance of every imaginable colour and size! They even have a corner made up of Paphiopedilum exul of the Insigne Alliance, Cyprepediodae subfamily; this alliance has no native members in the Philippines but the way Malvarosa took care of it is really amazing; almost all were flowering!

            Laguna will not lag behind being the primary showcase of how people, nature, and industrialization could peacefully co-exist side by side.  Mostly there were orchids in this exhibit and the native crafts highlighted the beauty of the plants even more.

            The Cacti & Succulent Society of the Philippines chose Boracay as the part of the Philippines they wanted to represent.  It is made up of terraced-like boxes filled with gigantic and handsome plants from the collections of the members who willingly lent their wards for the show.  Kuya Lino made another C&S exhibit which is more natural in its depiction of these plants as one would see them in their natural habitat.  Kuya Bimbo Vergara and Bochik teamed up and made the C&S-cum-fern and foliage plants exhibit-a rare feat of water loving plants among the drought resistant xerophytes!

            What captured the attention of almost everyone who visited the exhibit area is the Carnivorous plant exhibit spiced with ferns and orchids. I myself am so much captivated by it that made me want to have my own little monsters which I really did! They even exhibited foreign carnivorous plants like Sarracenia, Venus Fly-traps, Pinguiculas, and the New World pitchers For me this is the highlight of the exhibits!

            Yet, as a frequent visitor to various plant shows and a witness to the progress of the Flora Filipina International Expositions, there are hidden lamentable facts that the ordinary guest/visitor cannot, will not, and have not perceived.

            One of this is the way the exhibit area was presented being concealed from the public.  Visitors will really have to go inside and spent some time to appreciate what is inside.

            Second, although the Php 30.00 entrance fee prize seems to be a negligible amount for the work force who would like to visit the place, the ordinary Filipino bystander, passer-by, students, and those with very tight budgets will find this fee unattractive.  Not because Flora Filipina is an international exposition you could already charge “international” rate fees!  There were students who really liked to see the exhibit when I went there but they frowned when they saw the entrance price. There should have been entrance fee categories made for two kinds of visitors at most: the regular visitor who pays the regular entrance fee and the senior citizen & student entrance fees which could be lowered by 67% (Php 20.00) as this is a more acceptable rate for these types of people.

            Third, even the commercial growers are finding the price of the commercial booths too much!  This resulted to the prices of plants catapulting to unimaginable figures for the past years.  The Philippine Orchid Society, the mother society who conceptualised Flora Filipina III together with the Philippine Horticultural Society and the Los Baños Orchid Society before, should have taken into consideration the financial and economic aspects of raising the commercial booth fees.  Most commercial growers sell their plants for Php 100.00 or less if the customer will haggle with them; this means that they have to sell more than a hundred plants per day to pay the rent and make a decent profit.  Commerical growers gamble in joining these plant shows, they want to sell their plants and make profits while taking into consideration the budget of the customers.  Plants are not prime commodities and only people with extra budgets or those who only needed greens will spend for them. The result of high commercial tent will result to lesser sales made by each commercial grower.

            Fourth, the health of plants being sold is also being jeopardised and some unscrupulous commercial growers will tell everything to their prospective customers just to make sales.  Thus, the modern customer should be knowledgeable of the plants they are buying. Caveat emptor!