Article written by Mark Stevens. Photos by Sharon Matthews-Stevens.
Memories of the scarlet hues of Bougainvillea, the orange glow of blossoming flamboyant trees and the rainbow hues of multitudes of flowers dominated my consciousness for weeks after my first ever trip to the Caribbean.
I can barely tell the difference between poinciana and poison ivy, but those botanical images so haunted me I decided to expand my horizons.
Next trip I visited a botanical garden. Trip after that: another Caribbean country, another garden.
In the process I learned an important lesson.
Want to inspire your own green thumb?
Just add these must-visit gardens to your botanical bucket list.
BARBADOS
Blooms with a View
The profusion of orchid blossoms are a definite highlight of this Barbados must-visit.
One of my first “garden” pit stops took place in Barbados. I like a great view and my wife likes both cacti and orchids, so a visit to Orchid World and Tropical Flower Garden is a win-win. First time we were there it was called simply “Orchid World,” but they’ve since broadened their botanical offerings along with their name.
But the orchids are still the headliner.
Think graceful blushing petals, lavender blooms, flowers suspended from tiny green stems that dance in the breezes from the island’s windward side. Easily ten thousand orchid plants grace the meandering paths, some clinging to trellises sheltered from the sun in modified “greenhouses”, known as orchid houses.
The grounds themselves feature whimsically painted benches scattered over six acres, a whispering waterfall, an impressive collection of cacti and succulents. And then there’s the view.
The gardens dominate an undulating ridge surrounded by cane fields. Graceful emerald stalks of sugar cane dance a stately sarabande in those omnipresent easterlies, swaying back and forth, soothing as the flowers displayed inside the garden itself. Nowadays this oasis is called “Orchid World and Tropical Flower Gardens.”
I think they should call it “Blooms with A View.”
MARTINIQUE
The Island of Flowers
Garden designer Thoze artfully incorporated the sometimes rugged landscape here into design plans to create a perfect mood; photo courtesy of the Martinique Tourism Authority.
Right from the start I’m overwhelmed by the sheer beauty that greets me at the entrance to Martinique’s Balata Garden.
I gaze past a windswept emerald valley where houses are scattered across a verdant volcanic slope like multi-coloured children’s building blocks. Within the garden grounds is a hill falling away past the entrance – a traditional Creole plantation house – to a pond decorated by lotus flowers, sheltered by a parade of sky-reaching royal palms (three hundred types of palms grace the grounds here, in addition to stands of mahogany and bamboo). A procession of blue-gray mountains beyond the pond marches toward the horizon.
The gardens were designed and developed by a botanist and landscape artist named Jean-Philippe Thoze, who scouted the world for exotic blooms and returned to see his vision come to fruition in the grounds surrounding his grandparents’ traditional Creole home.
Stroll along paths snaking through rainforest areas, cross wooden bridges spanning whispering brooks. Treat yourself to a bird’s-eye view of the resident floral displays along wooden walkways and platforms suspended high above the valley floor. Here at Balata I savour the delights of this oasis, hallmark of an island boasting a cornucopia of botanical hallmarks, here I reflect on the original Carib name for Martinique.
Welcome to Jardin de Balata. Welcome to the “Island of Flowers.”
ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
Add History to your Hibiscus
Floral displays complement the gardens’ many specimens, among them a variety of local herbs, spices and fruits
Considered the Western Hemisphere’s oldest such establishment, the St. Vincent and The Grenadines Botanic Gardens opened in 1765.
They were first conceived as a botanical testing ground for medicines and elixirs cultivated to maximize the health of resident soldiers and to test the economic viability of a variety of imported species, overseen by an erstwhile military governor and a garrison surgeon.
Talk about adding history to your hibiscus.
Case in point – and a must-do for me since I’m a history-lover – is the presence of a breadfruit tree grown from a sucker off a tree delivered to the island by Captain Bligh. Take a guided walk and learn some traditional cures, taste local herbs and spices populating this hillside twenty-acre expanse highlighted by a green and white gazebo modeled on a Doric temple.
But the gardens here don’t just play host to plants. Tucked into one corner you’ll find a protected breeding area for the St. Vincent and Grenadines parrot. Rise before dawn and hike through dense rainforest to sight this elusive bird or go with Plan B.
Visit the St. Vincent and Grenadines Botanic Gardens.
CAYMAN ISLANDS
Fit for a Queen
Perfect place to take a break: enjoying the sights and sounds of the one-acre lake in the gardens.
Cayman Island‘s Queen Elizabeth II Royal Botanic Park on Grand Cayman is best characterized as an idyllic oasis far from the madding crowd.
Visit here for a lazy afternoon stroll, lounge beside a small sun-dappled lake decorated by water lilies, serenaded by the call of a chorus of native aquatic birds. Better yet, go exploring through this sixty-five-acre reserve.
Savour the rainbow blossoms in the Floral Colour Garden, learn about Cacti in the Xerophitic Garden, view four species of orchids found nowhere else on earth, marvel at the varied hues decorating the trunk of a Rainbow Eucalyptus tree guarding the visitor centre. Learn some island history in the Heritage Garden with its transplanted historic Caymanian home, surrounded by traditional ornamental plants and fruit trees.
Stroll the Woodland Trail through a variety of microclimates, discover specimens of Bull Thatch Palm and the rare Cockspur Tree. Bond with the many park residents lounging overhead; these gardens also host the Blue Iguana Habitat, a breeding ground for these indigenous reptiles. Snugged down in the farthest reaches of Grand Cayman itself, these gardens serve up a horticultural helping that’s truly fit for a queen, which shouldn’t be a surprise.
Queen Elizabeth II herself presided over the opening of the Gardens in 1994.
GRENADA
A Bevy of Blossoms
Visit Grenada and you’ll savour the memories of blossoms wherever you look, wherever you go.
Visit Grenada and you too will be haunted by memories of flaming flamboyant trees and the omnipresent scarlet and purple explosions of bougainvillea (Grenada’s national flower) and poinciana blossoms decorating almost every home, growing beside nearly every byway.
Seems like wherever you go on this gorgeous island you’re surrounded by floral delights. Not convinced?
Just take a guided tour of Smithy’s Gardens, snugged down in the hills overlooking St. George’s, and be overwhelmed by the botanical plenitude they offer. Think orchids, heliconias, ginger lilies and even more bougainvillea.
Given the island’s botanical beauty it’s hardly surprising that Grenada’s floral offerings have been honoured nineteen times at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show.
Come November you’ll really be able to bask in this bevy of blossoms. That’s when Grenada hosts its first ever Flower Festival, a weeklong celebration that’s a must-do for anyone with a green thumb. According to Sekou Stroude, Grenada Tourism Authority’s Director of Sales for Canada, the festival will celebrate “the country’s natural beauty and floral heritage”.
Looking to really inspire your green thumb? See you in November. See you in Grenada.
Article written by Mark Stevens. Photography by Sharon Matthews-StevensFor twenty-five years the writing/photography team of Mark Stevens and Sharon Matthews-Stevens has provided editorial and photographic Caribbean content to a multitude of publications.
They’ve worked with newspapers from The Washington Post to The Globe and Mail, magazines from Travellife to Caribbean Business and Travel, and online publications from ATasteforTravel.ca to VacayNetwork.com. They have hiked the rainforests of St. Vincent in search of the Vinci parrot, sailed the waters off countless islands and traversed Jamaica in search of the world’s best jerk.
In addition to numerous other writing and photography awards, they have been recognized for their writing and photography fifteen times by the Caribbean Tourism Organization during their Canadian Media Awards events. Mark and Sharon are true Caribbean specialists.
