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02.09.2015 Opinion

“The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon” Of Our Time…Yes, Why Not?

By Sophia- Marie Honny
The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon Of Our TimeYes, Why Not?
02.09.2015 LISTEN

The Peruvian Lily, The Amaranthus, the Hyacinth…these are just a few in the myriad of flowery species we have come to know in our time. Flowers and plants have long since been symbols of intangible yet powerful emotions; whether being presented to us as a sign of love or bestowed upon us through spectacular scenery, the significance of flora will be eternally imprinted on our hearts and minds through our love for gardening.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World elicits in us the awe, wonder and fascination anyone with an active imagine can even fathom. Legend has it that the garden, built by King Nebuchadnezzar was to cheer up his homesick wife, Amyitis. She hailed from a land characterised by a green, rugged and mountainous geological make up; which she found unsettling in pale comparison to her marital homeland. It is said that the gardens were about 400 feet long and 80 feet wide.

They were apparently a dazzling sight to behold with a lush green, leafy landscape and an artificial mountain rising up like a phoenix from the ashes. The debate remains today on whether it even existed at all and if it did, why are there no remains of this awe-inspiring fixture of human amazement? It is with little wonder that flowers and plants have remained one of the most dominant forces on earth since its existence.

Flora beautify our homes, office spaces and wellness centers; they are even highly sought after to ensure that “va va voom” effect on hotels, resorts and other vacation getaways. Their aesthetic properties do wonders for the mind, spirit and body. One often experiences the oneness with nature when a leisurely stroll is taken through breathtakingly manicured lawns and flower beds. It is most certainly guaranteed to evoke a poignant reminder of a short stay at a hotel, the whiff of a lily as you passed by or perhaps the plume of pollen which tickled your sinuses. Plants and flowers do for hotels what brick and mortar cannot.

We are totally at liberty to push our creative boundaries when employing the use of flowers to enhance their aesthetic value; from the beautiful patch of freshly cut grass as you drive up the long winding driveway to your favourite vacation hideout, to the beautiful bunch of roses you were holding the day you pledged your love to that special person at that resort; these are all expressions of our appreciation of the significance of plants and flowers.

These days, the world is full of modern day ‘Hanging Gardens of Babylon’, guaranteed to knock your socks off. These brilliantly engineered gardens fused into the architectural design of an edifice, can be found in the building plans of a significant number of hotels dotted around the globe. These pseudo forests provide guests with the exhilarating feeling of freshness in the early morning mist and at dusk, with the residue of the day’s heat emanating from their sun kissed leaves.

Flowers have the ability to inspire us to create oases of bliss, they provide the right ambience for your guests to relax and take in glorious floral sights matched by the allure of local sights and sounds. A well-manicured garden will be a wonderful addition to the myriad of reasons for the return of a guest. They are a source of healing, of rejuvenating the soul and a blessing to our visual sense.

Why not push the boundaries of our imagination? Let’s reach deep within the far recesses of our minds and bring to life breathtaking landscapes for our hotels and leisure centers. Your hotels and resorts will be adorned with dazzling colours and heady aromatic scents from the endless variety of floral and plant arrangements. Your guests will be so emotionally attached to your establishment that they will burst with a longing to return for another visual and olfactory fix. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are forever etched within the annals of history but your floral oasis will transcend all space and time.

The Ghana Garden and Flower Show organised every year by Stratcomm Africa provides the right platform for an exquisite showcasing of a vast variety of flower and plant species. They give the flower enthusiast the opportunity to experience all this in one space.

This year, the Garden and Flower show will be held at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra from the 10th to the 14th of September 2015, and will showcase an array of interesting activities such as gardening workshops, pottery classes and a conference guaranteed to pique your interest in flora and help you bring your wildest imagination to fruition. This is the perfect opportunity for you to stimulate your creative juices and bring into being that wonderland for your home or hotel.

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