People's Park in the Sky, Rowena's, Mushroom Burger... These are only a couple of things that would remind you of Tagaytay. So on a hot summer's day and with the holy week vacation, which we are so fond of here in the Philippines, looming on the horizon, I began to scour the internet for places to visit.
Taking into consideration the limited time we had, I opted for Tagaytay. But we already had several trips there and I have to admit, the zipline was already getting boring. That's when I came to find The Flower Farm.
Directions: The Flower Farm is located along Maglabe Drive (2.5 kms from the main Tagaytay highway). When coming from Mendez Crossing, going towards the direction of Nasugbu, it is located on your right just after Soto Grande (forgive me if I just post the location of Soto Grande in the map below, I can't find the location of the Flower Farm tagged just yet)
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| Map from The Flower Farm website |
1. When you see Soto Grande to your right, look for the next side street marking Maglabe Drive.
2. When you see this sign post, turn right. (notice the third sign from the top says The Flower Farm.
3. Head straight along the road, 100 meters before their gate you'll see their sign (don't make any turns).
Here are their contact details from their
website.
The Flower Farm Corp.,
G/F RCI Building, #105 Rada St., Legaspi Village, Makati City, Philippines, 1229
Tel. Nos. 815 6665, 815 6667, 815 6668
email:
info@theflowerfarm.com
Take note that you need to contact them before actually going there since you need to book a tour. Entrance is Php 150 per person.
(On a side note, we didn't actually get a chance to book a tour since their office was already closed for Holy Week when we were planning our trip there (we're last minute planners :) ). We just got lucky that they were open and we had chanced upon a group of 6 and we were a group of 4 as luck would have it!)
Now on to the details of the trip. I can assure you that the entrance fee is well worth it. I have never been to an actual flower farm before, yes I saw them in pictures but even when we went to Baguio I didn't have the chance to visit any nor know of any that take visitors.
Upon entering the gate you'll be greeted by a wide expanse of land with all manner of plants growing. Mind you this was not done haphazardly but with careful care and planning. The weather that day was a bit hot considering we were in Tagaytay but not sweltering as is the case in Manila, the light breeze was refreshing.
Upon the start of the tour, the guide will begin by giving you a brief history of the farm, the only parts of which I managed to retain was that it was Filipino owned and that the farm was 7 hectares big. He also informed us that the farm operates at different capacities, at times, not all 7 hectares are used.
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| Kuya giving us some tidbits of info |
Near the entrance, they have their shipping area where they have a chiller for chilling plants before they are shipped. They also have souvenirs, flowers and plants for sale there. The prices they sell them for are quite cheap. Roses are just Php 50 per dozen compared to around Php 240 in the metro.
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| Chrysanthemums and some roses for sale |
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| Sunflowers for sale for around Php 400 per dozen |
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| Herbs and chilies for sale for Php 150 per pot |
The first place we went to after the brief intro was the green house for the gerberas.
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| Greenhouses |
As you can see from the picture above, the place is very neat and organized. Being my inquisitive self, I asked why they used greenhouses since the Philippines was already too hot even in Tagaytay. The guide replied that they were also using them to shelter the flowers and plants from rain, birds, and pests among others.
Upon entering the first greenhouse, the ooh's and aah's could no longer be held. We marveled at the gerberas and gingerly tread along the aisles so that we could take pictures of the flowers and ourselves as well. As you can see below, the beauty of the flowers speak for themselves.
The flowers come from abroad and are labeled. When the flowers are cut, the plant dies but do not fret, they may have left some young shoots on the ground to flower anew. You may be wondering what those round plates are, they are actually plastic/paper plates coated with a mixture of grease and oil that serve to trap flies and pests. The guide informed me that they found that the yellow colored ones work best.
We saw other plants while we were on our way to the next greenhouse.
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| Plants |
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| Some candlestick flowers |
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| Gerbera greenhouse from the outside |
We then proceeded to another greenhouse housing some plants for sale, some of which you can find in
Cartimar. We saw some money trees, miniature pineapples, yellow bells and the like.
Moving on to the next greenhouse, we saw some Duranta's similar to the ones we have back home but these were already well past my height and surprisingly, they bore these beautiful little berries. While taking in the scenery, even the walkways look good, I pondered how good this place would be to have photoshoots!
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| Durantas covering the pristine walkway |
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| Berries growing on Durantas |
We came upon some black tarps along the way which the guide told me they use to control the light exposure of the flowers during the various stages of their development. He further explained that this was helpful should the flowers require more or less hours of light and that they use the tarps to block out all light and keep only one light on top of the growing flower plants so as to encourage upward growth and produce long stems.
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| Black tarps |
Then came the chrysanthemum, mums, and daisy greenhouse. (and another round of picture taking!).
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| flowers from afar |
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| Foot bath for people entering the greenhouse to use to prevent bacteria coming from the outside |
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| They use these crisscrossed nets to keep the long flower stems in pristine condition |
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| A sea of chrysanthemums |
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| Their drainage system |
I was amazed at the features of their greenhouses and the amount of planning that must have went with establishing this farm. They were using foot baths and have these drainage systems that used those huge cement pipes similar to what you commonly see in sewage works in Manila to prevent rains from flooding the place. Furthermore, the guide explained that the slope of the hill they were situated on also helped in draining excess water.
We also passed by some young gerberas where the black tarps were currently being used on as well as their holding ponds and some more plants.
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| Black tarps in action |
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| Holding ponds |
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| Beautiful flower |
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| Plant I don't know |
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| Some young flowers |
The guide explained that there were 3 holding ponds scattered across the farm. The smallest of which is displayed in a picture above. These ponds feed water to their various greenhouses. The water comes from the rain but in absence of rain, they fill it with water from their deepwell system. They also keep Tilapia fry in the pond to control dengue spreading mosquitoes. A side benefit is when the fry grow, they have delicious inihaw na Tilapia (YUM!).
Going to their herb garden, we saw some poinsettias that they told me they didn't grow but they resell. We also saw some pretty violet flowers (lavender?) and some others.
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| poinsettias |
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| lavender? |
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| unknown flower |
Further down the road, we saw their herb garden. Mint, Lemongrass, and others were aplenty. As were some cacti we were inclined to purchase but were not able to since the guide told us they weren't for sale and that they were owned by a friend. We were also amazed to see some Ginseng plants (wow!)
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| The leaf of the Ginseng plant |
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| More herbs |
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| Cactus |
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| crate possibly for drainage |
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| more herbs |
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| more herbs |
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| cacti |
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| Ginseng plant |
Unfortunately, that's the end of the tour. But as a surprise, the guide informed us we could take home some nice pots of potted Thai Basil (what a treat!). We also purchased some chilies and flowers.
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| Take home thai basil |
That's it folks. I hope you enjoyed this little update and be sure to visit The Flower Farm the next time you're in Tagaytay City!
