IO – Seeing the beauty of flowers refreshes the eyes and mind. We can enjoy thousands of beautiful and colorful flowers at Taman Bunga Nusantara, which is located on Jalan Mariwati Km. 7 Kawungluwuk Village, Sukaresmi District, Cianjur Regency, West Java. To get to Taman Bunga, from the direction of Jakarta to Puncak Pass, then towards Ciloto until you arrive at the Hanjawar T-junction, then pass the direction of Kota Bunga. Continue the journey until you pass GSP Market, then take the direction to Taman Bunga Nusantara.
Taman Bunga Nusantara is an international- scale garden that first opened on September 10, 1995. The park, which has an area of about 35 hectares, is located at an altitude among the mountains and close to Mount Gede, so the air is cool and fresh. As soon as you enter the entrance to Taman Bunga Nusantara, your eyes are immediately spoiled by the various colors of beautiful flowers.
The Flower Garden has various types of flowers, such as yellow marigold flowers, red begonias, blue hydrangea (bokor) flowers, celosia argentea flowers which are red, chrysanthemums, and so on, surrounded by carpet-like grass and shady green trees. The park with the mascot of the black swan, a fowl from Australia, is indeed neat and beautiful, complemented by the wonderful mountainous view.
From the entrance, you can also see the topiary: a beautiful cat in the form of two cats, and the dinosaur-shaped topiary, which is near Jam Taman. Taman Bunga Nusantara also has the largest peacock topiary, located not far from the entrance. The peacock topiary uses 25,000 flower plants to fill the topiary and 60,000 flower plants for display carpet. The topiaries are changed every 2-3 months.
Labyrinth and Tower
When you are in Taman Bunga Nusantara, do not miss Labyrinth Garden. Go ahead and solve the mystery of the endless road in the 1-hectare area. Visitors can enjoy the beauty of plants and flowers while strolling along the labyrinth. Just be careful not to take the wrong way, or you will get stuck inside.
The labyrinth garden is inspired by the legend of Theseus who went looking for a minotaur; inside the maze, you can also take selfies at several interesting spots. When tired, visitors can also take a break in the garden chairs provided. Leaving the labyrinth will leave you happy for having solved the mystery.
Not far from the maze’s exit is a tall tower called Menara Pandang, which is one of the icons of Taman Bunga Nusantara. From the top of the tower – on the fourth level, we can spoil our eyes by enjoying the whole beautiful landscape of Taman Bunga Nusantara, as well as capturing the panoramic views of the park. The view will erase your fatigue after going through the maze and climbing to the highest level of the tower.
Various Gardens
Taman Bunga Nusantara has several gardens with different designs and flowers. Near the Menara Pandang is a beautiful French Garden, the 17th century-style of the Renaissance era, with a geometric shape and neatly-trimmed shrubs. The garden style accentuates the styled, harmonious, and beautiful plant forms as if framing the flowers.
On the other side of Menara Padang stands Taman Bali. The Balinese garden has a Balinese atmosphere with a Balinese barong at the typical Balinese gate, and the Balinese building: bale kul kul, and bale bengong. Taman Bali also has a variety of tropical plants with beautiful flowers and leaves, such as frangipani, hibiscus, heliconia, and other tropical plants.
Meanwhile, not far from Taman Bali is Taman Palem, which has more than 100 types of palms, all neatly arranged. Among the varieties of palms are the Mexican fan palm, the bottle palm, the Cuban royal palm, the Madagascar palm (screw pine), the Phoenix palm, the Washtonia Robusta palm, and others.
On the opposite side, there is a Mediterranean garden with a Mediterranean design, consisting of a desert area with white sand and stones, complete with a typical Mediterranean house. This park is covered with various cacti, such as Opuntia Rufida, Cephalocereys Senilis, Cereus Hexagonus, and others.
From the Mediterranean Garden, there is a wooden bridge with a stream under it to other areas such as the Japanese Garden. Entering the Japanese Garden gate, we feel serenity and peace. It is characterized by a white fort, with a pond, a pagoda, a gazebo, neatly patterned and trimmed plants, and bonsai plants inside.
Taman Bunga Nusantara also has an American Garden with a typical country classic in rural America and a native garden or replica flowering shrubs. The garden has beautiful and colorful shrubs along the main entrance. The expanse of beautiful flowers and unique American-style scenery are attractive spots for selfies. Also, there is a Rose Garden that contains blossoms of various types.
The Water Park is also interesting to visit because it has a variety of water plants that are beautifully shaped such as lotus, water lily, and tray-shaped giant lotus Victoria Amazonnica. Other water plants such as Giant arum, Talia delbata from the United States, and Cybera papyrus are plants used as paper material by ancient Egyptians.
Don’t miss visiting Swan Lake, which has unique geese such as mute or white swans, black swans/blacknecked swans, and other poultry from Europe. At the end of the trip, towards the exit, there is a 2,000 square meter Green House which contains various types of flowers with special treatment because the flowers are from a four-season country that is not extreme with tropical weather. Also, within the Taman Bunga Nusantara there is an amphitheater, nursery locations, musical fountains, and giant chess.
Facilities
If you are easily tired and still want to go around the vast Taman Bunga Nusantara, don’t worry because it provides vehicles such as Dotto Trains, Garden Tram, and Wira-Wiri. To enter Taman Bunga Nusantara, we have to buy a ticket of IDR 40,000 per person. Meanwhile, if you want to ride Dotto Trains around the flower garden, it costs IDR 50,000 per person, for a Garden Tram ride IDR 50,000 per person, while for a Wira-Wiri ride IDR 5,000 per person.
Taman Bunga Nusantara provides small food stalls near several parks for visitors to eat and drink. If you are tired of walking around the park, you can also sit in the gazebo or park benches to take a break. Taman Bunga Nusantara also has several picnic locations. There are several cafes/restaurants in the Flower Park area, namely Marigold Cafe, Albustan Restaurant, and Saung Aki Restaurant.
Children can play in the Realm of Imagination. This family playground has games such as ATV, bumper cars, boats, super go-car, mini train, fishing pond, horse-riding arena, and others. Taman Bunga Nusantara also provides a place to buy souvenirs, Nany’s Galeria. There is also a Flower Exchange to buy flowers and plants to take away and grow at home.
For events such as weddings or meetings, Taman Bunga Nusantara provides a Saung Aki Multipurpose Building. Besides, there is the Dahlia Corner, which is a meeting hall for the gathering event with a dahlia garden feel. Meanwhile, for camping and staying overnight, there is Wisma and Camping Ground Saung Nini available. (Kartika Indah)