VIBRANT colours greet visitors at the second Malaysia International Landscape and Garden Festival (Laman 2006).

The calming effects of meticulously sculpted gardens will soon wash over visitors as they stroll around Perdana Lake Gardens.

The festival, which ends on July 16 and themed “Oasis of Beauty”, promises visitors lots of attractions, chiefly the newly conceptualised Malaysia Garden.

Malaysia Garden, which is a national project, is a template and definition of what a truly Malaysian garden should be.

In memory of the late Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, who was the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the event organiser has specially dedicated a section to her efforts in promoting batik to the world.

As a tribute, the Datin Seri Endon Garden is set up to showcase batik prints in various unique presentations.

At the World of Gardens section, festival participants showcase their creativity by putting together gardens of their own designs.

Each of the showpieces is unique and the gardens are constructed in tandem with the theme of the festival.

Visitors should be able to get tips and inspiration on how to style their gardens from this section.

Move to the Landtech Zone and learn more about gardening and landscape technology.

Biotech products and services are also available for sale at this zone.

Then enter Garden Expo site where various garden plants, products and accessories are for sale.

After making purchases, visit gardens put up by international participants from Britain, France, Belgium, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Holland.

The British team will enchant visitors with its unique arrangement of roses while the Dutch will showcase their own garden style.

A plethora of fresh and colourful flowers will be shown at Flora Enclave, which is an indoor area where the temperature is controlled to ensure the flowers remain fresh.

Other attractions in this area include demonstration of flower arrangement, floral displays for special celebrations, floral fashion and floral window displays.

To add a dash of glamour to the festival, local celebrities will also make appearances at a specially allotted section called the Celebrities Garden.

The celebrities who will be there include popular actor Rosyam Nor, singer M. Nasir, Malaysian idol singing sensation Jacqueline Victor and comedy group Senario.

In honour of the national flower — the hibiscus — a Hibiscus Garden is set up to show a collection of its species.

It also serves as a representation of the various races living together in the country.

The festival is an event not to be missed as it has so much to offer besides being an attractive family outing.

It showcases every aspect of Malaysian and international landscape and horticulture industry.

It has a wide range of commercial agricultural products, garden exhibitions and landscape products.

The event organiser has advised the public to visit in the morning while the flowers are still in bloom.