For green-thumbed travellers, there are a few iconic must-visits on the floral bucket list: the tulip fields of the Netherlands, the historic gardens of England, and the elegant jardins of France. But to experience the world’s largest natural garden, one needs to head to a surprising spot: the desert. Dubai Miracle Garden, which opened in 2013, is home to over 100 million flowers planted across 775,000 square feet. Even more impressive than the sheer number of blooms are the artistic and often sculptural arrangements throughout the garden. This being Dubai, a city known for it’s over-the-top attractions, the landscape designers went far beyond traditional topiaries and arches. In 2016, Dubai Miracle Garden earned a Guinness World Record for creating the largest floral installation, a life-size model of a Emirates A380 Airbus—complete with moving engine turbines—made out of 5 million flowers by a crew of over 200. Across the massive park blooms climb trellises to create a neighborhood of flower-covered houses, towering heart-shaped arches, and even a fleet of automobiles.
While a garden in the desert may sound like an ecological nightmare, the attraction uses a number of water saving methods, including waste-water recycling through drip irrigation and capillary mats and polymers to distribute moisture more efficiently. The garden changes each year with brand new installations and will be open for its fifth season November 1– May 31, 2018. While designs for the next season haven’t been released, something tells us a life-sized plane is just the beginning.
