Think Rio de Janeiro and most likely the picture conjured in your mind will be beaches, bikinis and beautiful women. Yes, Rio is all of that but above all it’s a city full of gardens resplendent with the Brazilian tropical charm. Brazil is one of the largest producers in the world of Orchids and the flower industry provides more job opportunities than even the agriculture sector. Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo are the two most important cities where flowers are to be found in abundance, besides the tropical forests that is. All of us may not be willing to risk actually going into tropical forests to see and study the beautiful Brazilian flowers, therefore your best bet is Rio or Sao Paolo.
Rio de Janeiro
No better place to start your flower trek in Rio than at the Tijuca national park, 8000 acres of tropical cover with paths lined with eucalyptus, jacaranda, Brazilian plume flower, manaca and jackfruit trees. Should you so desire, there are safety jeeps to take you further into the forest. One trip to Tijuca will change all your pre-conceived notions about what a national park ought to be like. Standing amidst all that beauty you will realize how real it feels.
Move on to the Jardim Botanico, or the botanical gardens. Price Don Joao IV fled Portugal in the 19th century and settled in Rio de Janeiro. He was fascinated with a sugarcane estate and decided to turn it into a botanical garden for economically useful plants from Portugal. Today it is a majestic garden that displays the flora of the Amazonian region in all its splendor. There are palm trees which are 200 feet high and cut across diagonally to for a natural arch for visitors to the aptly named Palm Avenue.
Another joy is seeing the various gardens and highways designed but the world renowned Roberto burle Marx who has been single handedly responsible for raising awareness about gardens all over the world. In his native Rio, You cannot miss his work, he has combined all the beauty of the Brazilian flowers in a most splendid manner.
Sao Paolo
In south Sao Paolo, the small city of Holambra is truly the flower capital of Brazil. Having only become a city 10 years ago, it has a population of just 10,000 inhabitants and yet is responsible for 40% of the Brazilian flower industry. Holambra produces and sells flowers all over the world. As for the rest of Sao Paolo, along with Holambra this city is responsible for 60% of the Brazilian flower production. But nobody in the world loves flowers more than the citizens of Sao Paolo, therefore what they produce they consume too. 65% of the flowers cultivated by them are used within the city itself and the rest are exported. A visit to Sao Paolo will be a real treat for its sights and smells, but don’t go looking for rare flowers as the city generally cultivates only the more popular varieties.
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