"We win prizes every year at the Chelsea Flower Show," my taxi driver informed me as we drove to the Flower Forest. "Everybody in Britain knows about the gardens of Barbados."

Indeed, I’m prepared to believe this after taking the self-guided tour of the fifty-acre property. Set on a derelict sugar plantation offering stunning views of the northwestern section of the island, Flower Forest is laid out in a series of paths taking visitors through carefully planted areas. Each section has a rather precious-sounding alliterative name: Richard’s Rise, Fritz’s Fruits, Helen’s Heleconias, Will’s Walk, and so on. There’s an aura of upper-middle-class British gardening mania to the place, yet the twee-sounding names can’t diminish the stunning views of Mt. Hillaby and Chalky Mount from Liv’s Lookout or the vista over Mary’s Meadow to the hills beyond.

The view from Mary’s Meadow

I’d expected the Flower Forest to be all about, well, flowers, but in fact landscaping is the big draw. While there are lovely stands of red ginger, heliconia, bougainvillea, hibiscus, giant begonias, and other flowering plants spread throughout the garden, landscaping is the real star, with attention-grabbing palms swaying in the breeze at the edge of overlooks, and artfully assembled groups comprised of contrasting shapes and textures. Tropical stalwarts such as breadfruit trees, African Tulip trees, yuccas, powder puff trees, screw pines, and cassia trees play off one another nicely in an organized riot of every shade of green imaginable. One of the nicest effects, I thought, was in the Palm Walk, where the sturdy palms make a strong visual statement:

Along the Palm Walk

Flower Forest has been such a success that its owners have opened a second garden, Orchid World, in another part of the island. My knowledgeable taxi driver, Mr. Hinds, was of the opinion that Orchid World is the finer of the two gardens, but I can only offer his opinion, having never seen it myself.

Getting to Flower Farm is not really an easy matter, as it’s in an area that, by Barbadian standards, is somewhat remote. However, the good news is that several interesting places, most notably Harrison’s Cave and Welchman Hall Gully, are nearby. Then, too, part of the charm of visiting Flower Forest is driving through the Scotland District, which was so named because early settlers said it reminded them of Scotland. (Not, I must say, any part of Scotland that I’ve ever seen.) Regardless of whether it resembles Scotland or not, the ruggedly hilly district has a different feel than the rest of the island, and I highly recommend visiting it.