The horticulture scene here continues to blossom, as Jurong Lake Gardens West hosts a new offshoot of the well-loved Singapore Garden Festival (SGF).

The SGF Horticulture Show, which will run from April 27 to May 5, will feature landscape and plant exhibits, competitions and retail areas.

The free event is organised by the National Parks Board (NParks) and will take place once every two years, alternating annually with SGF, which is also biennial.

In a press release, Mr Dennis Lim, NParks' director of festival, events and exhibitions, says the horticulture show will provide a new platform for Singaporeans to cultivate their love of greening.

"With the main festival already a widely recognised name in the international arena, we are excited about presenting more opportunities for local and international visitors to appreciate and be inspired by tropical horticulture in Singapore every year."

Last year's SGF, which was held at Gardens by the Bay, had more than 600,000 local and international visitors - a record for the tropical floral and garden show, which started in 2006.

One of the highlights of the SGF Horticulture Show is the Horticultural Plant Competition.

Both amateur and professional growers can win prizes across nine categories - aroids, begonias, bromeliads, carnivorous plants, edible plants, ferns, flowering plants, gesneriads and succulents.

Submissions for the competition are open and will close on April 25. More details are available at www. singaporegardenfestival.com.

The event will feature horticultural displays such as a bonsai segment showcasing bonsai specimens from Jurong Lake Gardens, with some dating back to 1712, as well as local bonsai collectors and nurseries.

There will also be a marketplace offering plants, gardening and horticultural products, as well as food and drinks.

Jurong Lake Gardens West is envisioned as Singapore's first national gardens in the heartland, a people's garden and a model for sustainability.

Housewife Mabel Ng, 52, who attended last year's SGF, says she would love to go to the horticulture show.

"The plants are always beautiful to look at and seeing the different ways people grow their plants really inspires me to keep improving my own small garden."

For those who cannot get enough of the beautiful flora, the second edition of the SGF Orchid Show, another offshoot of the SGF, will take place from Dec 7 to 15 at the National Orchid Garden and other parts of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.