Amazingly Beautiful Gardens in Arid Areas of the World

All the gardens that were included on the list are located in hot and arid parts of the world. Yes, large gardens do exist in desert areas even though water supply is very limited. Here are some of the most beautiful and captivating gardens in arid areas of the planet and in other areas.

Shalimar Gardens

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The Shalimar Gardens are beautiful Persian garden located in Lahore, Pakistan. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and was completed in 1642. The Shalimar Gardens are laid out in the form of an oblong parallelogram, surrounded by a high brick wall, which is famous for its intricate fretwork. This garden was made on the concept of Char Bagh. This UNESCO World Heritage Site measure 658 meters by 258 meters and contains 410 fountains.

Paradise Garden

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The Paradise Garden on the above photo is the Garden of the Taj Mahal.  It incorporates water, pathways and a strong geometric design typical of a paradise garden.

Menara Gardens

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The Menara Gardens are gardens located to the west of Marrakech, Morocco, at the gates of the well-known Atlas Mountains. These beautiful gardens were built in the 1130. Its pavilion and artificial lake are surrounded by orchards and olive groves. The lake is supplied with water through an old hydraulic system which conveys water from the mountains located 30 km approximately away from Marrakech.

Majorelle Garden

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The Majorelle Garden is a captivating botanical garden located also in Marrakech, Morocco. This garden has been open to the public since 1947. The garden also houses the Islamic Art Museum of Marrakech, whose collection includes North African textiles from Saint-Laurent's (former owner of the garden) personal collection as well as ceramics, jewelry, and paintings by Majorelle – the designer of the garden to whom it was named. The garden hosts more than 15 bird species, which can be found only in the area of North Africa.

Agdal Gardens

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The Agdal Gardens are gardens, of about 400 hectares or 4.0 km² located in Morocco. The gardens contain groves of apricot, fig, lemon, orange and pomegranate trees in rectangular plots, linked by olive-lined walkways. The name f this UNESCO World Heritage Site means “walled meadow”.

Al- Azhar Park

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Al-Azhar Park is a public park located in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. This amazing park in the midst of a barren area is listed as one of the world’s sixty great public spaces by the Project for Public Spaces or PPS. It was opened to the public in 2005. The gardens of Al-Azhar are reminiscent of historical Islamic gardens, with a blend of modern and traditional elements. The central terraced formal gardens, emphatic use of fountains, Mamluk multicolored stonework, sunken gardens, intersecting waterways and bold Islamic geometry are all integrated into a contemporary site design; cafes are situated at the entrance, playgrounds and scenic overlooks are arranged along curving paths. The site is supported by a reservoir constructed for the project.

Char Bagh Garden

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Char Bagh or Four Gardens is a Persian-style garden with quadrilateral layout and was the first of its kind in the South Asia region in such a scale. This beautiful garden is part of Humayun’s Tomb in India.

See also

Historically and Religiously Significant and Famous Gardens

The Most Beautiful and Unique Gardens From Around the World

World’s Largest and Most Beautiful Botanical Gardens

Unique Types of Garden and Methods of Planting

Unique Plants With Large and Beautiful Flowers

Some plants are unique in appearance. They also bear unique flowers. Here are some unique plant species with equally unique flowers.

Frithia pulchra

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Frithia pulchra is a peculiar looking plant species that bears a beautiful purple flower. This leafless plan is native to South Africa and its natural habitat is temperate grassland.

Huernia plowesii

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Huernia plowesii is a leafless species of plant that bear large and beautifully spotted flowers. It is native to Namibia and its natural habitat is rocky areas.

Parachute Plant

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One plant that bears one of the most unusual flowers is the Parachute Plant or Ceropegia sandersonii. This plant is native to Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland. It is also known as Fountain Flower and Umbrella Plant.  The flower of Parachute Plants serve as a biological myiophilous pitfall-trap, that traps flies when they descent into the corolla tube. Small hairs that are pointed downwards prevent the insect from escaping. Once trapped, the victim is thoroughly pollinated and only released when the flower is left off and the hairs weaken.

Hoya serpens

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Hoya serpens is a small trailing vine found in the Himalayas and surrounding areas. The leaves of this unique plant are dark green and hairy and the flowers produced are extremely fuzzy with a light green corolla and a white corona. In addition, the flowers produce a sweet fragrance.

Hoya cinnamomfolia

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Hoya cinnamomifolia is a unique plant that bears unique flower. This vine that comes from the island of Java is one of the larger members of the Hoya genus with typically one leaf per node. The flowers produced come in umbels of up to 30 and have a lime green corolla and bright burgundy corona.

Lantern Flower

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Lantern Flower or Ceropegia distinctia has flowers that look like a fountain of wax. This unusual plant is grown as ornamental houseplant and can be propagated by seed and cuttings. It is known also for various common names like Parasol Flower, Parachute Flower, Bushman’s Pipe, String of Hearts, Snake Creeper, Wine-glass Vine, Rosary Vine, and Necklace Vine.

Hoya mindorensis

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Hoya mindorensis, is another unique plant with a distinctively colorful and uniquely-shaped flower. This beautiful plant is native to the Philippines, specifically in the island province of Mindoro.

Paintbrush Lily

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Paintbrush, which is scientifically named Scadoxus puniceus, is a unique plant species from South Africa. It can also be found in Ethiopia and Tanzania. This plant preferred habitat is in cool, moist leaf litter and thus is found in shady places, such as ravines and forests.

Echinopsis oxygona

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The Echinopsis oxygona reminds me of the oldest type of musical instrument. This unique plant that bears large trumpet-like flower is native to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Its features include: many robust spines, spherical shape, and a large flower, with sharply pointed lavender petals, and a fine faint scent.

Cardoncillo

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Cardoncillo or Ceropegia dichotoma is a flowering plant native to the Canary Islands. It bears uniquely-shaped flowers.

See also 

• Ornamental Plants That Bear Flowers All Year Round
• Succulent Plant With the Most Beautiful Flowers 
• The Beautiful Flowers of Baguio City 
• Amazingly Unique and Beautiful Flowers 
• 16 Flowers with the Most Repulsive Scents in the World 
• World’s Most Colorful, Unique and Prettiest Passion Flowers 
• Top 15 World’s Most Beautiful Orchids 
• Top 10 Most Beautiful Garlic and Onion Flowers 
• World’s Brightest and Prettiest Garden Flowers 
• Wonders of nature: Lovely Flowering Leafless Plants 
• Botanical Wonders: Extremely Unique Leafless Flowering Plants  

The Many Shapes and Different Colors of Tomato: 20 Uniquely Shaped and Colored Tomato Varieties

You may not be aware that tomatoes come in different colors and shapes. Scroll down and discover the many colors of tomatoes and their various shapes.

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There are several cultivars of tomatoes from around the world. These cultivars come in different colors and different shapes.

1.) 'P20' Blue Tomato

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Perhaps the most bizarre color of tomatoes you’ll ever find is blue.The tomato plant on the above picture is called 'P20' Blue Tomato. It was developed Jim Myers of Ohio State University in the US.

2.) San Marzano Tomato

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The San Marzano Tomato cultivar, a variety of plum tomato, is a uniquely-shaped tomato. This elongated tomato that resembles a condom is regarded by many chefs to be the “world’s best sauce tomato”.

3.) Purple Calabash Tomato

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The Purple Calabash Tomato is a cultivar of tomato which is uniquely shaped. It was so-named because of its shape.

4.) Green Zebra Tomato

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Green Zebra Tomato cultivar is so-called due to its striped green and yellow and somewhat tart colorations. This cultivar with characteristic dark green and yellow stripes was developed in Washington, USA.

5.) Pear Tomato

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A Pear Tomato is shaped similarly to a pear, hence the name. This cultivar originated in Europe in the 1700s and is one of the oldest cultivars in the world. There are orange and red varieties of Pear Tomato but the yellow variety is the most common. It is sweet and often eaten raw.

6.) Garden Peach Tomato

The Garden Peach Tomato is a cultivar native to Peru in South America. This small, bright yellow fruit is the standard globe shape of tomato. It is locally known as ‘Coconas’. The Garden Peach Tomato is also extremely prolific. It is rich in iron and vitamin B5.

7.) Beefsteak Tomato

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The Beefsteak Tomato is a kidney-bean shape tomato which is large and often used for sandwiches. It is the “world’s largest varieties of cultivated tomato” and can weigh up to 450 g or more. It can be pink or red in color.

8.) Cherokee Purple Tomato

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The Cherokee Purple Tomato cultivar bears fruit which is unusually brownish-purple/red hue in color. It was one of the first of the "black" color group of tomatoes. It is also unusual in being extremely popular for the sake of its flavor, instead of only its unusual color.

9.) Brandywine Tomato

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The Brandywine Tomato is noted for its "great tomatoey flavor" and large size. The color of the fruit of this cultivar is pink and is beefsteak-shaped. The leaves of this variety are large potato-leaved foliage.

It is among the slowest maturing varieties of common tomato cultivars

10.) Early Girl

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The Early Girl variety of tomato is so-named to complement the existing Better Boy variety. Its ripe fruit is about the size and shape of a tennis ball with bright color and good flavor.

11.) Kumato

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The Kumato cultivar of tomato is notable for its high fructose content. It was developed in Spain and is called “Olmeca”. It is grown in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Canada and Mexico. Kumato is a green to reddish brown and sweeter than typical tomatoes and have a longer shelf life than typical tomatoes.

12.) Roma Tomato

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The Roma Tomato variety is mainly used for making sauces or canning. This cultivar is a meaty, egg- or pear-shaped tomato that is available in red and yellow. It has few seeds and is a good canning and sauce tomato. It is also known as Italian Tomato or Italian Plum Tomato.

13.) Grape Tomatoes

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Grape tomatoes as they ripen come in various colors – red, yellow, orange, white and purple.

Additional list of uniquely colored and shaped tomatoes…

14.) Roman Candle Tomato

15.) Orange Banana Tomato

16.) Schimmeig’s Striped Hollow Tomato

17.) White Tomesol Tomato

18.) Prudens Tomato

19.) Taxi Tomato

20.) Japanese Black Trifele Tomato

See also

• The Most Interesting and Amazing Facts About Tomatoes
• 20 Amazing facts About Plants and Vegetables

The Most Interesting and Amazing Facts About Tomatoes

Tomatoes are among the most popular and most consume fruits in the world. They are grown and eaten around the world and used in many different ways such as salads, and processed into tomato soup or ketchup.

Here are some amusing facts about the juicy and healthy tomato. Health benefits and health risks of tomatoes are also included.

1.) The Largest Single Tomato Tree in the World

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The massive "tomato tree" growing inside the Walt Disney World Resort’s experimental greenhouses in Lake Buena Vista in Florida, USA is regarded as the “World’s largest single tomato plant”. It is recognized as a Guinness World Record Holder, with a harvest of more than 32,000 tomatoes and a total weight of 522 k. The vine grows golf ball-sized tomatoes which are served at Walt Disney World restaurants.

2.) The Heaviest Tomato Ever

The “world’s heaviest tomato ever” was the cultivar “Delicious” grown by Gordon Graham of Edmond, Oklahoma, USA in 1986. The tomato fruit weighed 3.51 kg.

3.) The Largest Tomato Plant

The “world’s largest tomato plant grown” was of the cultivar 'Sun Gold' grown by Nutriculture Ltd of Mawdesley, Lancashire in the UK in 2000. The tomato plant reached a length of 19.8 meters.

4.) The Most Popular and Extravagant Tomato Festival

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The “world’s most popular tomato festival” is the “La Tomatina” of Buñol, Valencia, Spain. Tomatina Festival is held every last Wednesday of August. In the 2007 celebration, 40,000 Spaniards gathered in the town of Buñol and thrown 115,000 kilograms of tomatoes at each other.

5.) The Birthplace of the Tomato

Reynoldsburg City in Ohio, USA calls itself "The Birthplace of the Tomato", claiming the first commercial variety of tomato was bred there in the 19th century.

Other interesting facts about the tomato…

6.) Watch your dogs. It was found out that tomato plants can be toxic to dogs if they eat large amounts of the fruit, or chew plant material.

7.) Tomatoes can be deadly to humans too. On October 30, 2006, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced tomatoes might have been the source of a salmonellosis outbreak causing 172 illnesses in 18 states. Tomatoes have been linked to seven salmonella outbreaks since 1990

8.) The Aztecs called the fruit ‘xitomatl’ which means 'plump thing with a navel' while the Nahuas called it ‘tomatl’ which literally means "the swelling fruit". It is where the Europeans derived the name "tomato".

9.) Is it a fruit or a vegetable? Tomatoes, like eggplants, cucumbers and squashes, are botanically fruits, yet cooked as vegetables.

10.) Tomato leaves and stems contain atropine and other tropane alkaloids that are toxic if ingested. Leaves, stems, and green unripe fruit of the tomato plant contain small amounts of the poisonous alkaloid tomatine.

11.) Tomatoes contain the carotene lycopene, one of the most powerful natural antioxidants. In some studies, lycopene, especially in cooked tomatoes, has been found to help prevent prostate cancer,

12.) Tomatoes are the richest source of lycopene in the diet. Tomato consumption has been associated with decreased risk of breast cancer, head and neck cancers and might be strongly protective against neurodegenerative diseases.

13.) Tomatoes and tomato sauces and puree are said to help lower urinary tract symptoms and may have anticancer properties.

14.) China is the world’s top producer of tomatoes producing more than 33.8 million tonnes annually followed by the US with 12.5 tonnes.

See also

• The 10 Most Popular Food Plants That Contains Toxic or Poison
• Bizarre Plants and Animals
• 14 Amazingly Unique Plants
• 14 Amazing Plants and Their Unique Characteristics

The World’s Most Beautiful Orchids Two | Gomestic

The World’s Most Beautiful Orchids Two | Gomestic

Here’s another batch of the world’s most beautiful orchids.

Orchid plants are the second largest family of flowering plants in the world with between 21,950 and 26,049 known species from 880 genera. There are also more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars.
1.) Waling-Waling (Euanthe sanderiana)

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The elegant and beautiful Waling-waling of the Philippines is one of the most beautiful and largest orchid flowers in the world. It is hailed as the “Queen of Philippine Flowers” and worshipped as ‘diwata’ (fairy) by Bagobo people. It is native to Mindanao and occurs in the provinces of Davao, Cotabato and Zamboanga. Due to over-collection, Waling-waling is very rare in nature. This beautiful orchid is frequently used in hybridization.

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