Batu Love Garden in Batu, East Java
Even during the days when ancient Javanese kingdoms still ruled the land, the cool hill town of Batu had been a favorite holiday spot for the royals. The reputation still holds up today, with contemporary attractions such as Museum Angkut and Batu Secret Zoo complementing the city’s gorgeous natural scenery and pleasant climate.
Now, your visit to Batu is going to get more interesting with the new Batu Love Garden, BALOGA for short, adding another touch of color to the city. Covering around 7 hectares of land, roughly the size of 10 football fields, this flower theme park boasts a unique grasshopper-shaped greenhouse and fresh flowers shaped into a giant peacock.
Unique grasshopper greenhouse and flower art installations
The giant peacock is the centerpiece of the fresh flower section
Image credit: @nonny_indria
As is common with theme parks of this size, the attractions in BALOGA are conveniently divided into several zones.
The first of these, doubling as an entrance to the park, is the fresh flower section, a museum-like indoor space containing colorful sculptures entirely made of flowers. This is where you’ll find the gigantic peacock and we can scarcely imagine the effort it must’ve taken to put the bird together by hand.
Beluga’s dried flowers are sourced from all over the world
Image credit: @sherachristina
If you’re looking for some wedding inspo, there’s also a room dedicated to dried and artificial flowers, with lovely floral arrangements that practically scream wedding bells.
We’re not sure if they’re actually giant cauliflowers or if it’s just our hunger speaking
Image credit: @dr.inawati
Being a flower theme park, its outdoor sections are just as lovely, with the topiary garden being a highlight. While there’s the usual dinosaurs and animals, we admit we find ourselves drawn to the rows of giant cauliflowers instead, although it might just be our usual reaction to anything that looks edible.
Try as you might, you’ll never be able to look away from the Walang Greenhouse
Image credit: @duwi_pratiwi10
Sitting next to the topiary garden is the impossible-to-miss Walang Greenhouse – aptly shaped like a grasshopper, or walang in Indonesian.
Inside, the Walang Greenhouse is just as Instagram-worthy
Image credit: @fanita_maulida
As quirky as it looks from the outside, the inhabitants are equally so, housing unusual plants such as giant cactuses and the carnivorous tropical pitcher plants, here known as kantung semar, inside its insectoid exterior.
There’s also the smaller Begonia Greenhouse with lovely hanging plants decorating the ceiling that has several tables set up inside if you’d like to take a break
Image credit: @elok_wardah0407
While photo opportunities abound within the park, decorating your social media feed isn’t the only thing BALOGA is good for. Horticulture is practically baked into the park’s philosophy and for the curious, there’s plenty you can learn about the ecosystem here.
Learning about horticulture, and a butterfly conservatory dedicated to insects
The Hydroponic Greenhouse gives you the rundown on the hydroponic method of gardening
Image credit: @balogaofficial
From hydroponics to learning about uncommon fruits, educational opportunities abound within the park. The tropical fruit garden is especially interesting as you can find examples of rare fruits such as the miracle fruit, which when consumed is capable of turning every subsequent food you eat, even the sourest of lemon, to tasting as sweet as sorbet.
The butterfly conservatory has an apiary where you can interact with the ecologically important bees
Image credit: @balogaofficial
For the gutsy, we highly recommend heading to the butterfly conservatory where you can get literally up close and personal with the many insects that share our ecosystem. Here, you can learn about the difference between a bee and a wasp, why millipedes are so important in our lives, and have them crawl all over you while you try your best at maintaining a straight face.
To add some nature into your working space, BALOGA market has some terrariums for sale
Image credit: @balogaofficial
If all the exploring has left you wanting for more greenery in your life, you can also drop by the BALOGA market where you can find plant shops with terrariums available for souvenirs.
The Orchid Cafe doubles as a dining space and an orchid garden
Image credit: @hennisetiawati
While the market has several F&B options as well, we’d like to point you to the Orchid Cafe instead. Here, you can dine surrounded by colorful and fragrant orchids and maybe buy some to have on your own dining table back home, which should perfectly cap off your trip to BALOGA.
Batu Love Garden is a new flower-themed attraction in Batu
Coming from the same group behind the aforementioned Museum Angkut and Batu Secret Zoo, it comes as little surprise that Batu Love Garden turned out to be quite the attraction.
With a balanced mix of Instagram-worthy spots and educational opportunities, even those with no interest in flowers can find something to enjoy here.
Address: Jl. Raya Pandanrejo No.91, Pandanrejo, Kec. Bumiaji, Kota Batu, Jawa Timur 65332
Opening hours: 8.30AM-4.30PM, Daily
Admission fee: Rp. 60,000 (~USD4.14) on weekdays and Rp. 80,000 (~USD5.52) on weekends
For more unique spots to see in Indonesia, check out these stories:
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- Things to do in Banyuwangi, the Sunrise of Java
- 8 unique architectural gems in Indonesia
Cover image adapted from @dvyarsm and @miss.dito
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